I'm not sure if you're the original owner of yours, or how it's been maintained, or whether or not you use your gears, that can have a lot to do with overall lifespan. And, I definitely change it yearly, no questions asked.doesn't matter if, like this year, it's only going to see 7-8k miles by year end. This truck has also pulled my 3/4 ton dodge diesel 4x4 out of the mud a few times but, with that said, I change the fluid generally within a few days of something that was fairly rough on it. I barely allowed the truck to get 6k miles on it before I put my heavy boat behind it. I actually have to disagree on 90% of owners opinions on this tranny I have pushed mine hard from the first day off the lot. Keep us posted.some of it too, could actually be age alone as well. your last years trip with just that load alone and the towing while in 4low, both needed immediate drain/refills for fresh fluid. Some things you can do.do NOT flush that tranny, period! Drop your pan and do a drain/refill with new e how that does for a few weeks.Īny time that fluid gets a little too hot, OR under a severe work-out, ie. When your tranny got too hot last year, did you drain the fluid and refill with new ATF then? If not, that alone probably sealed your fate. Your undoing, I believe, was the towing of the other rig.that's a lot of load. And we have some very steep mountain passes here in Colorado.

But I do believe regular ATF intervals can go a long way and I don't push my truck.I'll gear her down and let her walk literally, if it means keeping that tranny cool. But I've also changed my fluid every 12-15k miles without fail.not saying you haven't.

That said though, I've been running 32' tires for quite a while, and I've pulled a heavy load and a heavy boat in the past, all without issue.

That auto tranny is already working hard. This is one reason why I will not run tires bigger then 32' it's not at all the load on the engine. On your trip last year, were you using your gears on any mountain passes? Sometimes, even when there is no mountain, one with the auto needs to gear down due to the weight of the load they're carrying.specially with running your size of tires.

Transmission flush cost pep boys