Anyone running Braided Hose for Trans Cooler Lines?

[565bbchevy]

Once you start getting beyond the point where there is no trans cooler in the radiator and you are doing custom installations then it becomes more likely you will run braided lines since it would be hard to find pre-bent lines for those applications.
Now for me I have an external trans cooler, an external trans filter and a TFC system and all of these things were designed to use AN fittings so attempting to use steel lines would be going backwards. I also have my braided lines mounted to the car so all I have to do is spend a minute disconnecting the 2 fittings from the trans and I am done with the lines.
I think most people do like the race look of true braided lines (not those crappy sleeves) but I think that many of those people are intimidated by the installation and assembly process and obviously the price (which has come down quite a bit over the years)
So if you already have a lot of braided lines on your engine or plan on it in the future then braided trans lines are the obvious choice.
The advantages of easy routing and disassembly once installed are nice options but there is a cost.
If you have something stock or close to it the I agree that you could probably go with the steel lines either pre bent or make your own and it definitely is the least expensive route.

 

[Ferret]

I installed simple rubber hoses, rated for transmission fluid, as the hard lines are always too close to the exhaust. after the swap, i never had any heat issues again....

 

[online170]

No one makes prebent lines for a TH400 in a Gbody. My trans also is not located in a "similar" location as other transmissions, and my radiator is not from a Gbody.


I would be forming the lines from straight, or making it all from scratch. I don't know which is superior, but braided or rubber sounds good to me from a removal point of view. The lines don't get caught when pulling the engine, it just seems like a better option to me.

 

[DoubleV]

I probably should have mentioned in my post that I was refering to basic 'factory-style' setups and not full blown race setups and/or custom setups which won't accept factory pre-bent steel lines. A setup like mine for example has no need what so ever with braided hose/AN fittings yet I have seen tons of similar setups all with braided hoses ( or many times just regular rubber hose ). It always makes me wonder why people bother with that in those instances.

 

[online170]

For the guys running the 6AN hoses, are you using the standard TH400 front pump?

If so, any issues throwing the extra capacity through the standard pump?

 

[Paul86SS]

I bought this kit http://www.speedwaymotors.com/Gotta-Sho ... 49003.html

 

[online170]

I ended up getting this. So far so good. Im happy with them. If you expect to bolt them into the stock radiator, and not a "Radicool", you want to get the 23-1501 version. I was only using the 6AN fittings so it worked for me.

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/ADD-23-1500

 

[CWPottenger]

Usually you can get all the pieces you need from local speed shop for a better price then a kit.

 

[hedz]

I'm suprised to hear so many using braided steel hose instead of hard steel lines. IMO the factory pre-bent steel transmission lines are the best thing to use, unless one likes the look of shiney braided hoses and AN fittings ( which personally I hate ). Not sure how anyone could ever have problems removing factory lines from the radiator unless they're rusted to crap in which case you can just buy a set of new pre-bent ones and never look back.

As far as transmission coolers go, with the fittings and hose the give you in the kits ( which are very inexpensive ), you can hook up a cooler with nothing more than removing one transmission line from the radiator, not have to cut or butcher any of your steel lines, and end up with a nice simple, very clean install/setup. AN connectors and braided hose to me just seems like nothing more than bling. That is not meant as an insult for those running braided hose. I just feel in most situations that they're simply unnecessary and have no clear advantage over steel lines.

good sir what tool do you prefer to use when you are removing your hardline transmission cooler lines on the transmission side? do you leave your transmission completely installed and use a very tiny special tool?

my line wrench would have worked if i had been willing to cut it in half to fit up in that tiny space. by the way i have true dual exhaust on oem manifolds with no crossover and they are routed on the passenger side. i wish i had more of my grandfathers aircraft wrenches lying around... just curious. i'm in the middle of a transmission swap and was frustrated that i could not preserve my original transmission cooler lines at the transmission side. i ended up cutting them. i've had several other classics and except for the gbody have always had plenty of room to fit a line wrench up there. this problem also applied to my 78 monte carlo i had. my current is a 79 mc with 305 sbc.

 

[rustyroger]

Braided lines for looks, metal lines for cost.
Not much pressure in the cooling lines so you don't need heavy duty hydraulic hose, just be sure flexible hoses are compatible with atf and make your own choice.

Roger.