Trussmans Transmission

[Big Tow]

As many recall there was a guy named Trussman that had a problem with his D/A truck. The fine folks here (mostly Big Al) hooked him up with someone from Allison transmissions to help. After a couple months, Allison had an update for him, and all of you too! The update worked quite well. The truck absolutely resists downshifts while on cruise and does much better any other time. A couple contributors made this possible. Many thanks from Trussman, who regrettably was banned by the administrators here for unknown reasons.

The truck is still not perfect, but now is acceptable. It is back in the shop today unfortunately. The injection pump was replaced a few weeks back because of a surging condition. Now the district rep hand delivered a part that they say it needed right away. So the truck lives, it has 55k miles to date.

I noticed that a few of you have spoken badly of Trussman. It honestly was not his choice to quit posting. He is greatful for the help. :D

[ 06-03-2002: Message edited by: Big Tow ]</p>

[Derek M]

Big Tow smile.gif Good to hear Trussmans issues have been addressed. Do you happen to have a part number for the TCM code that was installed to eliminate the downshifting issue? I'm sure folks here would appreciate it.

Thanks

[Big Tow]

I think your best bet is to just have the latest reflash done to both the engine and trans computers. I don't think there are any "bad" updates out there anymore. This one was released about a month ago. It is definately worth the update, the difference is very noticable with big loads.

[More Power]

Our bending over backwards to help him (getting an Allison engineer to spend time with him), then posting how he wanted to "shove it down GM's throat" probably didn't help his cause here.

MP

[Big Tow]

So it WAS something personal. I do not recall the "shove it down GM's throat" part. I do recall him getting help here but still not being real happy with the truck. Is that how the forum works Mr Administrator? If it isn't rosy they get banned?

Not only that but, be careful when taking credit. I think it was all Big Al, am I wrong?

[sonofagun]

Big Tow,

Trussman was offered imeasurable help on this site and, in the opinion of most of us who tried to help him, was unrelenting in his unwillingness to hear any of it. He bad mouthed the truck on other sites while he was seemingly unwilling to go get it fixed. He was interested, uniterested, rude, open, critical, ete., etc.,etc. In the end he proved, at least to me, to be a bigger jerk than he was worth. You seem to know him and I hope he finally got the truck fixed to his satisfaction or got on with his life in a F*** or a D****.

My 2c worth how.

Bob

[mackin]

Big Tow,


Get a shot of "JUICE" that will fix you're,his,whatever ails ..... You'll only need one gear then ....... TOP .........

Him , you , whatever, did get alot of attention on that thread ........ We were wondering where you , him , whatever, went and what happened .......You , him , whatever , got some attention on the other camps forum,we had to do alot of defending of the Allison ..... Well now we know ......... Good luck , glad to here things have worked out .......... To the better ........ For you, him , whatever..........

MAC :D :D

[ 06-03-2002: Message edited by: mackin ]</p>

[Big Tow]

Yea, I know him. His posting privaliges were revoked here or you would have heard the rest of the story. (Nobody seems to want to tackle that one)

I have read all of the posts concerning the issue. Seems to me that often he was far from the only rude poster and, though I may be biased most of it looked like self defense.

I also recall a post from "hoot" regarding his posts on the Ford site. I have to agree that the guy has the right to post within the guidlines.

Unwilling???? Do you have any idea how many times he has had that thing in the shop? You obviously have read that he did follow through with Allison and got an update that works. How is that unwilling? Unwilling to try and sell it at a $10k loss, I would be unwilling, and ****ed at GM at that point to. Between a rock and a hard place.

I think if you were trying to rely on that truck to reliably do what GM claims it can do, and it did not, costing you money, you may be a little PO'ed as well. I personally though he was pretty objective about it. I saw a lot of others throwing stones. To be fair a bunch of you guys LISTENED before casting a stone his way. I think the whole point he was trying to make was that even a truck as seemingly well done as the dmax is subject to problems. I think some of the the people critisizing him may not be willing to accept that.

That had to be at LEAST $.05 worth ;)

[Big Tow]

Gee mackin, you seem ummm...Confused?

[mackin]

Big Tow ,

Sometimes,I'll admit ........ You do seem to know him real well ...... Is he still towing those massive loads? With his updated D-MAX? Seems that was one of the things that stuck in my head ,he was pushing the envelope day after day, and not happy at all ...... Perhaps he should of stepped into a 3500 or a MEDIUM duty truck .......

MAC smile.gif

[2K2AD]

Trussman was in his posting prime when I first started reading this board. Without him, things seemed eerily 'perfect'. I believed his truck was unique and probably 'was never meant to be' (to quote Hoot, I think)

I am glad he got his truck problems resolved and can understand his frustration. All the great advice and help from forum members substantially influenced my decision to buy my truck!

I suspect I don't know the full story, but shame on Trussman if he bit the hand that was feeding him. If not, shame on us for not following through.

Just my $.02!

Kevin

[MudNurI]

I'm thinking Big Tow is Trussman reincarnated???


Brandy

[mcfly]

Quote MudNurI "I'm thinking Big Tow is Trussman reincarnated???"


Shhhh! ;)

[Mic]

Quote MudNurI "I'm thinking Big Tow is Trussman reincarnated???"

Shhhh!

--------------------


I for one would like to hear Big Tow's (name uniquely chosen) fully story of Trussmans truck experience. Even if Big Tow is from the home town of Trussman; Staples, Minnesota.


--Mic

[ 06-03-2002: Message edited by: Mic ]</p>

[mackin]

NOOOOOOOO .......... You don't think do ya ..........

He said I was :confused:
Don't get me :confused: again ......
So let me get this straight BIG TOE .... OH excuse me TOW is TRUSSMAN ... Here we go again I'm :confused: AGAIN ... GHESHH

MAC :D

[NutNbutGMC]

^Big TOE.... Get a life somewhere else. But never let it be said that you weren't welcome to our forum. Welcome. Now, you can go away until you read every thread and post about this Trussman hoak. These people here went well aboveand beyond the call of duty, so you're $0.02 is about that.

Mack Daddy... I got your back Dawg!

[pullinpower]

Big Tow tell him to get a juice box. :D

[Buckman]

Big Tow:

First of all; welcome to the forum. Thanks for the update on Trussman's truck. Frankly, I feel that the forum administrators were a bit too thin-skinned regarding the ban on Trussman posting here. But, that is their decision. It is somewhat understandable how the whole situation elevated along with the frustration factor and the end result was numerous negative comments. I'm sure that none of us would ever do likewise in the same situation!!! The bottom line is that the truck is now performing at an acceptable level and those members who truly helped (especially BigAl) should be thanked for their efforts and ability to ignore the rocks & arrows and focusing on the problem at hand. Again, Welcome to the forum.

smile.gif smile.gif

[hoot]

The Trussman debacle was started by his pretty unprofessional topic headers and subsequent trashing of GM. Hey, we all get mad but as I have personally realized, raising cain in writing on the forum gets you banned. Some of those conversations would have been better off accomplished by email. This site needs to keep a positive feel even when someone is having major problems with their truck or GM or both. It's our responsibility as adults to maintain it. Me included.

[Big Tow]

OK guys, We do live in the same small town. Yes, I know him, it is a small town, and he owns one of the larger businesses around here, most people know him.

But if you want me to be him I can sure try! If so though, I want the rest of his toys too! He got a bum truck, no doubt about it. Mine has been great, no problems. A couple other guys in town have had the inj pump trouble he had, but none have had the towing problem. Of course nobody pulls quite that much either. I have a 40' triple axle enclosed that goes 10k loaded, not any trouble pullin that.

I think his truck is still in the shop, I saw it sitting at the dealer last night. I sure am glad mine isn't there that much! You guys should cut him some slack, he really did get a bad one. I have also seen and ridden in his F-350. That thing is undoubtably a workhorse, tons of miles and no problems. It just seems kinda crude compared to my Sierra.

[Mic]

Big tow

Was his injector pump replaced back in April for an idle surge problem?

--Mic

[GrayMax]

I did follow the Trussman complaints and could relate to some of the problems he was experiencing. His choice of words evidently appeard to offend those with "thin skin" regarding what he said about a machine. Ultimately, he was run off the board unfairly IMHO. Does the Allison have quirks? Yes indeed, I know first hand like many others. My pride does not get in the way from informing others either. Do the Allison quirks irritate me? Indeed they do. My truck has been in the shop 3-times for the Allison alone - each time for software updates. Is that a big deal? It is inconvienient to say the least. Here are the occassions for the truck visiting the DMAX Dude:

- Truck acted like it was in nuetral when placed in any gear. Full throttle barely moved truck. While in drive without throttle, truck rolled backwards. (Almost hitting my neighbors car park directly behind me.)

This happened on two separate occassions and my fix was hit the Control, Alt, Delete button (turn ignition off and restart truck.)

The dealer so called fix:

First visit: Code 1781 stored. Performed update to PCM (did not list update.)

Second visit: Same problem with excessive downshifting while towing with cruise on. Reprogrammed PCM. (did not list update.)

Third visit: Same problem without excessive downshifting - second visit appeared to fix that annoyance with bulletin # 01-07-30-034. Reprogrammed TCM (not to be confused with PCM.) with bulletin # 02-07-30-020.

Just received the truck back yesterday for the third attempt to get the allison's act together. Hopefully, I won't have the limp/nuetral affect revisit me.

Other visits included:

-Replacing driveshaft from 2-piece to 1-piece.
-Replacing air cleaner assembly for water intrusion.
-Recall for brake wiring.

A point to ponder: When the warranty runs out, on our truck, will we pay for the software updates on our machines like we do for our home PC's???

Those are the facts gang, 6 visits to the dealer thus far on a truck I received in December 2000. My wife thinks 6 visits are excessive since her '97 Chevy has never required warranty service. Is 6-visits bad? Is my wife off-track on the excessive part?

VIN Number available upon request.

[hoot]

GrayMax,

It looks like you have a specific problem that is not a common one. It almost sounds like your truck is going into limp mode when it shouldn't.

I haven't had my truck back yet at 30,000 miles although there are some minors I'd like to get done. I haven't had any updates and the truck just seems to get better.

If they don't fix it this time you need to take some serious action. Either start lemon law or go to a better dealer.

[ 06-04-2002: Message edited by: hoot ]</p>

[sonofagun]

Big Tow,

It's nice of you (and others) to defend Trussman. I hope he gets his truck fixed. It seems to me to be WAY PAST due on lemon law stuff unless your state hasn't got one.

The bottom line, I think, is that he doesn't reside here any more (for whatever reason). We can't help Trussman and you can't either, not here.

You are welcome and I hope you become an informed and informing member. There are a lot of good guys here.

You've had your truck for a while, what have you done to it? Have you had any problems?

Bob

[ChevysRus]

Hey Graymax, that's an easy fix you described. Mine did the same thing. Did the truck sit a few days before you started it up and had the problem??

Anyway, there is a switch in the tranny that gets confused as to what gear you are in due to fluid draindown from some trucks sitting too long. The tranny pumps air through the system sending a code to the computer that something is wrong and that casues the switch to act up and not select the correct gear.

Big Al addressed this in a previous post when I asked him for help. The switch cost $30 and 3 qts of tranny fluid to fix. I will get you the part numbers and exact details when I get home tonight and check my bill (no charge receipt).

Big Al suggested one way to avoid this problem if the truck is sitting several days without being driven is to start the truck up and let it run, then shut it down and start it up again to clear any codes set before you put it in gear! If you put it in gear before re-start it's too late to clear the code except at the dealer. In some cases cutting the truck off and on will re-set and clear the code, but not always.

So now when my truck sits a week or so when I am on the big Silver bird, I always fire it up then cut it off and re-start before putting it in gear.
Have not had the problem since. Not sure if due to the re-start or the new switch, but it is easy to do and if it works I am all for it.

I agree you shouldn't have to do these things, but
whatever works is fine by me (up to a point).

Anyway basically, when the truck sits a while (some trucks, not all) the tranny fluid will drain down into the pan. When you first start the truck a slug of air is pumped through the system sending a code to the TCM via the ECM (or vice versa). If you put it in gear before this code is cleared, the tranny switch can fail to select the gear. The problem is called 'intermittant PCM switch failure" or something like that. Anyway I will find the thread and the work order and get back to you tonight.

Good luck

[GrayMax]

ChevysRus,

I believe you're right on the money. My truck did in fact sit for a few days when the nuetral/limp symtoms occurred. I sure would appreciate all the particulars on the fix.

I sure do love the Allison (a big selling point for me) but it sure has some quirks.

Again, thanks for the insight.