Has anyone experienced any odd or harsh downshifts while in tow haul mode? Truck in question is a 2018 3.5L Ecoboost Max tow. Usually, my truck will downshift to 3rd and hold that gear on a long grade while towing and in tow/haul mode. However, I've noticed twice now that if I slow the truck down below 25 mph, it will attempt to shift to 2nd. That's when the fun begins. It feels as if the truck completely releases the transmission for a moment and then slams in to 2nd violently.

I tow quite a bit with this truck and it has only happened twice, but it definitely gets your attention when it does.

Anyone have any insight in to this issue?

 

The correct term is "Programmed Aggressiveness". This is my second Ford with tow/haul transmission capability and it indeed becomes very aggressive holding a gear when a climbing hill and the same thing on down hill where it will go into the lowest gear possible (without over reving the engine or blowing it up) and hold that gear for a extended period of time. On the up hill its really trying to keep the engine with in its power/torque range, on the down hill its trying to maximize the engine breaking capability. Also the slamming of gears when up/down shifting is common. I talked to a Ford Diesel tech about it years ago, his comment was its better than ruining your engine via overheating or detonation. After that I really didn't care.

In my current F150, the aggressiveness of the transmission in Tow/Haul doesn't bother me as much, but when I had the F250 Diesel, I always felt that the engine was going to blow up ! If you ever did any towing with a manual transmission, you would be doing much of the same thing (although not as aggressive).

 

Thank you for the reply. It's good to know that this isn't abnormal operation.

 

 

I have not tried Sport Mode, but I will the next time out. I tow on the same road somewhat regularly, so it will be easy to compare how each mode behaves on that stretch of road.

 

If I'm in difficult terrain and towing a load, I will use the +/- on the shifter to encourage the tranny to downshift if I think it needs it. If it is particularly difficult (like a lot of up & down), I might even shift to "M", and do the shifting myself.

 

 

Thank you again for confirming what I am feeling is not out of the ordinary. It certainly surprised me when it happened the first time.

 

 

Whether having the trailer behind or not, I pay no attention to how the 10sp in my '18 shifts until it's warm. If I think about it pulling away from in front of the house in the mornings I'll put it in "sport mode" which uses all the gears in a line then go back to normal after a while.

Personally I think a lot of the trans complaints are coming when the the trans is not warmed up completely...If it's legit with these new ones it can be programed out. Yes it's a pain to remember thing we should do especially on a 40-50-60-70 thousand dollar truck but first and foremost....it's goddamned truck not a Lincoln towncar....

 

Amen jimmy-six amen!

 

If I'm forking out 50 - 60 thousand for a "goddamned truck" it better shift without problems. With all the money and time that went to R&D on that tranny there is no excuse for the problems I am reading about. And the same goes for the "goddamned" door locks. No excuse.

 

 

 

I didn't mean to throw a monkey wrench in the discussion of the 10 speed transmissions. There have been over 1,000,000 F-150 made with the introduction of it in 2017 and into 2019. and all of them are not back at the Ford dealerships waiting for some repair/revision. Maybe I'm more tolerant I don't know. I do know that my 96, 04, and 13 never had a problem but also had half the gears.
This 18 is different and I didn't think about skipping gears and all when I bought it. Mine has never banged/clunked or what ever into a gear but as I have stated it is a different trans when cold that when it's warm Normal? I don't know but like pushing the auto start button I've learned to work around it.
First and foremost I'm a gear head. Things like this do not bother me. To give you an idea in the 8 years I owned my 96 351 F-150 it had 4 transmission services with filters, I towed a lot with it. The 04 got 5 and it was a diesel. The 13 got one at 30,000 miles and the dealership overfilled it by 1-1/2 qts and will never touch another one. If putting it in "sport mode or tow/haul" will save it when it's cold I'm going to do it. It's a button and ez to do until I'm waiting at a signal in 3-5 miles. Should we do it? Hell I don't know. They say the trans is just learning how we drive. I drive with a very very light foot and that's why mine does what it does I guess. Maybe we should go on the Corvette page and see what's happening to them because it's the same trans. Sorry if I offended anyone. I spent $50K too and want it right.