Today I changed the ATF and the filter in my 2005 4.4 with 31K miles on it. Special thanks to member "swissfrank" for helping with the fill location, all worked as you described
I know at 31K a filter change probably wasn't needed but I am very anal about this type of stuff, so I figured what the heck. I purchased the ATF from the dealer by suppling them with the part number on the bottom of the pan. Ouch..... $200 for 6 quarts. I well, I'm not taking any chances with anything other than what was already in it. Purchased the filter, gasket and new plugs from Bavarian Auto (
www.bavauto.com).
Overall the job went smooth. The biggest challange was getting the truck up on (4) jack stands. That alone took almost 45 minutes. The actual change and clean up took just under 2 hours. I was happy to see that the old fluid looked pretty good. A dark brown-ish with a hint of gold still. The bottom of the pan was also pretty clean, very very little "sluge" on the pan and magnets. I am very glad I did this at 31K miles. Next complete change will be at 60K .
Next weekend I'm gonna do the transfer case fluid and both Diff's. I ran out of time today, had to mow the lawn
. For the transfer case again I'm using dealer fluid. It's $20 a quart, but I only need a quart so not that big a deal. For the diff's I'm gonna use Redline.