Hey all, I need to get my wife's '03 blazer outfitted for towing asap, okay, over the next week or so. I just talked with a local mechanic who I've come to trust and asked if he'd be willing to put all the stuff in place if I go buy it all and just hand it to him. When I asked him about the tranny cooler, and mentioned the B&M 70268 SuperCooler, he said to go over to the local Advanced Auto Parts store and they "have a real good cooler right there." I looked on their site and it seems they mainly carry the Imperial Econo-Cool line of tranny coolers. There isn't squat for reviews on these anywhere, which is what brings me to you all.

Judging by the incredible popularity of the b&m on this forum, I am needing your input on what to go with here. Walt's obviously familiar with Advance's cooler, and like I said, I've never had a reason not to trust him as a mechanic, but the lack of info and/or customer reviews online concerns me. I told him I'll go pick up all the towing stuff from Tractor Supply here in Bennington, VT (NO, this is NOT where we're from!) to get this outfit rigged to head back to WY. Class III round tubing SUV hitch, wiring harness for a blazer, and an electric brake controller unit.

Please commence educating me on this. I am at your mercy. Like I also said, the hurry is not so critical for timing, and if you all say, STAY AWAY FROM IMPERIAL, then I'll order the B&M, but warranty is also an interest here. mail order stuff - who warrants it and where would I go to get work done on it? obviously if I got it from let's say amazon, and it doesn't work after a bit, I'm not going to bother pursuing sending it back. it wouldn't be possible anyway, as it would've been installed, then choked, then removed. yeah, I know, I probably just answered my own question, but anyway...info from you will help.

Thanks a million here. I know a lot about all things towing besides brands and such, but never have dealt with a tranny cooler. never eve heard of the need to be honest with you. shoot man, I've just always been around ranchers who, what's it matter? ya just hook up the damn trailer to the truck and git out on the road. Doesn't matter if your pull'n 10 horses back there or whatnot and whether the truck can actually handle it or if the lights work. just get them over to the next pasture about 50 miles o'er that way.

I've also familiarized myself with trailer wiring over the years owning my own horse trailers and putting extra lights in and on them for backing up at night and working inside at night. We just picked up a 1996 Flagstaff pop up camper trailer with elec brakes, so I get to play with that too.

Thanks again,
Chuck

 

Never heard of Imperial coolers but that doesn't mean they aren't good. Tranny coolers are not rocket science by any stretch, just a simple heat exchanger. Providing it is made with quality material and has been pressure tested I don't see a reason to spend more $$$ for a name brand cooler.

This is where research comes in on your part.

Oh, and I have a B&M in mine...lol

 

The nice thing about the B&M SuperCoolers is that they come with all of the fittings required for installation. The Imperial & Hayden coolers require you to cut the stock line or purchase the fittings separately.

 

Thanks for the reply AJ, believe me, I've researched the heck out of this today and am convincing myself over time that due to the simple fact that Walt knows the brand and it was the first thing he suggested I do as soon as I said I wanted a tran cooler, I'll probably just go with his deal at Advanced. Not sure yet just how bad I want to hurry this along right now as Walt said "bring it in Tuesday morning and I'll have it done in a jiffy." But I can get the brake controller a lot cheaper from Amazon - darn near half price of what Tractor Supply wants for it. Thankfully TSC has this hitch on sale next week from $170 down to $120. sweet. That pays for an hour of his time putting all this stuff on for me. I doubt it will take him very long at all, but we'll see.

Anyway, thanks again.
Chuck