Hi Board peeps,
This forum is great. Please note I have spent some time looking through prior posts and haven't found what I needed regarding this subject.

Have a 1996 2.3L with a 4R44E automatic 4-speed. About 180K on clock. My son says the truck takes "a while" to shift between gears meaning it is slipping I suppose. Since this is my first experience with the Ranger trucks, I have nothing to compare it to. Just bought the truck and I checked trans fluid and it seemed fine. No burning smell and fairly pink. Having driven it myself, it doesn't have a quick solid, shift into each gear. It does lag just a bit between each gear before it shifts. But maybe this is normal for these trucks...?
My question is twofold. How can I tell if it is really slipping or if this is the way these trucks normally shift? What are the telltale signs of it slipping or beginning to slip? I know it is really difficult to describe on a forum and one person's sense of it slipping may not be another's. That said I've driven cars that have had really obvious slipping where the engine would rev up and wind out and then finally shift several seconds later. This truck is not doing that nearly to that extent.
But if the truck is beginning to show signs of slipping, would it make sense to flush the trans, adjust the bands, replace the valve body, solenoids and separator plate gaskets to stop it from getting worse? There is a company back east that sells the entire valve body assembly with gaskets and solenoids for around $130 plus shipping. I could also just get the filter, and separator plate gaskets and keep the same valve body I already have. The solenoids are probably fine unless they would contribute to a shift lag per say.
Has anyone replaced the valve body and gaskets with any level of success? I'm pretty good with a wrench and I've swallowed trans fluid and had it drop in my eyes and hair many times, so the job isn't particularly intimidating. Or perhaps, this would all be a waste of time and only a full rebuild would be in order, which of course, I wouldn't do. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks in advance.