Flexible trans lines vs hard lines ?

[Jaso74]

Gidday.

Anybody got any experience with flexible transmission lines to cooler/radiator as opposed to the factory hard steel lines ?
I have my engine and trans out currently and wondering if now is the time to change them over if people think the flex lines are better and what you have found to think that it is better ?
I'm also thinking of just running a solo oil cooler for the trans and skipping the radiator cooler connection all together . I did do this once a long time back as I had a newish three core rad and it didn't have a cooler in it so just ran a solo cooler in front of the radiator. Seemed fine but honestly never really did any hard work as such to test it out . Was probably only about a 400mm long x 250mm wide aftermarket cooler, nothing special.

 

[ephect]

I'm running rubber due to the factory metal ones wore through and was not going to strip it down to replace them. Been a good number of years this way.

External trans rcooler vs rad with external trans cooler helps bring temp up quick and consistent with coolant.
Some don't run through the main rad due to risk of mixing coolant through the trans if it leaks internally.

 

[shane_3800]

Rubber is fine if if you get trans cooler line.
It's commonly used in lots of cars.

 

[losh1971]

Yeah years ago I smashed a pair of metal lines when I went wheeling on the dunes in the Jeep. I patched them in the car park with rubber. Then a few years later I cut the hard lines short and did a long run of rubber trans cooler hose. The only issue is it goes hard after a couple of years but its not really a problem as long as they don't leak.

 

[Immortality]

Years ago I remember some trans guy saying steel is best, if you want to use flexible lines use a teflon lined hose rather than just plain rubber, his reasoning teflon has less resistance to flow that rubber.

 

[Fu Manchu]

-AN Teflon?

 

[Pollushon]

Metal lines are more about reliability and safety, rubber is sufficient for the fluid and the pressures it's just not resilient to sharp debris at speed or in a smash. I used flexible aluminium shielding and steel ties around my oil cooling lines under-car

 

[Jaso74]

Yeah cool , thanks for the feed back .
I was thinking steel lines are probably more reliable as long as not rubbing on something sharp and wearing away . When I dropped engine and trans out I found them a bit of a pain to deal with and wondered if it was going to be wise to change them out . Main reason I found them crappy to deal with was I couldn't undo them in situ in car, [ just on jack stands in garage] . Mhh might have to think on this one a bit more . I probably should give the hard lines a super clean and inspection to see if they about to rub through in any spot or still look pretty good . I'll add that to the to do list !
Thanks

 

[07GTS]

if u change to rubber make sure u put a lip/roll on the tube u connect the rubber to so when done up it cant pull off and spray trans fluid on your extractors whilst ur leaving a highway onramp with a massive smoke trail covering the highway...

 

[losh1971]

if u change to rubber make sure u put a lip/roll on the tube u connect the rubber to so when done up it cant pull off and spray trans fluid on your extractors whilst ur leaving a highway onramp with a massive smoke trail covering the highway...

While this is a good idea, you don't really need it on trans cooler lines as the pressure is quite low.