So I took my 05 today to the post shop and gave this small a job a shot. Gotta say im glad I did it myself, the gasket+ RTV silicon and cleaning out the pan, peace of mind its all done right( by the way my magnet had no shavings, just a very small grey liquid, god thats gotta be a good thing). I also learned that whoever I had do the transmission work about 35k ago, I dont remember but id like to rearrange his face 2inches to the left. I found the gasket wasnt really even that, and he somehow managed to have a piece of it where it got worked into the pan and basically cooked to nothing.
Of course I had to have a scare, first time turning it on after adding fluid, letting it get to normal temp, there was a small amount of faint smoke, which was just the old fluid hit the pipes coming out. Haha I asked for a rubber mallet cause I couldnt get the pan off, hit that damn thing once and it was like a massive water ballon on all sides, so much for leavin 3 bolts on and draining it slow....
For anybody else thats about to do this, I was a pinch low on fluid before I started because of that gasket, and now im perfectly full of the stick, took 8 quarts. Got back just in time to catch my package of Dynamat from fedex, that one ill post pics of before/after. Thanks for the info guys, makes the job easier when ya know what to expect

 

I too want to do this with my 05. Only I want to get everything out of the lines, from the cooler to the torque converter. Any ideas or suggestions?

 

glad you got it done. I changed the filter/fluid on an s-10 I had once. In my basement, all I had was some ramps. Messiest job I ever did and I swore then I would never again attempt a transmission filter change. I take it to aamco now. I know the guy who runs it and I trust him.

 

Honestly minus the rear 3 bolts it was as simple as lift unscrew, drain, and put it all back together/refill. Took me over 2 hours but most of it was cleaning the old gasket off the pan, letting it set with the new RTV and then cleaning everything. Messy yes but, I dont think I could avoid it without that mallet.. PLOOW , oh ****..

 

I was lucky with this truck, sorta. It was leaking like a sieve from the rear main seal when I got it. Carmax took it to ammco since they had serviced it 3 months prior to me buying it. It's great knowing the tranny had two full services right before buying it lol. So I'm good for another 50k.

Personally I would do it myself, it is messy but I use one of those floor protectors that go under water heaters, which I stuck a paint spout on so I can pour it into the catch pan. Sure does save my driveway. But I noticed that tranny fluid weathers away a lot quicker than regular oil so the concrete is fairly safe anyways. My last fluid change was on an S10 aswell.

 

Yup now that everything is running perfect, time to pick up a small project for the fun of it. Now that I finally have the time and a full shop at 3bucks n hour, just gotta figure out whats not too difficult, and $.. A lift would be nice but outta my league skill and money wise

 

got a 4.7? Throw a new muffler on there. Thrush (flowmaster knockoff) 30-40 bucks, flowmaster 40 is 50-80, magnaflows are 80-100. Stock stuff just unbolts and with an extension and a few clamps you can get the tailpipe back on using original hangers.

 

Ive actually seen a nice Dual exhaust flowmasters on my same model truck... but when it comes to anything exhaust..
Say just replacing the Muffler, or getting a kit
(Ive only looked at ones like http://www.amazon.com/Flowmaster-174...2005&carId=001 )

Wouldnt I also have to get a new intake to see the real results? The link I above is only a few hundred, believe an intake is less than 150ish... so thats definitely an option. It seems most improve throttle response, efficiency and power. How much of that is true though? and to what extent.

 

I don't have an intake yet and my truck sounds fantastic with the thrush. I have heard mixed reports about intakes, you're pretty much dead on and i think it's all true but in small amounts. The biggest change you see right away is throttle response, some report tiny loss of lowend after that and anything else will mostly only show up on a dyno pull. The real results come with many mods.

I'm probably going for an CAI next, with a 68mm TB. I might try the 08 manifold with the airram adaptor kit, maybe some cams if I feel like tearing deeper into the motor. You may want to get a Superchips tuner too, once you start getting into new TB, manifold and cams you will want a custom tune made for your specific build.

A cheap mod I'm going to do soon will be to make my own sonnax, which is basically a resistor placed between the computer and a sensor in the tranny, causes the sensor to lie to the computer which tells the tranny to increase the line pressure resulting in tighter more solid shifts.

 

Do you mean a bored throttle body or an actual new intake? You can get good gains by simply adding a cold air intake. Combine that with a hipotek throttle body and you have plenty of intake. As far as the exhaust, save some money, you can find a catback system on ebay for @$200 that comes with a flowmaster:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dakota-2005-...item1e6415bf76

I personally hated my flowmaster. waaaayyyy too much interior noise. I've since switched to Magnaflow and love the sound.As has been previously stated, the major restriction in the exhaust (after getting rid of the stock muffler and reso's) is the y-pipe. From what I gather, our exhaust manifilds and cats are pretty decent as is unless you get into major engine mods.