Well, unfortunately I'm having a pretty bad transmission problem now. Not sure if it's related to the 4wd/pavement thing, but it needs to go to the shop and I could really use your guys advice.

The problem is that it will drop out of 1st gear with an awful sounding BANG! It just started this morning, and didn't drop out every time. After it did it a second time, I started holding onto the shifter when it was 1st gear, but it dropped out of gear then, too. After that, I stopped using 1st gear.

The shop I usually go to is telling me I need a whole new transmission. Could this be true? Isn't it possible to rebuild parts of the transmission instead of replacing the whole thing? Also, could it just be a problem with the clutch instead of the transmission?

Even though these guys seem trustworthy, I didn't feel safe asking them these questions. If they are out to just sham me into a new transmission, they could tell me any line of mechanic BS and I wouldn't know the difference. That's why I had to ask the real experts first <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" />

Thanks guys!