So the situation is: I live in washington state, ill be moving across the country within the year. I dont feel confident that my tranny will make it over there especially with a trailer on the back. So im going to get it done before i go.

I have a 1999 F250 7.3l4r100

Option #1: have a local reputable tranny shop rebuild my tranny with a billet converter for $4600-4800 out the door. 1 year 12k mile warranty (ill do the 6.0 cooler myself)
option #2 have another shop install a jasper tranny with a 3 year warranty (nationwide) for $5200 out the door
option #3 have the tranny shop install a BTS tranny ($5500 + $700 shipping) and their labor of 8 hours at $1320. Total for BTS tranny installed $7520

Obviously i would love the BTS and id like to have brian install it but getting my truck down to Arkansas isnt realistic.

This truck is manly used as a weekend driver and i dont town hardly at all. My biggest tow will be a 6x12' moving trailer on a 33 hour drive when i move. I like the idea of someone rebuilding my transmission because every part will be looked at. But the jasper tranny will have a nationwide warranty.

Id love some advice and what you think! Ill be moving to eastern kentucky so ill be much closer if i want to do a BTS tranny down the road.

 

You didn't list the Ford heavy duty reman, came from Ford with a pretty good Ford warranty when I got mine.
I don't know if they are still available but it was a pretty good deal for $3200 out the door when I got mine.

 

I haven't looking into that option yet, I have heard good things about the ford HD4r100. Do you have a link by chance. All I see are monster transmissions when i look up Hd4r100

 

What's the tranny doing that makes you second guess it?

 

Well its original tranny. 149k miles. Gives some harder shifts and last time I took it in for a fluid change they said "youll need a new tranny at some point" and that there was "a good amount of shavings on the magnet". Its not slipping or anything.

I should note its completely stock. Two owners before me. Last owner had it since 48k miles back in 2002. He had fluid changed a couple times.

 

Pretty much any transmission will need replaced "at some point". If the truck has not been abused, and has had regular service, run that thing! I don't think 149k is anything on one. You might look into doing the 6.0 cooler swap before the move for a little more peace of mind.

 

Do you think its safe with the harder shifts at times and the shavings on the magnet?

 

Any transmission is going to have shavings on the magnet. That is why it is there. I have dropped pans of vehicles with 30K miles and had to clean the magnet. When you start seeing chunks of clutch material, then you really start to worry! What condition was the fluid in? Was it stinky and burned up?

 

They didnt mention anything but I had checked it before the fluid change and it didnt smell and it had good color.

 

The first thing that came to mind when reading this was “that shop is getting him ‘prepared’ for a ‘needed’ trans job.” Their words are a little vague.

The same shop doing the flush give you the price for a rebuild?

Did they show you the material? Have a photo you can share?

The harder shifts could be a concern but “shavings on the magnet” could mean a lot of different things depending on what they found. Maybe something, maybe nothing.

This is encouraging. At least it doesn’t sound like you have any burnt clutches.

I would love to say run it but it’s easy for me to say that not being the one having to deal with potentially being stranded on a cross country trip.

How hard are these shifts?
Completely random or repeatable under specific conditions?

Any other performance issues with the truck? Low power from some other issue may make you use more pedal could trick the PCM into thinking you’re running it harder than you are giving a firmer shift when not expected.

If it makes you feel any better, a 6x12 trailer shouldn’t be too much of a chore for the truck.

 

Sadly i didnt think to ask for a photo of it. Yes they gave me a bid to do a jasper. Its seems to be 1st to 2nd and 2nd to 3rd. I can ease up and make it shift smoother but if im really getting on it seems to be worse of course. I am going to be installing a new drive shaft because i have a lot of play in the slip yoke so maybe that will help with the harder shifts? In another thread ive also been having an issue with a thump when i left off the throttle (which I now believe is my driveshaft issue). Ill be doing the 6.0 cooler upgrade soon because it sounds like i need that no matter which direction i go. Ive also been looking into some gauges so i can make sure my temps are okay. Im not going to tune or lift the truck. I was thinking the cts3, not sure if anyone has an opinion on that as well.

 

When they told me that ill need a new tranny at some point they also said "just drive it till it goes out" but thats still pretty vague. This was a few months ago, id be surprised if they remembered what the tranny looked like.

 

Custom tuning may help the transmission woes.

 

Wearing a dress and wig in public would be the obvious initial concerning thing


But seriously, I'd get the driveshaft done first, then if the hard shift issue is still there make the call on the transmission

 

Is it possible that a PO installed a shift kit that firmed up the shifts? I'm no expert but there are SOME electronics involved with our transmissions.....
(I've not been around for a while but may be Mark Kovalski could be of some diagnostic help??)
MY L99 has 160k and I have NO mods to the engine or transmission except a "6.0" cooler, I live in Florida and would drive to California right now w/o worry.
140ish K miles should be nothing on a stock transmission that hasn't been overworked or overheated and been kept serviced.
Years ago BEFORE I started towing OUR 9500+lb TT I installed a "6.0" cooler with the adaptor fittings, IF I had it to do again today I'd get the Mishimoto cooler.
Mishimoto has real nice molded lines that make the installation look factory. They don't like to sell their lines separate but just last year "my" "mechanic" told them a small white lie and got them to sell HIM a set of their nice lines.....