I'll try to condense a long story down to something less than a wall of text.
I'm 1 year from retiring and moving home. So every year when we take a vacation, I take something back to put in storage. The year before last it was my double axle trailer smoker. Last year it was my 20ft Chaparral boat.
Two months ago, it was a cargo trailer with my two motorcycles, steel targets, and anything else that would fit in my 6x14 cargo trailer. About 4500lbs, which we towed with the wife's 2011 Dodge Durango 5.7 Hemi (130,000 miles, 7500lbs tow capacity).
About the first few hours into the trip, I started with flu type symptoms. Really dry throat, coughing, sneezing, runny nose. Just, really felt like ****. So, regardless, drove about 12 hours the first day. Then about 12 more the 2nd day.
On the 3rd day, about 2/3 of the way, the transmission (545rfe) started to feel like it was slipping about 2 hours north of Albuquerque, NM. It started with some odd shifting, then slipping a little. We pulled over and I checked the transmission fluid, which looked good.
When I got back in and shifted into drive, there was a kinda loud, violent clunk. Shifting into park, reverse, or drive it did the same thing, a loud, metallic clunk sound. I thought maybe a U joint, so crawled under and had the wife shift back and forth between park, reverse and drive. I didn't notice anything like a worn U-joint, but the transmission seemed to jump/jolt quite a bit every time she shifted.
So, we carefully limped it to the nearest hotel that would let us stay with two dogs, which was a ******** that looked like a great place to get stabbed. I checked the wife/dogs into the motel, then dropped the Durango off at the nearest dealer and got an Uber back to the motel.
After the Uber dropped me off, while I walked through the hotel lobby towards our room, there was a guy checking-in, wearing a hoodie that was soaked in blood, dripping blood onto the floor. Standing in a puddle of his own blood, and neither him nor the ******* clerk checking him seemed to even notice.
The next day, the dealer said it would need a transmission and it might be a couple weeks before they could get one in.
At that point, I was well and thoroughly sick with some kind of super dry cough flu, angry and just wanted to get the **** out of that hotel, so I got an Uber back to the dealership and just bought another car.
The wife doesn't have a 2011 Durango any more. Now she has a 2022 Durango RT, 5.7 with the 8 speed. It towed that trailer like it wasn't even back there.
It was really expensive, and I do NOT like spending large amounts of money this close to retirement. It was an emotional decision, which I hate. But, it is a pretty badass car.
If the breakdown had occurred at home, or at our destination, i could have just have bought a transmission and installed it in a day. But it chose to do it in Albuquerque, NM. For someone as cheap as me, buying a car is a traumatic experience.
I thought of renting a car to continue the trip, but the rental companies were a hard no on towing. Having a trailer and two dogs really limits the options.
When you need one that can tow over mountain ranges, has a trailer brake controller, and enough interior room for a woman and two bigass dogs, the only leaves expensive cars as options.
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