We Lost the transmission in our truck (just want some sympathy)

[kakiegirl]

Well here we are one month from disney and we went on a short camping trip close to home this weekend. On the way back we were 10 minutes from home and the transmission went out on DH's Ford F150. It was towed to the shop today and they have told us it will be $1,700.00 . Oh well I guess that answers my delima about whether to get a golf cart or not. I am very sad we had scrimped saving money so we would actually not have to be too frugal at Disney this time, now the majority of it is going to have to go to fix the truck just to get there. I guess I could look on the bright side at least it did not do it on the way to disney, I would have hated to break down on the interstate. I guess a week of peantbutter and jelly sandwiches and not many souviners is better than no disney at all.

 

[duckdeau]

Sorry about what happen to you I know how you feel about hitting the pocket book before vacation, this happen to me 4 years ago when my engine let go setting me back 3500.00.there went our Disney trip for that year. We leave this weekend for our Disney Trip, from Baton Rouge, La and praying for trouble free traveling, and great weather

 

[mrsgus06]

You have all of my sympathy. Last July I watched a tow truck come in with a truck on the flatbed and it was towing the camper! They arrived about 2 a.m. and the tow truck driver backed the camper in and took the truck off with him to be fixed. The poor people had no food in their camper as they were going to go grocery shopping the next day. I felt so bad for them. As for the souviners I always let the kids shop on the last night out. Doing that, they have all week to look at the different things and decide by the last night. With 6 kids I have to watch money or it will fly out of my backpack. As for the food, everyone will be in Disney and no one will care what they are eating, I know mine don't. Perk up and please don't let this drive you .

 

[fanofmickey]

So sorry to hear about your transmission. But, you have the right attitude - a week at Disney on a tight budget is better than no Disney at all

 

[grumpy's Mrs.]

Hmmmm....Sorry to hear about your transmission. PBJ works for most kids.....you could do the garage sale thing for a few extra$$$$.

Good Luck and enjoy.......

 

[JacquiBee]

kakiegirl, sorry about the tranny. But it least it happened close to home.

We were on the way to WDW/FW ten years ago and pulling our pop-up. 90 miles from the FL border, my Blazer blew a transmission seal. Now, there is absolutely nothing around Arabi, GA. My 2 b-i-l's brought us another SUV and took my bad Blazer home! We continued our trip, had a good time (after I regained my composure ) and eventually replaced the transmission when we got home.

And we've done trips to WDW with PBJ's and cereal. Cereal makes a great snack...just pack it in ziploc baggies, throw it in your backpack/fanny pack/tote bag and snack on it throughout the day! You'll still have a great time!

 

[Teamfour]

Sorry to hear about the tranny. I am interested to know what type of truck it was and how much weight you were towing.

 

[JacquiBee]

It was a 1985 Chevrolet Blazer S-10 Blazer 4WD 2.8l engine and I have no clue what the pop-up weighed. I know it was one of the lighter ones, as it didn't have all the bells and whistles! My DH (the master mechanic) swears to this day that a transmission cooler wouldn't have helped, but I still beg to differ! We pulled the camper the rest of the way with my S-I-L's Bronco II and had absolutely NO problems (other than a kid getting carsick... )

 

[Teamfour]

It was a 1985 Chevrolet Blazer S-10 Blazer ...

Thanks, but I was actually asking Kakiegirl. I have an F150, so I am curious.

 

[bigdisneydaddy]

Just have to offer my $.02
heat kills trannies ! towing produces heat ! coolers dissipate heat !
If you tow ANYTHING you need an air to oil trans cooler ( a seperate unit from the radiator, can be a factory unit or an aftermarket)

That and regular maintenance ( fluid and filter ) Are the only way to make a tranny survive.
assuming you arent towing a bigger trailer than the truck is rated for

 

[Teamfour]

I agree Bigdd. That's why I'm curious. My F150 has a tranny cooler plus tranny temp gauge.

 

[bigdisneydaddy]

sometimes it just comes down to luck.

 

[kakiegirl]

Team Four I am not an expert on automobiles but DH's truck is a 1997 Ford F-150 4 wheel drive. If you want anymore info about it I can ask DH. Our camper is light weight only 3500 lbs. We have found out two things from this (1) We did not have the cooler that was mentioned above (2) DH would sometimes run the truck in over drive which is appearantly a big no no. (3) You guys will probably know what this means, but we also towed the truck back to our house (about 15 miles) and the guy that did the transmission is afraid that may have messed up the transfer box (???) something to do with the transmission (because you are not supposed to tow this kind of truck) I pray not because that will be more big bucks. This is our first full size camper and I guess you live and learn. Of course also DH has 150,000 +++ miles on his truck and things don't last forever. Anyway, we will be headed to disney in 3 1/2 weeks with our new transmission and much lighter pockets.