Typical dealership costs. About twice what it would cost at an independent.

A heavy diesel transmission rebuild for high horsepower would cost close to that.

First I would have taken it to the selling dealer.

I have heard of others paying for parts only in similar circumstances. Is it an 8 speed? I know they had recalls specifically on the torque converters on some of the 8-speeds.

if your paying all out of pocket I would take it to a non dealer service shop.

63k on a truck transmission is GARBAGE. With trucks these days it seems like if you want to be able to touch 200k towing a bass boat you need to step up to a 1 ton diesel and get that 200k in QUICK..

I really want a Jeep Gladiator but the way vehicles are coming off the lots now I doubt I would get my money out of it. My tow vehicle is an old '07 Dodge with 220k on the original trans and engine, I just do regular maintenance and she is happy with a new part here or there. I wouldn't honestly trust jumping in it with a trailer and heading to California tomorrow, but it's a great side vehicle for grabbing parts or towing out to about Austin.
-----------------------------
8 speed trans? Did you ever experience hard shifts and weird transmission behavior prior to the torque converter failing/metal shavings discovered in your transmission? If so, since 2016 they have been dealing with that. Under a load those hard shifts could wreak havoc on your trans. Google your specific transmission (8L90?) and look at service bulletins on the Third Gen (2014+)

https://www.carcomplaints.com/news/2018/gm-8-speed-transmission-fix-lawsuit.shtml

Here are service bulletins to start Googling. I would go back to the dealer and GM and fight them hard.
--- TSB 16-NA-175
--- TSB 18-NA-177


You can look up all service bulletins for your year. Look them over and see if they apply to you.

I find the quality of the more modern vehicles I have owned to far exceed the older ones. My 2011 1500 z71 trans was way better than the 1994 1500, my current ram 1500 with the ZF-8speed is better than the 2011. There are a lot of people out there who could F*#K up a mothers love when it comes to vehicles and blame it all on the manufacturer too.

That could be true, but the service schedule shows only a fluid change at 45k. Pushing it to 63k wouldn't be what killed it. I bet they noticed a lot of shavings if he did the 45k service and didn't say anything. I sent OP a link with more info on his transmission - maybe he missed the warning signs from the TSB's and can push GM harder - ESPECIALLY if he did go to a dealer because of any of the symptoms in the TSB and they told him it was taken care of (the TSB's show the original repairs didn't work).

Personally I'm obsessive with service so I would probably have done the trans fluid/filter before 20k with towing, then let the dealer do the 45k service if worried about service records.

I knew it was a GM product as soon he said torque converter. People look more at the EPA ratings when comparing MPGs than actual numbers. Problem is the Tundras get much closer (in fact all of mine) to the EPA numbers than the BIG 3. I think Fords are probably off more than the others. My brother's 5.0 F150 does worse than mine. Plus $4300 and all the inconvenience will buy a lot of gas. It will easily cover the extra gas over the life of the truck even the life of a Tundra.

Yes, 1/2 ton GM's are Mexican made.. But the HD trucks with the Duramax/Allison are American out of Flint, Michigan.

But, I'm sure his is not a 3/4 ton... An Allison taking a [censored] at 63,000 miles is unheard of.

I has a 2007 LMM and the Allison grenaded on it @ 38,000 miles. It was replaced under warranty, but that dang truck just didn't like to run in the Texas heat. If I would sit at idle for more than about 10 minutes the A/C would [censored] out. I had it into the dealer multiple times and they said they couldn't replicate it. I sold it and went back to a Dodge. After I got rid of it I started noticing in the heat of the summer driving through road work that several different contractors would be pulled off the road with the hood up. I finally stopped and asked a guy one day he was driving an LBZ and he told me that if he didn't pop his hood at idle the cab of his truck would turn into a sauna.

Hmm interesting all our duramaxes freeze your azz off running, idle etc. don't matter.

They all turn out a lemon, it happens. Ive owned ford, honda, chevy, ram, dodge, GMC, Kia and maybe some others if I think hard enough. I haven't had a driveline failure bigger than a u-joint on any of them and most of them were kept till 200,000+ miles.

Ive also never had much trouble getting the EPA rated fuel economy out of any of them either... I could also get worse. If you wanna drive like Ricky Bobby your not going to get good fuel mileage.

Possible GM class action lawsuit

This should tell you what you need to know about GM's 8 speeds

x2! A/C on my LBZ puts ice cycles on my nose! Idling, driving, don't matter. GM has the best HVAC by far out of the big 3 IMO. I haven't seen a good Dodge HVAC honestly.

Same truck 2000 miles later and now the AC is out. I promise I drive normal, just back and forth to the lake, to the woods, to church, and to work. Here we go again!!!!

they can't do that the MPGs suck. At least that is what their excuse is. Real world MPGs are not that much different and between the resale value and repair bills I can buy a lot of gas.

Do you think people enjoy spending money fixing their vehicles? This guy is pissed off he is having to. If buying a Toyota was the simple answer of never have problems again it would have caught on somewhere in the last couple decades don't you think?

Toyotas break too.

I have owned several GM/Ford/Dodge vehicles and when properly maintained I haven't had any big failures and the vast majority of them were kept till well past 200,000 miles. Not saying Toyota doesn't make good vehicles because I think they do, but the rest aren't the steaming piles of feces that many would have you believe. I have almost 67k on my current RAM (supposedly the worst) and it has been absolutely flawless, knock on wood, not even a check engine light.

Over 300k on my 07 Ram - one water pump and just replaced the transmission. Over 160k on my 15 Ram and had to replace a water pump. Get 16/17 unloaded out of my 15 (gasser) and would be better if I kept my foot out of it. So Ram isn't the terrible vehicle that everyone claims.
Over 300k on my Tacoma and it still runs strong.