Posted 2005-09-11 10:12 PM (#30197 - in reply to #30194) Subject: RE: Ford '05 transmissions - did they FINALLY get it right?
Expert
Posts: 2453 Location: Northern Utah
The TorqueShift tranny came out in December of 2002 as Job 1 of the 2003 Model year trucks. It came out at the same time as the 6.0 liter Powerstroke. Other than some minor programing changes it is the same transmission that Ford uses today. It may change when the new engine comes out for 2007 model year trucks.
I have a 2003 F350 with one of these trannies in it. I currently have 65,000 miles on it. Mostly with some kind of trailer behind it. I pull a 3 horse gooseneck, a double axle dump trailer (max load 14,000lbs) and a flat bed trailer with my skid loader.
I think this transmission is GREAT. Push the tow/haul button and it does all the thinking for me. It holds a little higher rpm before shifting, so I stay in the power band of the engine. This is great when coming along flat surface streets. At 25-30mph it stays in a lower gear and keeps me at 2000-2200rpm vs the older transmission that would shift up to drive and lug along at 1200rpm.
I frequently come down long steep canyons here in Utah. I can come over the summit at 65mph, step on the brakes/downshift and slow to 55mph and set the cruise and it will hold me at that speed with out ever having to touch the brakes again. With my 2000 F350 I was redoing brakes every 36,000 miles, I'm still on original brakes with my 2003 truck. And the tranny is the reason.
I guess you could say that I'm a big believer in this transmission.
Posted 2005-09-12 8:55 PM (#30250 - in reply to #30194) Subject: RE: Ford '05 transmissions - did they FINALLY get it right?
Regular
Posts: 70 Location: Cold Spring, KY
Yep, I guess you're right. I remember them changing in '03, but thought they made some changes last year when they brought out the '05's. Guess I was having a senior moment or was having problems with my "anger managment" because the DANG transmission on my husband's '01 F250 went out on me on the way to a show yesterday! ARGHHHH! This makes 5 trucks (all Fords) that we've had with transmission trouble from '91 to '01, and have several friends with the same complaint. Granted, nothing lasts forever, some had high milage, one had less than 30K, but it gets old (and expensive!).
Sounds like some good reports on the '03's and later. Now all I have to do is win the lottery and maybe I can afford one!! :-)
Posted 2005-09-12 10:42 PM (#30259 - in reply to #30194) Subject: RE: Ford '05 transmissions - did they FINALLY get it right?
Expert
Posts: 2453 Location: Northern Utah
I sold my 2000 F350 to a good friend at 81,000 miles when I got my 2003 truck. I pulled my 3 horse GN and a dump trailer behind it a lot of those miles. My buddy is in t he Excavation business and hauls a Skid Load, Mini hoe or some other construction equipment behind it every day. Or his employees do. He has 4 trucks, With employees driving it, you know it's not getting any special attention.
He know has over 130,000 miles with the original transmission. So some of the tranny's have held up very well. When I had the truck, I followed the suggested maintenance schedule and had the tranny flushed and new fluid as recommended. I think every 30,000 miles or so.
A lot of the trucks have chips. The extra horsepower & torque doesn't help the trannys. I have friends who have lost tranny's in GM duramax trucks, Dodge Trucks (both manuals and autos) and Fords. So it is a crap shoot. Some last, some don't.
Posted 2005-09-13 5:44 AM (#30265 - in reply to #30250) Subject: RE: Ford '05 transmissions - did they FINALLY get it right?
Expert
Posts: 2689
Originally written by grayland on 2005-09-12 8:55 PM
Yep, I guess you're right. I remember them changing in '03, but thought they made some changes last year when they brought out the '05's. Guess I was having a senior moment or was having problems with my "anger managment" because the DANG transmission on my husband's '01 F250 went out on me on the way to a show yesterday! ARGHHHH! This makes 5 trucks (all Fords) that we've had with transmission trouble from '91 to '01, and have several friends with the same complaint. Granted, nothing lasts forever, some had high milage, one had less than 30K, but it gets old (and expensive!).
Sounds like some good reports on the '03's and later. Now all I have to do is win the lottery and maybe I can afford one!! :-)
Well sure, 5 out of 5 isn't statistically significant (-:
Not in the total scheme of things, when you figure how many they've put on the road that havn't (yet) failed. I'm s'posed to say that I havn't had a Ford transmission in many years and even when I did have one it didn't fail.
F*rd is just another four letter F-word when it comes to trannies, but that is just MY opinion. Just something else I know enough about to know that I want to NOT have one (-:
Posted 2005-09-14 5:00 PM (#30387 - in reply to #30194) Subject: RE: Ford '05 transmissions - did they FINALLY get it right?
Member
Posts: 26 Location: Ontario, Canada
You know, it's a shame when all some people can do is bad mouth things and not back it up with any facts.
Anyhow, I have an '89 F350 with the old 7.3 diesel, with 280,000 kms...( guessing a little under 200,000 miles?) that has the C6 automatic. This truck gets all the abuse it can, it has a dump box on it, gets overloaded all the time, pulls trailers (horse, utility and dump), and I've never had a fluid change in it. (although I've only had it about half of it's life.) The only tranny cooler is the stock one, no additional cooling. Never had an ounce of trouble with it. Ever since they added overdrive in any of these trucks, they've all had issues, too much power for a transmission to handle.
Maybe it has something to do with driving style/conditions? My '89 half ton had 300,000 km's on it before the original clutch died, a lot of that was trailering as well.
Posted 2005-09-17 10:52 AM (#30522 - in reply to #30194) Subject: RE: Ford '05 transmissions - did they FINALLY get it right?
Regular
Posts: 57
Should I leave the overdrive hauling button off when hauling my big 30ft trailer all the time or is it OK to put over drive back on when at cruiseing speed ?? Can I down shift to 2nd up and down steep grades with overdrive off ??? Thanks. First trailer and hauling experience and I live and drive in the mountains often.
Posted 2005-09-17 12:57 PM (#30524 - in reply to #30194) Subject: RE: Ford '05 transmissions - did they FINALLY get it right?
Member
Posts: 28 Location: decatur,ms
Leave it off.I drive 65-70 on the interstate with mine off all the time.I would let the trans. do the shifting not you...it knows if it needs to shift down to 2nd.
Posted 2005-09-18 9:13 AM (#30550 - in reply to #30194) Subject: RE: Ford '05 transmissions - did they FINALLY get it right?
Expert
Posts: 2453 Location: Northern Utah
You don't state what kind of truck or what year, And I didn't scroll back up to see if you had listed the details earlier. But I assume that sine it has a Tow/Haul and not an Overdrive button its a newer truck.
The tranny's are smart enough to know when to down shift or to pull it down into 2nd. Push the tow haul button when you start driving and just leave it on. On my 2003 F350, there is no advantage to taking the truck out of Tow/Haul when I get up to interstate speeds. The tranny still uses 5th gear, the tow/haul button does not lock that out. It just changes the programming as to when it will down shift. Both to climb a uphill grade or to slow the truck down a downhill grade.
Posted 2005-09-18 10:49 AM (#30552 - in reply to #30194) Subject: RE: Ford '05 transmissions - did they FINALLY get it right?
Regular
Posts: 57
I have a 03 F-250. So far I like the tranny. Its hauling a pretty heavy load now and I will see what this tranny is made of in the next year. The trailer fully loaded with horses etc...will be around 9500 or better. Anyone have a Ford F-250 or F-350 pulling a load this big ??? My button on the shift stick says overdrive. It does not make to much diffence putting it in 2nd while overdrive is off. It is a pretty smart tranny.
Posted 2005-09-18 9:25 PM (#30584 - in reply to #30194) Subject: RE: Ford '05 transmissions - did they FINALLY get it right?
Extreme Veteran
Posts: 500 Location: West TN
Highgatefarm, I am venturing to say that you have an early model 03 with the 7.3L with the 4spd auto. We pulled at least 10,000lbs with our 02 F-350 that had the same power train. There are some 03 models that have the 6.0L with the 5spd auto. When we pulled with the 4spd, we would take it out of overdrive when we were pulling at lower speeds. However, if we got on the interstate, we would put in it overdrive to help the mileage. We never had any troubles with the tranmission doing this. We traded it off with around 50k miles.
Posted 2005-09-19 10:32 AM (#30609 - in reply to #30194) Subject: RE: Ford '05 transmissions - did they FINALLY get it right?
Regular
Posts: 57
Thanks for backing up my thoughts on hauling with this Ford Tranny, 7.3L engine. I think it is built Ford Tuff, lol...How do you like the 6.0L engine and tranny?? I am at 54000.and was thinking maybe about up-grading in the future. Good to know I can haul 10,000lb ok with this truck. Thanks
Posted 2005-09-19 11:10 AM (#30614 - in reply to #30194) Subject: RE: Ford '05 transmissions - did they FINALLY get it right?
Extreme Veteran
Posts: 500 Location: West TN
I have an 03 F-250 with the 6.0 and had to have the entire engine replaced at 14k miles. The new engine is doing fine so far. I now have roughly 20k on the new engine. My dad has an 03 F-350 with the 6.0 and has taken his back several times to be reprogrammed. All in all, the engines are nice and have plenty of power. 2003 was the first year with the 6.0 so you have a few horror stories about them working out the glitches. I would not hesitate buying another 6.0 in a Ford. They stand behind them with the warranty and that makes a big difference.
Ford '05 transmissions - did they FINALLY get it right?
