What do you drive for a truck?

[Too many Kubotas]

How do you repair a transmission or fuel pump on the road? I've swapped out the latter several times in the woods, but don't make it a habit to carry spare fuel pumps with me.

That reminds me of driving some 80 miles, including through Los Angeles, while making the electric fuel pump in my Jeep work by hand.

It was a used SU and I suspected that the points was the issue and busted the plastic cover so I could close the points manually as needed. It's mounted within reach of the driver's seat.

Never came to a complete stop on the freeway as I recall, but three of my fingers (I kept alternating them) were quite black by the time I got to my girlfriend's house.

Cleaned the points in the morning and drove home. Since that night I started carrying a spare pump.

 

[Too many Kubotas]

I couldnt disagree more. GM builds excellent transmissions.

Hmm. PowerGlide, TH 350, TH400, TH700R4, 4L60E, and 4L80E, comes to mind as good transmissions. And the Aillison ones don't seem to be bad, either.

 

[Jstpssng]

I couldnt disagree more. GM builds excellent transmissions.
They owned the entire Allison Transmission company and still own the Allison small transmissions. For over 40 years, Ford medium & heavy trucks equipped with automatics had GM Allison transmissions in them.


Where do you get your “information” from?

From running the GD pieces of junk for 25 years. You dont find an Allison in half ton pickups. My employer mostly ran GMs until about 5 years ago. They never went much over 120k before the transmissions blew up. Often they shifted poorly right from the start.
Just after the warranty ran out on my Colorado last year it started shifting rough. It turns out there was a TSB on it... they had put the wrong fluid in at the factory, but I had to pay to have it changed. 6 months later it started tripping codes; turns out there was another TSB for a faulty wiring harness. That cost me nearly $1000, including replacing fluid again. They paid for the repair on Denalis, everybody else was SOL.

There is a class action lawsuit against GM for the 8L90 and 8L45 transmissions.

 

[ultrarunner]

I presided Lemon Law cases over the GM TH200 transmissions and it didn't go well for GM... The consumers brought in volumes of data along with meticulous dealer service records to make their case.

It wasn't too long that GM did an about face and accepted responsibility...

TH-200 Transmission: Court Room to Race Track - CIRCLE TRACK WAREHOUSE | PERFORMANCE RACING DISTRIBUTOR | AUTOMOTIVE PARTS

Once a legal headache for GM, the lightweight TH-200 has become a popular solution for both drag and circle track racers.

motorstate.com

 

[kozal01]

The GM 6L80 is complete junk, lucky if they last 100K. It is so bad that they finally went to Ford and is now using their version of the Ford 10 speed. Every person I know that has a GM 1500 or Suburban/ Tahoe has had to have a transmission replaced around 100K. Not to mention the 5.3 and 6.2 V8’s that suffer from collapsed lifters and wiped out cams from their junk AFM/ DFM. If you catch it early enough it’s repairable, otherwise the lifters can get stuck in the lifter bores and it junks the block too.

 

[Hay Dude]

From running the GD pieces of junk for 25 years. You dont find an Allison in half ton pickups. My employer mostly ran GMs until about 5 years ago. They never went much over 120k before the transmissions blew up. Often they shifted poorly right from the start.

120,000 miles from an employee “driven” (probably beaten to death) actually isn’t too bad. After having employees and working for people with employees, I have seen firsthand what they do their employers vehicles. It’s a wonder they last 20,000 miles in some of the more heinous abuse I have seen.

Just after the warranty ran out on my Colorado last year it started shifting rough. It turns out there was a TSB on it... they had put the wrong fluid in at the factory, but I had to pay to have it changed. 6 months later it started tripping codes; turns out there was another TSB for a faulty wiring harness. That cost me nearly $1000, including replacing fluid again. They paid for the repair on Denalis, everybody else was SOL.

That hardly means the transmission is a piece of junk, right? I could put the wrong transmission fluid in a perfectly good transmission and ruin it too, right?
You could put the wrong fluid in a Allison 3500RDS and it would ruin it. Does that make it a bad transmission? lol

 

[Hay Dude]

The GM 6L80 is complete junk, lucky if they last 100K. It is so bad that they finally went to Ford and is now using their version of the Ford 10 speed. Every person I know that has a GM 1500 or Suburban/ Tahoe has had to have a transmission replaced around 100K. Not to mention the 5.3 and 6.2 V8’s that suffer from collapsed lifters and wiped out cams from their junk AFM/ DFM. If you catch it early enough it’s repairable, otherwise the lifters can get stuck in the lifter bores and it junks the block too.

GM & Ford collaborate on transmissions.

GM and Ford Collaborated on 10-Speed Transmission that Will be Used by Both Brands - AutoInfluence

For whatever reason, GM and Ford worked on a 10-speed automatic transmission together. With GM being the parent company of Chevy, and Chevy and Ford being bitter rivals in the truck and muscle car market, this is not only hard to believe — but also slightly confusing. Why would these…

www.autoinfluence.com

Why Ford and General Motors Teamed Up on Transmissions | The Motley Fool

Both Ford and GM are about to put new 10-speed automatic transmissions into production. That's not coincidence. Here's the story.

www.fool.com

I had a 08 Chevy Tahoe with a 5.3L & automatic that we sold with original engine & transmission running fine with 230,000 miles on it.

5.3L GM engines are some of the best basic V-8’s ever. If you simply turn off the cylinder deactivation, they go a long way.

 

[kozal01]

GM & Ford collaborate on transmissions.

GM and Ford Collaborated on 10-Speed Transmission that Will be Used by Both Brands - AutoInfluence

For whatever reason, GM and Ford worked on a 10-speed automatic transmission together. With GM being the parent company of Chevy, and Chevy and Ford being bitter rivals in the truck and muscle car market, this is not only hard to believe — but also slightly confusing. Why would these…

www.autoinfluence.com

Why Ford and General Motors Teamed Up on Transmissions | The Motley Fool

Both Ford and GM are about to put new 10-speed automatic transmissions into production. That's not coincidence. Here's the story.

www.fool.com

I had a 08 Chevy Tahoe with a 5.3L & automatic that we sold with original engine & transmission running fine with 230,000 miles on it.

5.3L GM engines are some of the best basic V-8’s ever. If you simply turn off the cylinder deactivation, they go a long way.

The 5.3 used to be a very good engine, the latest iterations are not as great. As for the Ford/ GM collaboration, the 10R80 they made was based on the very reliable Ford 6R80 six speed. GM struggled for several years prior to build a good transmission for their 1500’s. Even the Allison in the HD’s are nothing like the Allison’s of the past.

 

[sixdogs]

Believe it or not, but Ram has changed a bit during the past 27 years.

How are they now? Last year and this year. 2500 gas? Diesel?

I hear conflicting reviews and not sure what to think.

 

[RB5]

Yeah like 3 + decades ago. lol
I have some 90’s Ford sueprduty stories? Want to hear them?
I also have some 2010’s Ford stories, too. Much more recent.
No, I didn’t think so.

Every manufacturer has had issues at different times.