'89 700R4 - Rebuild or Install Reman?

[NickTransmissions]

After the rebuild I do intend to tow boats with this truck. Mostly it will be my bass boat (2,500 lbs boat/trailer) and occassionally my runabout (4,500 lbs boat/trailer). Both have hydraulic surge brakes.

I've seen opinions ranging on the 700R4 some say it isn't strong enough to tow a toothpick and others say run the biggest cooler and load it up. The primary advice I keep seeing is NEVER TOW IN OVERDRIVE.

Fair enough, no OD when towing, I can live with that if it means a long(er) life for transmission. I plan to install an external transmission cooler to help with temps when towing. Is there a particular capacity or brand that is preferred for this application? There seem to be endless options and I want to be sure to match the correct cooler. I know it's possible to oversize the cooler causing the fluid to not get up to correct temperature in colder weather.

Thanks

Its simple: the correct ext trans cooler is the biggest, highest capacity cooler with the most amount of heat exchange that you can fit into or underneath your engine bay. The main thing is to run it in series with your radiator's internal trans cooler for optimal cooling effect.


As far as rebuilding the 700 for towing, see post #2 and consider a custom low stall converter.

 

[johnsonmtz]

Got it, so in this case bigger really is better.