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The two mods I would do immediately are to change out the stock air box and add a tranny cooler. The stock air box is notorious for cracking and not sealing properly. Check it on the truck you are buying and feel for any grit beyond the air filter. Take the stock box out, throw it away, and put in a K&N, Airaid, Tymar, or Ford upgrade.
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Ya know, I've got 188K on mine, and it's had a K&N filter element in the stock airbox since it was new. I've never had a single lick of trouble out of this thing, in spite of all the horror stories I read about them here. There's not even the slightest hint of dust or grit downstream of the filter element. I find all the vehement comments about the stock air filter rather amusing, I guess.
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My comment is based on personal experience. When I bought the truck, with 60K miles on it, I discovered the stock air box was cracked. I replaced it with another stock air box and guess what--it cracked, exactly where the first one had. That was enough for me to switch to an Airaid intake.
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Second, aid a TruCool tranny cooler. Ford did not provide for adequate cooling until the 2002 model year, and trannies are the weak link on these trucks. It's only about $120 and very easy to install.
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/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif Oh, puh-leeze. 188K miles. I tow a 26' enclosed car trailer, 16,700 gross combined weight, lots of frontal area. Bone-stock cooling system right down to the single ATF-to-air transmission cooler. Only time I've had the trans opened up is for routine fluid & filter changes. It's fine. It doesn't get too hot. Ever. Not ever. Not once in the 129,000 miles I've owned it, nor in the 59,000 miles the previous owner had it (he tows heavier than I do -- 28' trailer, bit over 17,500 GCW). Maintain the truck properly and stay within the GVWR and GCWR and you'll be fine with the stock components.
Remember, folks, the ATF "magic numbers" are 221F long-term max, 248F short-term max. "Short-term" is defined as 30-45 minutes, about the length of time it takes to pull a trailer up a steep hill like Townes Pass in Death Valley, up the highway from Davis Dam, or Baker Grade on I-15. (Townes is my personal favorite for testing trans cooling because it's a fairly low-speed climb that forces a lot of 2nd-gear use. It's about 14 miles of 7.5% average grade, parts of which are over 9% grade, two-lane and twisty. Plus it starts in Stovepipe Wells, where ambients in the summer can easily top 120F.)
Anyway, if you're below those numbers, you're fine. If you have a factory system that's reasonably well-maintained and stay within the GVWR/GCWR ratings, it'll stay below those numbers unless something else breaks. It wouldn't have gotten sign-off for production if it didn't.
Now that I've tilted at this particular windmill for the umpteenth time, I don't expect any of the folks who cry that the sky is falling if their ATF temps go over 200F to change their mind, because they're absolutely sure of it, and what do I know since I just design vehicle cooling systems for my living, but those are the facts I present, people. I don't make stuff like this up. Save your money, enjoy your truck, and quit worrying so much about stuff that you don't have to worry about.
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Well, I went through two trannies, put in gauges, and found my tranny temps were climbing to 220 on steep grades. With the TruCool cooler, my tranny temps are 30 degrees less, and I haven't had any more tranny problems. Maybe you're right and it's just a coincidence, and I admit I'm not an expert. But it seems to me that 190F is better than 220F, and 200F is way better than 230F, and I still regard that $120 I spent on the cooler to be the best money I ever spent on my truck, just for the peace of mind. Ford also thought there was something to be gained by additional cooling capacity, because they added the secondary ATF-to-water tranny cooler in 2002, and I'm sure they didn't do it out of the goodnes of their hearts.