I have a new to me f250 with the 7.3, and I’m not real fond of the way the it shifts. It seems like when running down the interstate and you come to a hill, it downshifts 2 gears at a time. From 10 to 8 isn’t that bad, but it annoys me when it goes from 10 to 8 to 6 in a very short amount of time. I guess in my mind I’d like to make the engine lug a little more before it starts shifting. Long story short, is there a means of adjusting the shift characteristics through tuning or other means??

 

It the nature of the beast. I personally find nothing wrong with the shift pattern.

I'll bet if you turn off the gear display it won't bother you as much. Text or watch a movie while driving to get your mind off the transmission.

 

Kinda defeats the purpose of haveing a 10 speed. I bought a pickup with a 10 speed because its not a 6 speed (well that and they don't come with another option)

 

It would bother me too, I suppose.

I remember when I went from a 4 speed to 6speed in 2010 with a 5.4/3.73 F150. Shifted on every hill and hated it. Traded it 6 months later.

My next truck was an Ecoboost 3.5/3.31. No more shifting.

Then I bought a F350 6.7/3.55. No more shifting.

Then bought an F250 7.3/4.30 and worried about shifting. Nope. Just powers up hills in 10th gear at 1500-1700 rpm’s. It shifts while towing, but lock our 9/10th gear and it just goes.

What’s the gearing in your truck if you don’t mind me asking?

 

Get a 5 star tune and maybe they can adjust the shift pattern if you're losing sleep over it. 😉

 

My FIL's '22 with the 7.3 and 3.55's would downshift going up basically any hill, and would REALLY downshift pulling a particular bridge on the expressway that has a pretty steep grade (it's gotta get up over a river so freighters can go underneath). He never really liked it but there wasn't much he could do about it other than re-gear.

I wouldn't adjust the shift points to 'lug' the motor. It's not really good for any motor to lug for very long - it's a great way to build up soot. You're adding fuel to make power but not really getting any more air flow (higher RPMs allow for more airflow, thus a better burn). That and you have to remember that your engine's power band is considerably higher than it was on older big block motors. Most modern engines need to spin up a bit to make power.

 

Gearing is 3.55. I haven't had a chance to hook to a trailer yet to see how it shifts, but I'm not pleased with the highway speeds shifting. It seems too sensitive to the engine load. I really noticed it running about 75-80 mph. Id come to a hill and it would drop to 8th, and then imediately to 6th. So Id be running like 1900-2000 rpm in 10, and I would think that I could lug it a little in 8 at like 2600-2700, but then it jumps clear to 3700 in 6th. I mean if i stomped on it to pass, Id understand, but I don't think that seem right.

 

Is there a way to shut the skip shift feature off?

 

Is there a way to shut the skip shift feature off?

 

Probably but then you're going to be shifting even more (10 to 9 to 8 instead of straight to 8, then to 7 to 6).

Some things to remember is that your truck has the aerodynamics of a brick, so cruising at 75-80 with that much frontal area has a LOT of drag on it, so the motor needs to use more power to maintain speed. It's also a pretty heavy truck, even with an aluminum body, and you've got 3.55 gears - the truck won't struggle most of the time but it'll need to shift more to stay in its power band.

Remember that horsepower = RPM x Torque. The Godzilla has monster torque across its entire RPM range, but the horsepower doesn't peak until around 5500 RPM - pretty close to its max rev limit.

Looking at the power curve chart, at 1900 RPM you're making a ballpark of 125-150 hp. When you start to pull a hill, you've got gravity pulling you backwards so to speak, as well as all that drag. Power requirements go up, the computer says 'hey I need more power, shift to get me more power!' and by revving up to 2600 RPM, you're now making around 250 hp, usually more than enough to pull a decent grade. If the grade gets steeper, gravity's force pulling you down the hill gets greater, meaning the engine needs still MORE power to maintain speed. By getting the RPMs up to 3700 or so, you're now well into your power band and making around 350 hp. Is it more than it needs? Probably, but rather than 'hunt' for gears and do a bunch of unnecessary shifting, it uses the skip shift to get you quickly to a place that it won't need to shift again until the load drops.

These aren't old-school big blocks that made gobs of torque and horsepower by 2500 RPMs. Today's modern engines need to rev up to make big horsepower, and revving up won't hurt them. Let that motor breathe, let the computer do its thing, and don't worry about it. If you want to motor up big hills in top gear, you're gonna have to re-gear or go with a diesel. My 6 speed backed CTD won't drop a gear at expressway speeds, and I've even pulled some pretty big hills pulling our travel trailer (albeit at 65 mph because I don't tow fast) without downshifting.

 

I understand that modern engines rev, but its not necesary. The change from 8 to 6th gear is 1000 RPM. It makes plenty of power at 2700, or for that matter 3200 in 7th gear. The 7.3 is torqy enough it should be able to pull through some grade changes. I have two other fords with 10 speeds, that don't do this.

 

What are the other 2 and what's in them?

 

If they've got 4.30 gears and/or a diesel in them, or if they're F150s, chances are they won't do it because they don't need to. With 3.55's, it DOES need to, or at least the computer thinks it does to prevent long-term damage from repeatedly lugging the motor. The computer is programmed to prevent damage to critical components, which is why the skip-shift even exists and why it doesn't hit every gear as it downshifts - those extra shifts 1. could make perceived driveability worse, and 2. creates extra wear on transmission components AND fluid that skipping gears alleviates.

I did neglect to mention as well that shifting to a lower gear ALSO protects the transmission gears themselves. Overdrive gears are still the weakest gears in automatic transmissions, so by dropping out of those the transmission is protecting itself. The next weakest gears are the direct drive (1:1) gears, which I think is what 8th is on that 10-spd. If the computer determines the truck needs more power, then it'll shift down again, and it would rather have extra power available than be running right on the ragged edge.

Frankly, the truck we're discussing here likes to shift. The 7.3/10 spd/3.55 gear combo doesn't like hills. My FIL had a '22 with that combo, and it shifted all the time whether towing or empty. It is still not advisable to lower the shift point threshold, and I wouldn't personally eliminate the skip-shift. The 10 speed is already questionable in my opinion (I've seen two have issues), I wouldn't do anything to give it more variables.

 

Maybe with some sort of tuning. I thought I've read the new gen, 23/24's don't skip shift. I would say tow haul mode but that might make the shifting even worse for you. Not convenient, but manually shifting is an option.

 

It's a 10 speed transmission. Why are people upset it downshifts? The 10th gear is pretty tall, even if it goes to 9th or 8th it's no big deal.

One could argue if your 10 speed gas truck can go up and down all sorts of hills in top gear and never downshift, you could use a taller top gear.