Yeah, I've seen a lot of those threads too, but the thread that seems to have the most comprehensive, logical approach to the "likelihood" of having a transmission failure (to wit: https://forum.ih8mud.com/100-series-cruisers/501772-2000-trans-status-2011-update.html) states that 65% of the known (on MUD) failures have occurred in model year 2000. The other 45% of failures have occurred in MY's 1999, 2001, and 2002. Basically, there appears to be about a 3.7% chance of a failure in a 2000, while the other years are lower than that...........and, virtually all occur without warning (sound of knocking on wood for me, smm3, papalud, and euclid)
I am gonna stay out of this debate as much as possible as I feel it is blown out of proportion. My 2000 has 174K on the original transmission. I would like to think that the reason the numbers are higher on the Mud forum is because they get reported here. Not nearly as many people report that their transmissions are functioning as they should outside of the forum. All we know is the limited amount of people that have had failures....
Would that scare me from buying another 2000? Nope.
I didn't buy an 1998-99 because of the weak 2 pinion up front. I think all trucks that are 12-14 years old or older can have problems. You can rationalize everything if you so choose.