We give an update on our situation as we're stranded in Bozeman, MT with a broken tow vehicle. We also fix the slow kitchen sink drain in our Airstream. www.johnjessjourney.com
Hang in there guys!! What a nightmare…ugghh. Your patience and upbeat attitude is a GIFT and a great example for your kids. Hoping things turn around with the truck situation soon!! Sending positive vibes!
My husband and I really feel for you right now. We had the same exact thing happen with our transmission earlier in spring. Fortunately for us, we were camping at an Airstream rally only 20 minutes from home so we had a friend that could loan us his truck so we could get our Airstream back home. We ended up having our transmission rebuilt and are “grounded” while our budget recovers. Hope everything works out for you! Take care.
Commented on your earlier video. You're going to need more truck. Just over 60k miles and tranny is toast means it is being overworked. A Ford Reman unit is going to be approx. $5k. I know about this. We tow a 25' AS with a 2013 Ford E150 XLT Premium van. This is set up for towing with an 8600 LB GVW and all heavy duty factory tow package. Tranny died at 67k miles just out of warranty. Ford wanted $3,800.00 for Reman unit. I had an independent shop build me a tranny specifically for towing. Cost was $3,200.00. Has not missed a shift in over 60k miles. Way better shifting feel and downshifting for downhill grades. My advice is to bite the bullet and get a Ford Reman tranny (it has a 3 year 100k mile warranty) then trade off for a F250/350 with 7.3 gasser engine, 4.30 axle ratio and of course all the stuff you would normally want on your tow vehicle. Expensive? Yes. I think if you continue with the current truck you're just going to have more tranny problems. Good luck and I hope you get it straightened out.
I agree. The current tranny fix gives me a 2 year warranty on it... so I at least have some breathing room while I wait for truck prices to come back to earth.
@@johnjessjourney2352 Sorry you and family have to go through this. First, try to get some $$$$ adjustment from first $1,900.00 repair. Second, the dealer that charged you $700.00 should credit that toward a Ford Reman tranny if you go that route. I agree that Truck prices should come down in next 2 years. Do you have AAA? if so, see if you qualify for any "Trip Interruption" coverage. Do you have any "Coach Net" coverage from purchasing your AS new? When you order a new truck, F250/350, possibly order an XL trim level with the STX trim option. Do a build/price exercise on the Ford website. I did that and came up with a Price under $50k. and it was a well quipped truck. Check this out. No, it is not a Lariat or King Ranch but it has all the creature comforts and no frue frue. Take care and good luck.
@@johnharper2016 I did get the $700 credit, no go on the other dealership in Utah though. Yeah I priced it on ford.com too, but its sort of moot since you can't really order something right now. At least not with an expectation of getting it in the next 6 months. Plus the msrp Ford shows you on that is still B.S. since you have to order it from a dealership and they can still charge you more, which they will if they're only allotted x number of vehicles per time frame and can easily sell them for > msrp.
@@johnjessjourney2352 To bad about the one Dealership not making it right about the $1,900.00. Contact Ford Customer Service about this. Shame on them. Hopefully in the next 2 years before your tranny warranty expires you will be able to go to a decent dealership and order up an appropriate TV and not get taken to the cleaners. We have 117k miles on our current TV and plan on riding it until one of the major manufacturers comes out with an acceptable full EV van. GM announced that there Express/Savana vans should be full EV by 2025. We shall see. I do not think that EV's are the total answer to all this "no emissions" nonsense. It is just emissions somewhere else. Again, hope you are on your way soon.
Unfortunately he just started having minor seizures again. We had to take him to the emergency room in Jackson, WY. He had an MRI and the good news is the tumor looks like it hasnt come back. But he needs to start seizure medication again. They believe its still a result of the tumor / surgery.
I would call Ford directly and plead your case, which I think is a strong one. You are only 4000 miles out of warranty, I would be very disappointed if Ford would not offer some assistant in the expense of this repair, it would be a great opportunity for Ford to show some customer Good Will!!
Yes, call Ford!!! We had a situation like this with our Ford Truck slightly out of warranty (and Airstream issues) in Bozeman (and later Buffalo, WY) two summers back. They did help us out.
We have a 2016 Ford F150 Ecoboost and we had these same symptoms while towing. It ended up being the throttle body. I hope the dealer has ruled this out.
Hi John, If it was me, I would seek out help from one of many local transmission shops rather than any dealer. I see several listed with high ratings. I wish you and your family the best of luck.
They do have a few here and we've looked into that - it would definitely be less than the dealer, where they're talking about $8000 for a new transmission. The problem is they're all booked solid - as in they can't even look at our truck for 3-4 weeks.
Hate that for y'all. It sucks but it will work out for the best. This pause may be saving you from something worse down the road or making for an even better adventure. Either way y'all have each other and always seem to make the best of each day. Wishing you well and safe travels.
I have found rental companies unwilling to rent for towing. If you find the same thing, consider purchasing a used truck from the dealer or a nearby carmax, then sell it back to the dealer or carmax when the your truck is fixed. It will cost a fortune, but probably not much more than alternatives. Plus, you'll be able to salvage your trip. Good Luck.
My ex father n law was pulling a trailer and his transmission went out. He had to borrow the money to get it fixed because he did not have the spare cash. Vehicles are a pain but a must.
Sorry to hear what you are going through. It might be worth checking tranny special shops around if they can repair the tranny sooner. It doesn't sound the dealership is capable of fixing the issue. Anyway, I hope things will turn out nicely in the end.
My transmission went out close to Bozeman about 5 years ago. The tow truck driver recommended Foster's Master tech. They got a transmission from Billings and had me running in a week.
Sorry to hear about your whoas. I am sorry to hear about the lost videos from your SD card too. The used truck market is terrible for buyers right now. Buying used is not a guarantee fix as you point out. You don’t know what you are buying.
Sorry to hear this guys. It’s always something but love your positive attitude. I’m curious, John…. do you think the transmission issue has anything to do with towing your 30’ Airstream? I ask because I too tow the 30’ Flying Cloud with a 2020 F-150 Eco boost engine and max tow package. So far, it’s been great. But at times I wonder if I’m beating up the truck too much. Would love to hear your thoughts and hoping for a good resolution for you and your family! 🤙🏾
Believe me I think about that and wonder the same thing. We did get the F150 not only with the max tow package but also with the max payload package, which upgrades the springs, gearset and wheels, giving the truck a payload of 2458lbs. The max tow also gives an auxiliary transmission cooler. And it towed great this whole time. I have since read online about that fairly new 10 speed transmission they put in it having a lot of issues. There's even a class action lawsuit with people having a similar issue. Two different Ford dealers we spoke to confirmed that they've had a lot of repairs on that tranny. So in the end I think the biggest cause may just be that transimission. If I had originally purchased an F250 would we be in this predicament? Perhaps not. Perhaps something else could have gone wrong. Perhaps even the same configured truck wouldn't have had the issue... impossible to say.
This is your Fault. A 30 Airstream weights between 8000 and 9500 pounds. You are at the maximum towing capacity with nothing to spare. You are past capacity when towing up a mountain. An F150 is not much more than an oversized car. To tow an Airstream greater than 25 feet your minimum tow vehicle is an F250 with a 6.0-liter gas or a deiseal. Whoever advised you on the tow vehicle size was a fool. If you don't get a larger truck, prepare for another transmission.
My husband truck is went in limp mode to protect the engine.it was just the jets that needed cleaning.I was driving and it did that my son said put it in low gear and floor it so all the black stuff blows out then move the gears and do the same thing and it fixed it so ever so often I do that
I would go get my truck and Take it and try that flooring in each gear the slush from the gas causes it to build up then I add a gas addition when I fill up.All this black smoke comes out the tail pipe when you floor it.
@@johnjessjourney2352 people don’t hear that logic. 🙉 We’ve made the same choice for almost the same reasons. We did extend the warranty to seven years and 100,000 miles.
John, long time no contact. We have come off the road full time (I think I told you that) and established a home base in TN. Sorry to hear about your troubles. We are camping this weekend in TN and have been racking our brains as to how we could assist. Couple of questions, do you have the 10 speed transmission? I have heard the previous model (not the 10 speed) has had issues. We have the 10 speed with the 7.3L gas V-8 and really like the tow. We have the 30' FC RBQ. Is there anything you need or something that we can do? If we were closer you could park in our driveway and use our truck (F-250 Platinum). Sorry you are having issues, nice fix on the plumbing though. Cheers bro, Brian. PS - why did you go with 6V batteries? We have had great luck with 12V AGM batteries and are looking at lithium for a future upgrade.
Yeah, it would have been nice to have someone like you nearby! Yes, it's the 10 speed which I also read online that there's a class action lawsuit against ford for issues. I replaced the 12v with 2 6v in series because they 2 6v in series will last longer than 2 12v in parallel. So we just get a slight bump in capacity when boondockiing. I'm considering doing lithium and solar next year.
@@johnjessjourney2352 As I mentioned, I have the two AGM batteries (Lifeline) and could not be happier. They are three years old and still going strong. I have three solar panels now and will be going to lithium when these go bad. I am sure you know when you go parallel you double the capacity, e.g. two 80amp hours will give you 160 and when you use the 6v and go in series you get 12v but keep the same capacity e.g. two 80 amp/hr batteries will give you 80 amp hours. That is the main reason I am sticking with 12v batteries. Battleborn makes a small form-factor 12v that Airstream is using in their "Lithium" package and they are 100 amp hours each so I will have 200 amp hours which will be plenty for us.
Not to make lite of your troubles but it reminds me of the joke: A guy and his wife are in a cafe having breakfast and talking about their horses on their ranch. A Texan sitting nearby overhears the conversation and asks "How large is your place?" The husband responds "10 acres". The Texan, "Thats nothing". The husband ask how large the Texan's spread is. Texan, "Well if you get in your truck in the morning and drive till sundown, you would still be on my property",. The husband answers back, "I use to have a truck like that". Good luck with your situation. If there a correct solution, I'm sure you guys will come up with it.
John, we are so very sorry for the truck issue. Please weigh your options very carefully, rebuilding a transmission is a highly technical repair that not every dealership nor transmission shop today knows how to properly repair or rebuild. Also check nhtsa.gov and see if there is a recall on your tranny. BTW how many miles do you have on your V6 turbo F-150?
We're just out of warranty, 64,000 miles. I actually found a class action lawsuit against Ford for this particular transmission. Seems a lot of people have had similar issues. I hear what you're saying about the rebuild - it makes me nervous to pay to have it done only to have it break again shortly thereafter. Unfortunately our options are somewhat limited here. Would be easier in a big city.
We wish you and your beautiful family the best. I wish someone was there at the RV park that would of moved your Airstream for free. I would of done that and I’m Sure there were others that would of been happy to.
@@Joe-cu4hi Yes, we knew someone from the RV community would probably do it... the problem was we hadn't really met anyone yet and we didnt want to put anyone on the spot - because we couldn't blame them if they didnt want to lend their truck out or take responsibility for moving it.
