GEN 2 Need Transmission rebuild/replace. Recommendations on best route?

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FrankL1

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Frank,

As you mentioned warranty, my biases are based on my corporate leadership role at an automotive OEM. I am an engineer focused on outcomes/business—and am not a mechanic, but consult with the extremely bright members on my team quite often unfortunately.

ETHICS: I believe it is dishonest at best to swap back to stock evidence of tuning/transmission shift point alterations/bigger tires. Why? Because we readily catch folks who try to swap back to OEM and pretend nothing was changed/modified.

1. It creates a tremendous perception of stark dishonesty (similar to folks who have legitimate back injuries/pain, yet have to fight to get care due the perception of those who scam the system). The easier wrong is far worse than the harder right. I can only speak from my experience—we catch the swap backs—and the urban myth that a lawsuit wins is sorely misrepresented.

2. You bought a used truck that had 37” vs OEM tire sizes. That does change gearing and puts significantly increased pressure on internals—especially if in conjunction with tuning for power, and of course—rough use and shoddy maintenance. NOTE: I have larger tires on my Jeep, but regeared the diff to get as close to ideal as possible. That said, if my transmission blows—that is not on my warranty.

3. Technology to catch mods, use patterns, etc., is improving faster than one may realize—as the OEMs will save money (and more readily identify improvements). The ability to catch liars has improved significantly—which I can see when I look at year over year, and past roles. If someone didn’t think an aftermarket mod could have caused damage—why did they swap back to stock, or why didn’t they go after the aftermarket parts company?

4. Interesting enough—when I have spoken with multiple large dealerships (new & CPO) and parts manufacturers, enough have said they are more likely to give someone help/a break—if they don’t try to game the system. I have seen it enough to consider it a fact.

5. One of my far sharper team colleagues led a seminar on the aftermarket (and I love the aftermarket). There are tremendous aftermarket companies with great warranties, infrastructure, and reputation for not trying to push the customer off onto an OEM for problems. There are also aftermarket companies that I wouldn’t urinate on if they were on fire.

NOTE: A decent number of outstanding aftermarket companies become preferred/sole vendors for OEMs which is a tremendous financial/reputation incentive for them to have good business practices. Some of the brightest engineers at my company came from the aftermarket—and have skill sets that are world class.
—————

That said, now time to fix your transmission.

I agree with @FordTechOne as he is spot on—with a few additional thoughts—in general (not all inclusive by any means).

1. Cost Factor & Duration: Your wallet, your use of the vehicle, how long do you plan to keep, stock vs. modded, importance of warranty, etc. If I were going back to stock tire size and wanted to keep the truck for many years/miles—the cost of new is amortized over time (if it is affordable to you).

2. Competence of technician: repair/rebuild shop is only as good as the expertise of the lowest denominator—the guy who rebuilds your transmission. I have seen the difference between excellent and poor. The extreme examples of shoddy stick out, but again—that is my bias as I cringe when I see shoddy (worn parts reused which accelerate wear on new components/poor assembly).

3. Consistency/Warranty: If the transmission is heavily damaged, I’d go with new or factory remanufactured if possible. The warranty may be better in some cases. Going back to stock is important.

4. Mods: If you want the big tires/lift, tuning, etc., I’d go with rebuilt as that is least expensive and say damn the torpedos in terms of warranty. PLEASE NOTE: I have no knowledge when it comes to regearing front & rear diffs on a Raptor. Someone else may know better.

5. Warranty on transmission: Whether new, remanufactured, rebuilt—you ought receive a warranty of some sort. Read it with a fine toothed comb, and if it isn’t clear—get written clarification (in the event things go south). The downside of some fly by night operations—is they fly by night and have 5 different owners in 3 years (yes I have seen that and far worse).


Overall, you have to be honest with yourself. You make the payments—not me, nor anyone on this forum. Wishing you the best of success!





Good afternoon KAH24,

Thank you for your response.
I agree with your ethic and ethical response.
To be clear and for the record - It was never the intention to go the route of falsely claiming through the extended warranty company and hope for the best(reopening or new claim on different ext warranty co with different tire sizes in this case). Especially not publicly, let alone the hassle of trying to remember such masses of what-did-X-say and in the end getting caught to no avail.

I strongly believe in, you reap what you sow.
No malice intended with my response.

As to the transmission fix, all great bulletins/points.
The truck was great, and would definitely love to see it running again. Especially for the price I paid - it’s a expensive lawn ornament at the moment. A pretty one at that haha.
Which is why I’m a bit swamped/stalled and came here for opinions/support.

As for going new, reman, rebuilt, or used, I am okay with all options.
I’d like to do right for myself(it’s a large investment and want it done right) as well as down the near future I may trade/sell(Which I most likely will, and to be honest it does scare me a bit of having another issue, but mostly due to needing a 3/4 ton truck) and wouldn’t want to have the potential new owner stuck in the same cycle as I was/am. I wouldn’t want to put a highly used transmission to limp into the dealership and hope nothing happens, just to get rid of the truck at a cheap price. Though the dealership will(at least I would think) address any issues if any are to be had.
And this is where ethics would come in - and morals for me.

Looking for that sweet spot(to best put it), what would make sense to have best of all worlds for myself and the potential new owner if I sell.

I appreciate all your input and help KAH24! Thank you!
 
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FrankL1

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KAH 24

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Good afternoon KAH24,

Thank you for your response.
I agree with your ethic and ethical response.
To be clear and for the record - It was never the intention to go the route of falsely claiming through the extended warranty company and hope for the best(reopening or new claim on different ext warranty co with different tire sizes in this case). Especially not publicly, let alone the hassle of trying to remember such masses of what-did-X-say and in the end getting caught to no avail.

I strongly believe in, you reap what you sow.
No malice intended with my response.

As to the transmission fix, all great bulletins/points.
The truck was great, and would definitely love to see it running again. Especially for the price I paid - it’s a expensive lawn ornament at the moment. A pretty one at that haha.
Which is why I’m a bit swamped/stalled and came here for opinions/support.

As for going new, reman, rebuilt, or used, I am okay with all options.
I’d like to do right for myself(it’s a large investment and want it done right) as well as down the near future I may trade/sell(Which I most likely will, and to be honest it does scare me a bit of having another issue, but mostly due to needing a 3/4 ton truck) and wouldn’t want to have the potential new owner stuck in the same cycle as I was/am. I wouldn’t want to put a highly used transmission to limp into the dealership and hope nothing happens, just to get rid of the truck at a cheap price. Though the dealership will(at least I would think) address any issues if any are to be had.
And this is where ethics would come in - and morals for me.

Looking for that sweet spot(to best put it), what would make sense to have best of all worlds for myself and the potential new owner if I sell.

I appreciate all your input and help KAH24! Thank you!

@FrankL1

Sir, thank you. Candor and honesty are refreshing.

I simply am saddened when I see posters suggesting that one should try to switch wheels to make things look like you didn’t have 37” tires.

If you need a 3/4 ton, I would recommend you have a reputable shop install a remanufactured—ideally with a transferable warranty (to next owner).

From there, trade in the Raptor—as even with 63k and replaced transmission, the market for Raptors is good enough that I would bet that you could find a 3/4 of your liking and come out well.

Find a respected independent mechanic to look things over for you (after you have the transmission redone)—and of course look over the 3/4 ton you may be looking at.

Overall, I wish you the best of success. Lots of great vehicles out there.
 

Fever

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Can you share the name of the place in TX you purchased from, might be good for us to know for future ref
 

scary gary

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I'm sorry to hear about your trans but happy it got resolved. I personally don't know when the last or if it was ever serviced. I haven't gone through the Carfax the dealership provided to see. But I would like to know more of the proper/certain way to do it, once it does come up for needed service.
From what I’m told a service would be dropping the pan and replacing the filter then topping back off. A flush will hurt the transmission as in my case. I was so lucky Ford recommended it and I had proof of everything. They also replace with a new trans, cooler and converter due to the time frame to receive parts was 3 months. I was told between $11-13k. Never seen the actual invoice tho. good luck.
 

richnot

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Thank you richnot,

I saw that transmission and actually contacted the seller the other day. As for FTO, who/what is that?(I’m sorry for the question, not familiar with the acronym)
I know another member told you who FTO was and I apologize for not spelling it out. He along with many forum members are a Godsend for input, information and just plain old advice based on what they have been through. I know that I have learned so much from this forum and so have many others, and you can`t beat the occasional ballbusting and other humor that is used to lighten a bad situation.

I wish you the best with your truck, I did look around and there are several big aftermarket companies who have done engine and transmission swaps from new to used trucks. It might save you a ton of money if you went that route. Just paying for the part and have a reputable shop install it. The link I put up was for a trans and transfer case with less than 500 miles on it and the shipping was free and the price was negotiable, I just don't know if you could use a 2020 trans in your truck
 
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