One thing to avoid if at all possible. Straddling anything lying in the
center of your travel lane. That tranny pan is vulnerable. I guess you
found that out the hard way. I hope you didn't toast your transmission
running it low on fluid. Should be a replacement pan in the hands of
another GMCER in your area. Hope you can make the connections you need.
Jim Hupy
Salem, Oregon

Good advice. On my 4x4 I have a rock guard plate covering the bottom of the engine and transmission to protect them from damage when on rough trails. Would it be helpful to make something like this for our GMCs? Or do you think it will only increase heat holding capacity (reduce air flow and cooling) of the engine compartment and thus be more of a detriment?

I consider Matt's Ragusa pan advice excellent. Last summer (2019), before
the Wuhan Virus hit us, I came around a curve and down a hill in N. GA to
find a railroad track across the road. Too close to react, I saw what the
tracks, rather than having gentle approaches, stood about 4" above the road
surface. When the front wheels hit the first track I could feel the front
end leave the ground. I never felt the 2nd track, but I did feel and hear
something strike the pavement when we landed. When the shoulder permitted
me to stop, a mile or two down the road, I got out and checked the front
end. There was no obvious damage, but the fins on the bottom of the Ragusa
pan were unusually shiny. Nothing was running out of the engine.

Back home on the service rack I took a better look at everything. There
seemed to be no damage to the tires nor the Manny One-Ton front
suspension. But the fins on the transmission pan were almost obliterated
at the rear of the pan -- scraped off by the highway asphalt when the GMC
landed after its aborted takeoff! But no other obvious damage -- it's
still leaking only at the flange, as it always has. Perhaps that
lubrication on the bottom helped it survive the crash?

Ken H.