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Showing results for tags '135000 miles'.
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I rarely drive my 135000 mile 2004 Chevy 2500 since I retired, usually just to tow my home-built squareback trailer (2250 lbs) on camping trips. Before retirement, it was a hauler for my drag race car (for 5 years), towed my camper (for 9 years, now), and also my daily-driver (for 5 years, then part-time after I bought an HHR panel as my daily). The bed is full of camping gear and emergency-use supplies (about 800-1000 lbs), year-round, so it sits while other cars and trucks get more usage. After sitting for three months this time, I changed the oil, topped up some other fluids, and took a 500 mile trip with my trailer attached. Sometimes, if I started off too hard from a stoplight, the 4l80e felt like it was slipping, but not so much if I feathered it at the start. At first I wondered if it might've been a U-joint getting loose, but a quick test underneath proved it to be OK. Furthermore, when I pulled off into soft mud, it really slipped before it grabbed (two-wheel-drive). Though my 6.0L engine/4.10 rear combo has no trouble pulling the 2250 lb trailer, I started using tow/haul mode on the second half of the trip, whenever I was either braking in traffic in urban areas, or when taking off from a dead stop. No slippage when tow/haul is engaged. I had the solenoids upgraded about 50000 miles ago, when stop & go daily driving in rush hour traffic was causing erratic behavior, and I used Lucas Transmission Fix about 25000 miles back, when I felt a slight slamming into second gear (upon part throttle). In each case, the problems went away. I didn't check my transmission fluid before the trip, I confess, but I did check the tranny pan, rear seals, differential for signs of leaks, and found none. On the trip home, I stopped just around the corner and bought a new grease gun & cartridges (for the driveline, which may need some, though I did the front end 10k miles back), and a 24 oz bottle of Lucas Transmission Fix (if the fluid level is low, I'll just top up...if the level is OK, then I'll drain/siphon 24 oz and replace with Lucas). It worked before, so why not try it again?