Hi All
I second Wisind's and others' comments on changing the tranny oil regularly. I unfortunately lost my 'Star to an accident, but I was at almost 160K having never had a single issue with the transmission. One thing I have learned more recently is that by using a hand pump with a hose down the fill pipe first, you can remove most of the fluid from the pan before pulling it keeping the mess down. Also, you can change out fluid (only what the pan holds of course) between filter changes. Here is a pump I have, you can find them elsewhere.
https://www.amsoil.com/storefront/g2039.aspx