No reverse, hard shifting forward gears, no overdrive

Before you drive the twenty miles check the transmission fluid level. When you do smell the dipstick and see if it smell something burnt. Make sure the fluid is full.

Fluid level was good. No burnt smell.
Any idea what is wrong?

Did you get stuck at all, wondering if when you towed him if part of your shift control under your SUV got hung up and bent or disconnected. Check the connections under the SUV. How far did you tow your friend was it just out of someplace he was stuck or any distance?

If fluid is as dark as burnt motor oil I am guessing clutches have been burnt out? And a tip nobody told me at Napa or required to keep warranty good is there is a seal in the transfer case of my 1997 Tahoe that holds the fluid in the transmission? When my transmission was under pressure it pushed fluid in transfer case out over flow and caused me to burn up the original, and two brand new transmissions in less than 3,000 miles all three times before I found issue. Hope this saves someone else a lot of long nights pulling and putting in two to four transmissions like I had to.

Great addition to this thread! Please feel free to help out whenever you are on the site. :)

Cheers, Ken