My BTS Journey

[Jake]

As promised, here is the story of my journey for what i hope turns out to be a free BTS transmission. I won't give every last detail so as not to bore you, but it might anyway. It's still a freaking novel either way.



This was posted on the OBS chat. At first I ignored it and skipped over the link. Then i saw everyone saying things like, "man i wish i had the money" and "man i wish i was closer" etc, so i decided to look at the ad. The truck is in International Falls, MN, I am in Fostoria, OH. I checked it on google earth, 900 miles, 15 hours. One way.

I called the guy and talked him down on the price, found a trailer i could use, and spent probably 2 hours on the phone with BTS asking questions about warranty carry over, and if there would be any issues with putting this trans in my truck. I put some serious thought into it and came to the conclusion that I want it.

Me and the guy planned this all out for a weekend trip, and he was gonna meet me in Eau Clair, WI, which knocks about 5-6 hours off a one way, so 10-12 hours total. I had talked to Dave (mod on here) and he said he would meet us in Eau Claire as well to BS for a bit, as its less than an hour from his place.

So last thursday night (3-24-11) i get the trailer and get everything ready to go for friday after i get off work. I picked my buddy Travis up after work for a co-pilot/make the trip go faster person to talk to. Got to my place and finished packing things up for the weekend, and just as we are getting ready to hit the road i get a call from the seller. He was gonna use a rollback to haul the truck to Eau Clair, but during the loading process the winch cable broke. We throw ideas out there and he says he'll call back in an hour when he figures something out. He calls and says he found a trailer and we can start heading that way. Awesome.

So we hit the road. So as we start getting a bit closer to Chicago, i get a call from the seller again. Basically he says the trailer wont work. Come to find out its a bobcat trailer. He had to take the outer duals off to get it on the trailer, which is no big deal, but the bigger problem was what he was gonna use as a tow vehicle. A Yukon. A FREAKING YUKON!!! TO HAUL AN 8000+ LB TRUCK! He says with the front of the truck toward the Yukon, there is too much weight on it, and with the front of the truck toward the back of the trailer, there isn't enough weight.

So I'm pretty pissed at this point. Then it hits me, if he has a bobcat trailer, he probably has a bobcat. A bobcat can be used to push the truck onto a rollback. Right? Wrong apparently. He says its a little gas motor bobcat and wont have the power to push it up. I was pissed and was tired of arguing so i told him I'd just drive all the way up to International Falls, with an appropriate amount taken off the price of the truck. He agrees. So we continue on the road.

We make it to Madison, WI before i decide that I'm am too tired to safely continue driving, so we pull over into a mall parking lot and park under a light, and sleep in the truck. Of course it ends up being frickin cold that night, and i was wrapped in my sleeping bag in the driver seat like a cocoon. Got maybe 3 hours of not even half decent sleep.

We wake up and press on. I got ahold of Dave and we met in Eau Clair and BS'ed for a little bit. Dave decided he'd ride along with us up to International Falls and back to his place, which wasn't too far out of the way.

When we got to the truck the first thing i did was pull the torque converter inspection plate to make sure i wasn't getting F'ed. Sure enough, a purple converter. This is also where the story takes a slightly retarded route.

We were debating ways to load the non running truck on to the trailer. We suggested his bobcat. He insisted that it wouldn't work, it don't have the power blah blah blah. We insisted we try it anyway. With coaching from Dave on how to run the damn thing, where to push on the truck, and exact movements, the bobcat pushed it up, JUST FINE! He could have used that bobcat to push it on the rollback!

So we load up the extra crap he was giving me with it, a supposedly junk tcase (which both outputs spin when locked in the proper ranges), a questionable starter, the transmission shipping crate, 3 gallons of new 15-40 rotella, and 3 60-80% 305/70 16 Super Swamper TSL's. Also got a chiltons book for 99 up superduties.

Then we started heading back. We obviously had to drop Dave off, and he let us crash there, which was awesome and very appreciated. It beat the hell out of sleeping in the truck. Him and Katie even gave us some food and beer.

So i paid for Dave and Katie's breakfast the next morning. I figured it was the least i could do for the generosity. Then continued the trek back home. We got back home around 9ish on sunday. Before i dropped my buddy off, we stopped at the local grain elevator to weigh the rig. 22,660 lbs. No wonder i got 8.5 MPG on one of the tanks. I must say the Dark Horse pulled it at 70 as stable as can be. The lack of balls in the tow setting left some to be desired, and resulted in stretches 5 minutes at a time or more with my foot glued to the floor. Over all not bad though.

And now for the pics from the trip:

Met with Dave and Katie







Crossing into Minnesota



Loaded and ready to go



Random pic at a fuel station



Chicago skyline (on way home)





Scale



Home safe and sound







An extra bonus i didn't know about



This last weekend I decided to swap the BTS into my truck. I had help from my buddy Josh (hammerstroker on the org). He was kinda sick so he was mainly just my tool b1tch and chair holder downer. Though his help was invaluable in the bigger stuff, such as maneuvering the transmission around under the truck and lining it up, and even just bein a tool fetcher sped things up alot. Transfer case install i did alone. I will try to never to that again. Damn odd shaped, off balance, crooked hangin bastages. Josh was able to come help finish with the fluid flush, to get the mercon out of the cooler and lines, since the BTS uses mercon V. Got everything finished around 9:30 or 10 sunday night and went for a test drive. Feels awesome. As soon as you put the shifter in drive it engages, like, immediately.

And for pics:

How do you move a non running truck up an inclined driveway?


Had to jack the truck way the hell up to get the trans to clear


With something this sexy, a man just cant help himself






Josh wanted to get in on the action too


Tight fit












Upon closer inspection, it appears my factory trans wasn't quite factory


Made my own extension housing gasket since vato zone don't carry them and i wasn't gonna wait another day


Installed and ready to rock!



The trans does need some tweaking to hold the power i have since it was tuned for a crappy no balls chip, and also so it shifts to my liking. This is where the awesome customer service of BTS comes in. I talked straight to Brian for a good half hour today asking questions. He cut me a good deal on the parts needed to tweak the trans and they should be here this weekend.

Also, thanks to whoever it was that posted that CL ad.

[Jarrod B]

jake taking advantage of the bts.




i wants one NOW!

[HaysKSFirefighter]

Wow thats a heck of a deal..you bought the tranny and got a truck for free

[Jake]

Originally Posted by Jarrod B

jake taking advantage of the bts.




i wants one NOW!

I couldn't help it! It's far to sexy to resist.

Originally Posted by HaysKSFirefighter

Wow thats a heck of a deal..you bought the tranny and got a truck for free

Thats how i look at it. Plus once i fix the truck and sell it, i should profit.

[Dave]

Yeah we got to the guys house I saw the bobcat I looked at Jake and said what he couldnt push it up with that

Whats really sad is there was also an IH 756 loader tractor in the shed

[HaysKSFirefighter]

Oh yeah you should make money on that no problem! I wish I could find a deal like that...I'm building mine up and my weak link besides PMRs will be the tranny

[HaysKSFirefighter]

Originally Posted by Dave

Yeah we got to the guys house I saw the bobcat I looked at Jake and said what he couldnt push it up with that

Whats really sad is there was also an IH 756 loader tractor in the shed

Some people

[Dave]

This is the same model bobcat he used to push it up with me telling him how to do it.

Once he started listening and kept the bucket down low it went easy

[Jake]

He seemed like a decent guy, just wasn't the smartest tool in the shed. He did at least make things right.

What i found hilarious is that the guy sounded exactly like Jarrod, only with a canadian accent.

[Ryan Rønning]

Glad that it all came together for you Jake.

Ya know most of us have fetishes that in someway relate to girls, you are the first person I have ever met that has had relations with a transmission.