[awesomebase]

I can understand why some people would be skeptical of somebody else's radical claims, but honestly, after reading all the posts in this thread, I gotta think that BigDave does have a legitimate claim... though I'm not sure that it is actually the transmission that is failing or something that is controlling the logic of how it operates. Typically a transmission is dealing with a lot of physical stress and a "failed" transmission is usually due to a breakdown due to excessive weight/stress/heat; in other words, it is a "mechanical" failure. What I'm gleaning from the way people describe their trans problems are that there is something else going on that is calling the transmission to fail. So far, unless I'm mistaken, not a single transmission has failed due to a) hot/cold temp days or operation (i.e. outside temp), b) driving with a big payload, or c) driving while towing a heavy trailer.
In the interest of doing some of our own investigation into this matter, why don't we have those that actually have transmission failures post the circumstances so we can see if there is some kind of pattern that we notice. Here are some parameters that would be good to answer:

a) build date of truck
b) mileage of truck at transmission failure(s)
c) weather condition at transmission failure(s) (i.e. temp., humidity level, elevation level)
d) SR5 or Limited
e) 4x4 or 4x2
f) was truck in 2wd mode, 4wd high, or 4wd low (for 4x4s) when failure occurred
g) were noises apparent from the beginning or just shortly before failure occurred
h) speed of truck when failure occurred
i) place that truck was bought from (just list the state)
j) regular cab, double cab, or crew max
k) traction control setting (on/off/some other mode in between)
l) steering column or console mounted shifter
m) pulling a load or having some kind of weight in the back

People can add to this list as needed, but it would be helpful for those that have experienced a trans failure to list this info so that we can see if a pattern exists at all...