haha. i understand all of your opinions. i had been through 3 autos total (one that was in it when i bought it, then i put one in from ford with warranty, then they had to replace it with another one.) i've just come to my understanding that i think the 4r100 is a huge piece of crap. lol. i've never been a huge fan of automatics anyways, not because i want to slam gears, but mainly because i feel like i know what gear i need to be in better than some computer. the auto would always downshift when it didnt need to, etc etc etc.

and im RARELY in any traffic. (maybe once every 3-4 months)....so thats definitely not an issue.

all in all, i trully believe i came out ahead in the long run....and if anyone is considering it i'll be the first to say that finding the parts is the HARD part. everything else is easy.

**oh and also...it is hard to find 7.3l's with the 6-speed...but EVEN HARDER to find a lariat with a 6-speed. actually, i think the only way you can find those is if the original owner ordered it that way from ford. (thats what my father did when he ordered his '99 brand new.)