Aftermarket transmission options

[SHAFT]

Hey Gents, greetings from the middle east.

So i'm deployed and my wife calls me and says "honey, i killed your baby. i'm sorry." Story goes that she had the van out for its monthly-ish drive (it spends most of its time on a charger in the driveway cuz she's got a 4runner) when it suddenly didn't wanna shift and she smelled burning (read metal burning). she pulls over, gets some help from some locals who tell her all the t-fluid is gone (gulp), get her some more (of what kind i don't know) and she nurses the wounded beast home.
now i'm kind of far away and can't diagnose anything or even try to guess what the hell went wrong but i'm assuming the worst.
So in the spirit of thinking my transmission has been fried, i'm trying to figure out options. Being that our rigs are somewhat of an anomaly, i'm seeking advice from the best minds out there. I'd like to use the opportunity to replace with beefier, in the event that i decide to go power crazy in the future, i'm just not sure where to go for it.
If anyone has replaced a whole tranny in a UJOINT van, what did you go with, are you happy, was it unnecessary etc.

thanks fellas, peace be upon you all.....

 

[mgmetalworks]

Rebuild what's in there with good parts. If it is destroyed inside, find a good core and rebuild that. Ive got a really good transmission guy close if you want some help. When are you back in the US?

 

[Bbasso]

Either BTS or John Wood for the best rebuilding options in the States.
Maybe they can ship one to you...

 

[mgmetalworks]

^^^ lots of folks can build good transmissions, sometimes even very close by with no need to freight a trans cross country.

 

[broncobowsher]

Diagnose what is happening. My uncle puked enough trans fluid from his 7.3 that it pretty much stopped moving on the highway. That was with 200k on the transmission that had seen a good amount of towing. He called me with the dead truck need help phone call while I was in town. Picked up a case of super cheap fluid and found him. Poured some blood into the transmission, found it pouring a steady stream out the bellhousing. Limped it to my place. Pulled the trans and found all it that went bad was the torque convertor seal wore out. A $5 seal later and it was back together. That was 5 years and 120k ago. It is still going strong, the engine got replaced due to an injector taking a dump down a hole but the transmission still works perfect.

If you can just let it sit until you can get back to it.

 

[ujoint]

For a stock powered 7.3 a good local transmission shop can get it done. They'll know what parts to update/etc.

Has the transmission already been converted to 4wd?

 

[IdaSHO]

Agreed.

Just find a shop with a good rep, and be certain the trans is (re)built with all the updates.

 

[VOODOO7.3]

For a stock powered 7.3 a good local transmission shop can get it done. They'll know what parts to update/etc.

Has the transmission already been converted to 4wd?

Chris, his sig says it is an '05 DP Tuned 6.0, and his post says he might go power crazy in the future, but I agree that a true transmission expert can perform whatever repairs/upgrades he wants locally.

SHAFT,
Posting your mileage, past transmission maintenance, and towing/heavy hauling frequency, would be helpful too. Going from what you posted, I think you should let ^^MG's transmission guy look at it and tell you what he thinks you should do. I hope it is something simpler than you might expect! Cheers!