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Three Reasons Why You Should Not Attempt DIY Truck Transmission Repair

6 December 2016 by Herman Mills

Truck transmission repair should only be handled by someone who knows how to fix transmissions. Even a general mechanic knows more about transmissions than most vehicle owners. Before you get gung-ho and decide you want to perform DIY truck transmission repair, here are some valid reasons not to do it and have a mechanic or transmission specialist do it instead.

Transmissions Are HEAVY

It is a well-known fact that car transmissions are heavy, but truck transmissions are even heavier. That is because these vehicles are designed for pulling and hauling, and they need the engine power to do it. With that much power comes a really big transmission and a really big engine. With that in mind, removing a transmission requires a transmission or engine crane. Some mechanics may even use an overhead crane to get enough lift power to take the engine block out so that they can get to the transmission without hurting themselves. Doing this on your own almost certainly guarantees major injuries.

It Is Grueling Work If You Have Never Done It

A truck transmission is not the way to break into DIY engine repairs. The transmission needs to be removed, cracked open to see what is wrong, fixed, and/or replaced and reinstalled. If the car is still having problems or the gears are slipping, you have to repeat the process all over again until you have successfully repaired the transmission. For someone who has never worked in-depth on his/her own vehicles, this is not the project you want to constantly repeat until you get it right. It may really frustrate you to the point of hiring a mechanic anyway, so it just makes better sense to hire a mechanic now and get the job done right.

If You Make a Serious Mistake, You Could Drop Your Transmission out of Commission Entirely

If you have ever heard someone say, "The transmission dropped out entirely," what he/she means is that the transmission gave out and there was nothing he/she could do to fix it. If you decide to go ahead with your DIY transmission project, and you make a serious mistake, you could lose your transmission. That is an extremely costly mistake because you not only lose all the time and money you just put into it, but you also lose the couple grand for a brand-new transmission or close to a grand for a rebuilt transmission to be installed professionally.

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