The earliest the maintance book calls for is 60k under SEVERE usage. The fliuds today are far better and last far longer then 20 years ago. I believe in maintance but it can be overdone and a waste of money. Lifetime power train warranty calls for maintance as "per the owners manual". ATF+4 transmission fliud is a synthetic.

 

But if you are overheating the tranny then the recommended interval goes out the window and falls under the "inspect tranny fluid" that gets done every time you change the oil.

 

He did and said it looked fine and no unusual smell .Fliuds today handle heat and load a lot better then a few years back.

 

Fluids are cheap, trans is expensive. If I overheated I would change the fluid immediately.

 

My evaluation of this (which dosent meen ****, its just an opinion), big tires, over loaded hauling, low gear vs high rpm usage, trans not serviced per oper/manual.
Sounds like to me, the truck is being over worked.

 

Hard to believe since my factory fluid looked terrible at 55K and I don't tow heavy or have big tires. Sounds like he might have a lack of understanding of what good trans fluid looks and smells like.

 

Fair enough - I'll start with a change of fluids and filter. I'm not a professional mechanic, but I'm not a complete dipsh!t either. I appreciate the thoughtful feedback and the DIY info DirtyDog. Thanks folks.