Had to replace my truck last week

[BKahler]

We're moving from Arkansas to Kentucky and while towing a 31' Airstream trailer with our 88 F250 4x4 diesel the transmission (or torque converter) decided to call it quits. As I was heading towards an off ramp I heard this real loud ZING sound and thought the a/c compressor had bit the dust. I turned the a/c off and no more sounds. Fueled up and proceeded back onto I-40. As soon as I started heading up the first long grade I again heard this ZINGing sound that lasted for quite a while and felt the truck lurch a few times accompanied by the sounds of crunching and grinding from the transmission area. Managed to get over to the shoulder without getting cratered by all the semi's.

Called RV Road Help and they sent a tow truck to take me to the nearest place of repair. The tow truck managed to get my truck to a Petro truck stop but when we went back for the trailer his clutch cable broke (Ford F650) and so he had to call a tow truck to tow my trailer AND his tow truck. Talk about bad luck.

I called my wife and she got on Craigs list and found a 1992 F350 dually crew cab pickup for sale. It was 40 miles away so the tow truck driver hauled me and the Airstream up to where the pickup was for sale. We ended up buying the truck and I finished my trip to Kentucky the next day.

A friend of mine rented a trailer and retrieved the broken down F250 for me.

So now I've got to figure out what to do with the F250 since my wife likes the F350 better.

Brad

 

[Agnem]

That's a heck of a way to get another truck. Sorry for the trama.

 

[towcat]

wow....
talk about a real leap of faith. buying a used truck and then proceeding to take it on a long run. CC duallies can be really nice until you wipe out a doghouse parallel parking. those jumping parking meters are a real pita.

 

[Andylad13]

im very happy to know that the new truck was able to do the job even when you didnt have any experience with it!!!!

 

[icanfixall]

Yes... Driving a "new to you" truck that far untested is a giant leak of faith. I just did it from L.A. to Tulsa in a 2004 4500 Duramax hauling 8 horses. Talk about feeling like you were on the dark side of the moon... We didn't have any trouble but it sure could have been real bad if it did happen. What to do with 8 horses is the tuff part. So, back to your trans. If its a C6 it should be real easy to get another or rebuild what you have. If its an E4OD that going to be a more expensive repair. Being an 88 truck it probably is a C6 so the repair will be about 1/3 rd what an E4OD would have been.... Glad you made a safe trip after that...

 

[92F350CC]

Being an 88, it should be a c6. Unless somebody threw an E4OD in it. IIRC, 89 was the first year for the E4OD. A couple hundred bucks oughta have you back on the road. What transmission does the 92 have? If it is a manual, you have yourself one nice bullet proof rig, assuming it was taken care of.

 

[razorback]

if you want the trans rebuild/upgraded for HEAVY duty towing then call brians truck shop, they are actually in arkansas. not sure on their prices, or how far they can upgrade a c6..i think they mostly deal with e40ds.. anyway, their shop is only about 20 mins from me. about 40 mins from branson, mo

 

[icanfixall]

Brians Truck Shop (BTS) is a fantastic shop. They have the best bullet proof E4OD on the market. I did some research before I bought one. Their warranty... Any horse power... Any torque... No questions asked.. Can't beat that. My E4OD torque converter has 150 sq inches of clutch material. Its a triple disc. The stock converters have 25 sq inches of clutch mateial and they do last a good long time but.... How much better is the triple disc... I dought I will ever ruin one so we will see... Oldmisterbil got aver 200,000 miles on his stock E4OD because he took very good care of it when he was hauling heavy all over the U.S. I got about 170,000 miles on my Jaspers rebuilt so thats saying something. Brian is really easy to talk with also. You drive it in the morning and drive it out at nite. Job done...

 

[BKahler]

Thanks for the replies. There is no doubt I was a bit nervous driving the new F350 from Nashville to Richmond KY. The truck looked like it was well maintained and sounded good but until you hit the road with a load you never know what's going to happen.

The one thing that had me worried that started after I hooked up the 31' Airstream was a squealing sound. It would come and go and it took quite a while for me to pin point the source. Turns out the PO had put on LT 245/75 tires instead of the LT 235/85 tires that were supposed to be on it. The dually tires were rubbing together where the tire contacts the road. Unfortunately by the time I figured it out it was to late to try and find new tires, especially on the Cumberland Parkway late at night. Fortunately I made it with no further unplanned for stops!

It seems to be a good solid truck with very few issues, heck it only has a 148,000 miles on it. Time will tell however as I need to make at least 8 more trips to finish up our move to Kentucky.

Thanks!

Brad

 

[BKahler]

Forgot to mention we're probably going to sell the F250. Haven't decided yet whether we'll try and fix it first or just sell as is. I don't have time to work on it myself so that may force the issue.

I'm almost positive it is a C6 transmission as it does not have overdrive.

Its been a d*m good truck, it successfully towed our 20' Argosy motorhome on a trailer from Eastern Tennessee to Little Rock Arkansas. Total rolling load was probably around 16,500 lbs or so. It struggled some on the long grades in Tennessee but came through like a real trooper. I almost hate to see the truck go

Brad

 

[MIDNIGHT RIDER]

Whats the deal with all you migrants landing in Kentucky ??

First, it's that long-legged horse woman and now more.


When you were on the parkway, you had to have passed within three miles of me.

 

[towcat]

Forgot to mention we're probably going to sell the F250. Haven't decided yet whether we'll try and fix it first or just sell as is. I don't have time to work on it myself so that may force the issue.

I'm almost positive it is a C6 transmission as it does not have overdrive.

Its been a d*m good truck, it successfully towed our 20' Argosy motorhome on a trailer from Eastern Tennessee to Little Rock Arkansas. Total rolling load was probably around 16,500 lbs or so. It struggled some on the long grades in Tennessee but came through like a real trooper. I almost hate to see the truck go

Brad

I wouldn't be so quick to boot the f250.
especially when the '92 has the E4DOA. You just might need the F250 as a rescue truck on one of your shuttle trips.

 

[Diesel JD]

Sad to see that the c6 in the 88 is 4WD else I could have made you a smoking deal on a runner, but its 2wd. That E4OD in the 92 is a problem waiting to happen unless it has the 97 and up upgrades and extra good maintenance at a minimum but better still is a BTS overhaul on it. Its true that some members have done very well with E4s, but not too many, the ones who did were Oldmisterbill and argve... those guys are ******* equipment but know their stuff when it comes to maintenance...

 

[argve]

The key that Bill and I found to making an E4OD tranny last is really simple...

A cool, clean, changed often fluid is a happy fluid.

Both of us ran extra coolers, I used the largest tranny cooler I could get my hands on and Bill ran two of them in parallel.

I also went so far as to run a spin on extra tranny filter made by perma cool.

 

[BKahler]

Thanks for the tips on how to maintain the E40D and what to look out for. Until I have time to add in another oil cooler and change the tranny fluid I'm hoping the fact that I only tow between 55 and 60 mph will help extend the life of the transmission.

Diesel JD, until you mentioned the transmission being 4x4 I totally forgot that the 2x4 and 4x4 transmissions were different . That definitely limits the number of transmissions available to me.

Thanks!

Brad