K I'll put it on my list of things to do .. lol

Had my truck up on a hoist at school and found out I need front wheel bearings, got my front tires balanced and found out I need a new tire cause I have like 38lbs of road force, and I gotta adjust my rear brakes. I put a hardware kit, cleaned the backing plate and lubed the contact pads and I guess I need to adjust my brakes again.

I've never done trans work before ... anything I should know about removing the pan, replacing the pan, gasket tips, filter tips?

 

Nothing really to it. I always remove all the bolts except a couple in the rear and let the majority of the fluid drip out for a little while - go have a snack or a drink and let it drip. Then get under there and put pressure back up on the pan with one hand and remove the remaining bolts with the other. Try to bring the pan as straight down as possible because there will be a lot of fluid in there. Of course have the largest drain pan you can fit under there because fluid can and will drip all over. I have some absorbant mats that I put under the drain pan too - just in case. When you remove the filter you just pull straight down on it. Chances are the seal will stay up in there. Get a small (the smaller the better) flat head and drive it between the seal and the surface of the transmission. Be careful though as you don't want to gouge it. Sometimes I have had to drive the screwdriver in in a couple different spots and then pull it out with some needle nose or I use a cotter pin removing tool which works great. Tap the new seal in - a deep socket the same size or a hair smaller works well and then just pop the filter back in. You will hear it snap into place. Then just replace the pan and gasket and top off the fluid.
Also note that some trucks need the transmission crossmember slid back to get the pan off. It's just 4 bolts going to the frame and then the trans mount - 2 going into the trans and then just loosen the nut that faces down to ease in lining up the other 2 when you put it back together. Obviously you will need to support the back of the transmission when you slide the crossmember back. This is a great time to inspect your transmission mount as well - they are very cheap.

Good luck!