From 10 to 6 in two shifts is pretty abrupt....but usually only happens to me while on cruise. it tries too hard to maintain speed IMHO. If I have alot of up and down highway, I just manually shift.
when I first got it, it was worse through the low end when not towing...took it in to be re'flashed/programmed and the low end crap stopped.

The thing that annoys me more is the radical downshifting while towing down the off ramp or small downgrade. I definately manual shift then!

 

Running tow/ haul mode defeats the skip shift. I run in manual mode when pulling trailers to prevent the mega down shift, drop 1 gear and let it pull, works great.

 

Are you towing at those speeds? The only time I see 2600-3500 rpm’s is up very steep hills with a travel trailer in tow. When I tow in hilly areas, I lock out 9/10 and tow at 2500 rpm’s all day long and rarely downshift to 6. I’m not sure why this engine would need to hit 3700 rpm’s to get up a hill empty.

 

My 2023 7.3/4.30 will skip shift while towing if I’m towing in 10th gear in hilly areas. It down shifts one to speed up a bit but will downshift two if you are losing speed.

I find Eco mode will make it shift less and the truck is ok losing a mph or two while
ascending a hill.

 

The "problem" IMO is FORD is using/probably using IMO a one size fits all transmission shift points... 4.30, 3.73, 3.55 rear axels and it doesn't seem to mater what engine either, so that really sucks, , if it was programed for a 4.30 and it works good... well it's good enough, even though it really isn't, again JMO. anyways... Your truck can't keep up the speed thus shifts down 2 gears, which isn't really a problem, but, it also ends up loosing too much speed because it didn't shift down "soon enough, to maximize gas mileage" thus, it now needs to also make up the speed it lost and shifts another 2 gears, which would not have been necessary if it would have shifted down sooner... JMO

 

I was not towing when this was happening, that’s part of the reason I’m disappointed with the shift characteristics. I might consider a tune, but I’m not looking for additional performance, and I am really not that familiar with the tune process.

 

The transmission learns from the driver so if the driver has a tendency to try to cruise and stay in highest possible gear, that's how the computer thinks the driver wants.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...-10-speed.html

My 22 F250 with the 7.3 runs fine, I tow up to 11k and I have no issue with the transmission being too stubborn to downshift from 10th, or other obvious issues.

 

The 3.55’s are the problem. Only thing you can do is put smaller diameter tires on to reduce the gear hunting. Been there, felt your pain. Cured it by trading it in for the exact same truck with 4.30’s.
I think you can shut the skip shift off by driving it in tow mode but then it’s going to do doing weird things because it’s going to think you’re towing.

 

My FIL was coming from a line of several 6.7/6 speed combos (a couple F350's and an F450) that would rarely, if ever, downshift, so the fact that this truck shifted pulling basically any kind of grade surprised him, especially given the power the motor has. He had also ridden in my 6.4/6 speed Hemi that didn't shift pulling hills while empty. It wasn't so much that he was upset by it, but rather that it was a surprise to him. He lived with it for a year, a year and a half, before he decided to go back to a PSD. It performs how he expects so he's content with it.

I think where a lot of people get hung up with how much the 10 speed shifts is that they just aren't used to it when it comes to these trucks. Big trucks with lots of horsepower and torque didn't used to shift so much when they had fewer gears. With more gears the computer has more options to keep the motor in its power band, so it'll shift more to optimize the combination. It's not as big of an issue for the trucks with 4.30 gears, but ones with 3.55s seem to do it more, which is to be expected. It's a mileage gear not a pulling gear in a gas powered truck.

 

When will they implement AI for predictive cruise control and begin with just one gear downshift before the hill starts? CC is just playing catch up and has to downshift more, after the incline has begun...IMHO

 

Oh sure AI in the truck.... it decides what's too fast when passing.

What could possibly go wrong. 🤔

 

You don't need predictive, you need reactive... The computer "knows" that it needs more power instantly, and does give more throttle instantly, the problem seems to be the not downshifting soon enough... and That is the transmissions programing mistake, because the vehicle looses more speed than it has to and now needs to make up that speed, thus 4 gears downshift required instead of just 3, or even just 2 if it would have shifted at the proper power requirements and lets say a 1MPH speed loss instead of the 3MPH speed loss that my trucks downshifting strategy seems to be set up for...

EDIT; Many a time (every time) on the same hill in my area the truck goes down to 6th to "make it up that hill" on it's own... Many a time (every time) it also made it up that hill in 7th when I manually shifted it at the 1MPH speed loss point in each gear... So, IMO it's the shifting parameters that are a fail...

 

The number of gears is only part of the equation, there is also the lower gear ratio of the 10 speed at the bottom end compared it to the 6R100 and 6R140. The first gear is 10% or so lower than the previous 6 speed gearboxes' 1st gear.

Even with the 3.55 you have the torque multiplier closer to 3.9 with 6 speeds when starting off, with each higher gear being significantly lower than the 2-4th gears on the 6 speeds, and then 5-8th filling in the mid range. The higher 9th and 10th give the computer a choice when cruising. Ford can probably do a better job of programming the TCM on the shift points but we do have to remember the computer tries to anticipate what the driver wants.

 

I stay in 8th or 7th depending on the speed. Then I downshift 1 if I see a hill coming. I do wonder when they will develop this but it’s possible with a little driver input.

 

Not all drivers are willing to provide input and not all AI is evil scraprat, lol