piqué, oh no! What a nightmare!!! I trust you were able to get your horses back safely. Keep us posted on how things develop!

WTG,

Old GM trucks can be problematic. The electronics can be particularly vexing. Not Dodge vexing, but vexing.

Ford transmissions, in the rare event you need one, cost about $3K.

quote:

Ford transmissions, in the rare event you need one, cost about $3K.

I will ask the transmission guy about that. But i seriously doubt his labor is less because it is a Ford. He is rebuilding a heavy duty system. This is not a light truck. And his price includes a new hd tranny cooler.

What year is your truck? Engine?

I can tell you what kind of toilet Amanda has in her upstairs bathroom, (and the tile in her kitchen), what kind of furnace Nina has, and the bathroom sink setup in Jodi’s basement bath in La Grange. I can tell you what the bath sinks in PJs house look like and I even remember Jon’s window air conditioner, but I can’t recall what year your truck is even though I remember the name of your horse.

1500 or 2500?

And have you ever weighed your trailer fully loaded?

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Originally posted by Steve Miller:
What year is your truck? Engine?

I can tell you what kind of toilet Amanda has in her upstairs bathroom, (and the tile in her kitchen), what kind of furnace Nina has, and the bathroom sink setup in Jodi’s basement bath in La Grange. I can tell you what the bath sinks in PJs house look like and I even remember Jon’s window air conditioner, but I can’t recall what year your truck is even though I remember the name of your horse.

1500 or 2500?

It's a 2004 2500HD with quadrasteer and 4x4. I believe it's a 6 liter engine

quote:

Originally posted by Steve Miller:
And have you ever weighed your trailer fully loaded?

the trailer itself is 3,000 lbs. The horses together are 1,500 lbs. At the start of a trip I have ten gallons of water loaded. A 15 lb saddle. First aid, blankets, towels, hoof boots, bucket of grooming tools. There's 65# of hay in the truck bed. A queen foam mattress. My food, water, clothes, camping stove, folding chair.

I just assume I'm pulling about 10k lbs.

Steve, if the tranny is indeed toast because of the loss of ATF, the guy who I talked to today--who has been running the transmission shop since '87--has given me two options; one, get back on the road asap with a standard, already rebuilt transmission--if he can find one for my truck.

two, rebuild the original transmission to heavy duty specs and use better than original parts--basically rebuild it to be bullet-proof--a customized rebuild--and never leave me stranded again. He will go through the truck thoroughly before doing any work and make sure there is nothing else serious going on first.

The guy has a reputation for being a perfectionist, and on the phone he sounds very passionate about what he does. (He also charges for it!) He reminds me of some of the piano builders I met in Germany who are mad for their work.

Do I *need* his higher standard of rebuild? Maybe not. i dont know how much more time in the mountains I've got left. I was just diagnosed with osteopenia, spinal stenosis, and bowed tendons in my back, my horse now has hock arthritis and isn't supposed to be ridden in steep terrain any more. I can ride for a while longer, and she can be led on a lead... And I only put 5,000 miles on the truck in a year anyway.

But... it's a super nice truck I'd like to have for as long as i have a horse, and that could be the rest of my life, even if I don't ride.

Have you ever driven a heavy duty truck with Quadrasteer? And have you seen what used trucks are being sold for lately? Between those two realities, it doesn't seem to me to make much sense to replace what I have.

The neighbor's college kid loaned us his much newer Silverado so Mr Pique could come and get the horses. Without the quadrasteer I had a helluva time backing to the trailer coupler and both of us tried it, both of us were way off, despite the backup camera. The difference in responsiveness is stark.

Plus apparently my insurance company thinks I may have a valid claim against the guy who put in the radiator, so at least some of the cost may be offset. We'll see.

If your trans man is capable of building a “bulletproof” transmission then you’ve found a good one and $6K is a fair price. Guys like that are hard to find. You’ll likely get a better warranty as well.

But old trans made 160K miles and might still be good had it not run out of fluid and overheated. A basic rebuilt trans would probably be fine, depending on the quality of the rebuilding outfit. If your trans man trusts the rebuilder I’d probably go that way and save a few $$$.

By the time I retired, both of my trucks were 30 years old and had 300K+ miles. These were 1 ton trucks, always loaded to 10K pounds and they pulled trailers in the 5K - 10K pound range as well. Overall they held up well but toward the end they started to have little problems that were remarkably expensive to fix. These sorts of repairs are what would concern me on a 20 year old truck. Modern engines seem to last a very long time but smaller repairs can add up quickly.

But you like this truck and it has a rare option you actually use. You don’t drive it much and may drive it even less in the future. I assume it’s not rusty (is that a MT thing? It is here) so hanging on to it as a treasured classic might make sense. You can do a lot of repairs for the $600-$1000 monthly payment you’d make on a new one.

Have you seen the little aftermarket rear camera setups? They don’t cost much and make lining up a trailer nearly effortless.

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Have you seen the little aftermarket rear camera setups? They don’t cost much and make lining up a trailer nearly effortless.

Yes i have one and use it often. It is effortless with Quadrasteer. Without QS on the neighbors truck I had a hard time. I needed a much greater distance to line up the truck. With QS it turns on a dime.

I believe my truck is only going to appreciate in value. Only about 16,000 vehicles were ever built with QS and there is a hungry market for them. (Come visit us in Montana and you can drive it and see why.) When I do reach the point of selling this truck the quality of the work done on the transmission should only increase its value. I now belong to an online community of QS owners, many of whom are pro mechanics or do a lot of their own repairs. All are saying go for the HD rebuild, especially because I tow horses in the mountains.

Further update:
Waiting for the insurance company's tow truck now to pick the truck up from my house. Insurance company says that if it was the fault of the mechanic who put in the radiator, the transmission rebuild will be covered by my auto policy. Less the deductible, which they will then extract from the mechanic's insurance company and reimburse to me.

I'm insured by Travelers. They have been absolutely awesome to deal with.

Wow! That’s fantastic!

What a nightmare! Hope it’s resolved quickly.

When the trans was going out on my Toyota all wheel drive, my mechanics recommended trading it in immediately - and not do the trans repair thing as "they're all crooks." I didn't take their advice and spent several thousand dollars I didn't have at that time in my life - and had it rebuilt and got a six month guarantee. It lasted a few months. Had it redone again under their guarantee and it fell apart in about 6 weeks. I swore - never again.

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Originally posted by kluurs:
When the trans was going out on my Toyota all wheel drive, my mechanics recommended trading it in immediately - and not do the trans repair thing as "they're all crooks." I didn't take their advice and spent several thousand dollars I didn't have at that time in my life - and had it rebuilt and got a six month guarantee. It lasted a few months. Had it redone again under their guarantee and it fell apart in about 6 weeks. I swore - never again.

That's awful! I've never heard of this--but then, I've never had a transmission go out on me before.

In my case it is sounding like they will have to buy a new transmission. The guy who looked at it today said the fluid was black, and he doesn't think it is salvageable. He's waiting for a call from the insurance adjuster before he does anything.