Ford Territories fall into two categories when it comes to transmission checks. The earlier cars with the four-speed automatic transmission had a dipstick at the back of the engine bay near the firewall. This can be used to check the fluid as with any other dipstick.

However, your car is a later model with the six-speed automatic, and in that case, there’s no physical dipstick. Instead, you have to get under the car and remove a plug from the side of the transmission. When the fluid is lapping at the bottom of the plug hole, you know it’s at the right level.

This is not an easy thing to check at home unless you have a car hoist. Why did Ford delete the dipstick? Possibly to avoid owners tampering with what is a sealed system (adding too much fluid or the wrong type). But you’d have to imagine there was a cost saving, too.

The first thing to do is get your mechanic to drive the vehicle when it’s hot. Arrange a time and then deliver the car at that time with everything up to full operating temperature. Otherwise, the problem isn’t going to show up when it needs to.

While there are lots and lots of things that can cause this sort of behaviour, it does sound like something in the actual powertrain is the problem. That’s because the shuddering goes away when you drop the transmission into neutral and let the vehicle coast to a stop. If the problem was a wheel, a wheel bearing, axle, brake problem or an out-of-balance driveshaft, the problem would continue even though you were coasting.

You may have a problem with something inside the transmission itself, way too much backlash somewhere in the driveline or a problem with the torque converter. Either way, you need to have your mechanic experience the problem or everybody is simply guessing.

Clearly something is wrong here because wheel bearings should have a much monger lifespan than 12 months. I'd start by checking that the wheel alignment (yes, rear wheels need to be aligned, too) is correct and not putting weird stresses and strains on suspension components which could include the bearings. While you're at it, check the condition of the suspension bushes, too, as these can also allow alignment to become a problem.

Do you tow heavy loads with the car? This can also place huge stress on things like bearings and cause them to wear faster. Also, who replaced the previous set 12 months ago? Can you be sure they didn't over-tighten the new bearings, causing them to wear faster? Were the new bearings a good quality or a cheap replacement? Has the supplier of the bearings received the same complaint from other customers, suggesting a bad batch of bearings could be the cause? I've personally seen a brand new wheel bearing collapse in under 20km because the surfaces had not been hardened properly during the manufacturing process.

Finally, given the wild weather this continent has been experiencing, have you driven through flood-waters at any stage. Unlike fresh water, flood-water is often full of tiny silt particles which get into the bearing and then act as griding paste, causing the bearing to fail super fast.