Should I rebuild my trans before we take trailer out west ??

Here is my story on a '97 Chevy express 2500 van,gvw of 7800#, with a Vortec 350 engine. I did not own this truck, but was given it by the company I worked for as a service truck. At 49k the trans went out. No towing. They put in a factory reman. and guess what. It went out at 97k, still no towing. They had a local shop rebuild it and I drove it till it had 133k on it in Jan. of '09. I retired and they retired the truck.

Your choice, I would keep running it.
Just go easy on the full throttle shifts and avoid hunting.

We have the infamous 47RE trans in our 2003 Dodge. At 135,000 (probably 35,000 miles towing) I had the trans rebuilt because I didn't want it to go out when my wife was hauling 2 horses over one of the WA Mt. passes.

We used a local trans guy with a positive reputation. It cost us $2500 and this included a better (Billet) torque converter. The truck now has 155,000 miles on it and the trans is better than new.

Sometimes peace of mind is worth the money.

Bigfoot affair wrote:
Mark, is that burb a 2500? If so it should have the 4L80E, stout trans. If it ant broke, don't fix it!

That's what I said until I lost reverse.

Mark, is that burb a 2500? If so it should have the 4L80E, stout trans. If it ant broke, don't fix it!

If you have the extra coin lying around and want to buy piece of mind then go for it. Just be sure to find a good shop.I don't think I would rebuild but I like to roll the dice in these types of situations.

The problem with rebuilt is that the quality of the job is 100% related to the skill/knowledge of the rebuilder. A guy who knows what he's doing will get you a quality transmission for you $1800 without having to drop big coin on "bullet proofing" it. Somebody else may skimp on replacing some hard or soft parts and may leave your trans more vulnerable than it is now. The only way to guarantee getting as good as new is to get a re-manufactured unit.

I was always going to wait until I started having some symptoms of slippage, etc before getting the trans rebuilt, then I was going to find the best trans shop and let them take their time with it. Out of the blue last summer, and at only 145k miles, I lost reverse backing the TT into a campsite 3 hrs from home. Trans still ran and shifted great, still had no symptoms of slippage or anything, it ran perfectly normal but just wouldn't go backwards.

There was no trans shop in the nearest town, and nobody would recommend the one in the next town over. So I wound up having to have a local mechanic install a Jasper reman unit. Good news is the 3 yr 100,000 guarantee, bad news was the $3500 plus another $500 for the exhaust pipe that broke (dealer only part) bringing the total tab to $4000. Plus 2 weeks in the shop because they didn't work weekends and had to order the exhaust pipe. (sidebar: the pipe has an integral flange that bolts to the RH manifold and the flange broke in 3 pieces. The flange has a machined groove on the inside surface for a hi-temp o-ring style gasket that seals to the manifold, so welding the flange would have required re-machining that groove, so was cheaper to order a new assembly.)

So lack of symptoms and excellent maintenance doesn't mean that you won't have a failure like I did. Of course it doesn't mean you will either.

IMO, 200k miles is borrowed time for any AT, especially if towing, and the 4L60 is not known for its durability...

IF you have a skilled rebuilder that you trust to do the right job, it would be great peace of mind to get it done at home. However, if you have a problem on the road nobody else is going warranty work done by your local trans guy. If you want to get it done before you leave, consider have a Jasper unit installed or having the rebuild done by a franchise like Aamco where you can get warranty work out of state.

Or, roll the dice and be prepared for contingency. Jasper prices are pretty consistent across the country so the quote you get at home will be about what it will cost you to replace it on the road. Be sure you have Good Sam or other roadside service that will tow the burb AND trailer if you decide to roll the dice.

Maybe it is just me, but I have had 3 transmissions " rebuilt " ( in suvs )and all have been problems. Never again unless I personally knew the person doing it and really trusted them.

I would spend the extra bucks for a factory tranny and good warranty. Or, in your case, I would drive till a problem comes up.

Sounds like you really take care of it. Rebuilds aren't all created equally. If its not slipping, I'd run it.

Yes !! clean fluid and running lucas.