1997 Ford F150, shortbed, standard cab, 4WD, 4.6 V8, automatic transmission. (Please Jesus, give me back my 4.9)
Weeeelllll, the transmission in my truck has totally crapped out. It has some reverse, no forward at all.
This is your basic "woods truck". At this stage of life, it probably gets less than 5000 miles per year. I have always maintained it, because I want to be able to drive to the coast, or up in the mountains, if I get a craving to do so.
So I am reasonably familiar with the local shops. Referring to the other thread about automatic transmission shops, the No. 1 shop in the area only installs remans at this time because they don't have builder. The next in line good shop will do an actual rebuild with a 3 year warranty using upgraded parts. Both have good reputations, so I have no problems doing business with either one.
The cost is within a couple of hundred dollars of each other, so price is not really a big factor at this time.
The other option is salvage, which at this time in my life is not a good option. I just fell like any salvage transmission of the correct vintage is going to have lot of miles, and likely rode hard and put up wet.
So at this time, I'm going with the rebuild, $3500 more or less. I have had several professional dealings with people who have purchased reman engines and transmissions, and nothing about the experience encourages me to take that route. I know it's a lot to pay for a truck this old, but everything else is first class, and I can't come close to replacing the truck for that kind of money. The one bright lining is that I can afford to have the work done, and I haven't been left walking.
So I would like to have some thoughts about this course of action from the ODT brain trust.
Weeeelllll, the transmission in my truck has totally crapped out. It has some reverse, no forward at all.
This is your basic "woods truck". At this stage of life, it probably gets less than 5000 miles per year. I have always maintained it, because I want to be able to drive to the coast, or up in the mountains, if I get a craving to do so.
So I am reasonably familiar with the local shops. Referring to the other thread about automatic transmission shops, the No. 1 shop in the area only installs remans at this time because they don't have builder. The next in line good shop will do an actual rebuild with a 3 year warranty using upgraded parts. Both have good reputations, so I have no problems doing business with either one.
The cost is within a couple of hundred dollars of each other, so price is not really a big factor at this time.
The other option is salvage, which at this time in my life is not a good option. I just fell like any salvage transmission of the correct vintage is going to have lot of miles, and likely rode hard and put up wet.
So at this time, I'm going with the rebuild, $3500 more or less. I have had several professional dealings with people who have purchased reman engines and transmissions, and nothing about the experience encourages me to take that route. I know it's a lot to pay for a truck this old, but everything else is first class, and I can't come close to replacing the truck for that kind of money. The one bright lining is that I can afford to have the work done, and I haven't been left walking.
So I would like to have some thoughts about this course of action from the ODT brain trust.
