banshee150

so is it hard on the tranny to downshift into 2nd when goin down a steep hill with a load on occasion? how about clicking off overdrive when getting off the off ramp or goin down a hill or whatever? is it not a good idea to do it all the time? i do the overdrive alot, and very rarely shift down to 2nd on a real steep hill with a load

Hit-By-Thunder

no as long as the RPM's are not way too high. I do it all the time and I have a 5th wheel I pull with my 7700 ( I have the 4R100)

banshee150

yea ive never had the revs above 3k or so on 2nd gear downshifts, so thats good to hear
i have an 03 5.4 with the tow package, trans cooler , trailer brake wiring and all that, you think it has the good tranny? any easy way to findout?

Hit-By-Thunder

What kind of truck do you have? If you have a regular F150 (not the 7700) and you said you have the tow package, you probably have the 4r70w with 3.55 gears. Let me know your rear axle code as well.

My 7700 pulling the 5th wheel out of overdrive revs to about 3200 rpm pulling hills in 3rd and stays at higway speeds (sure miss my 2000 F350 7.3 dually )

Rob/HBT

banshee150

a 2003 f150 xlt stx, 5.4 4x4 , i have the original window sticker from previous owner it had the option 3.55 limited slip and the optional "tow package" on the list of options, i checked the door and it says axle code H9, it has the 4 pin and 7 pin plugs, hitch, trans cooler, trailer brake thing still in package from ford came with it, it runs like 1800 rpm at 70mph with a 3k load behind it, i usually click off overdrive when i feel the mph dropping up hills instead of stomping my foot down to make it downshift, or letting it try to lug up at 1900rpm without downshifting, it felt natural to take overdirve off as this is my first automatic car ever and i feel weird mashing my foot down to get it to downshift, does that sound alright?

Hit-By-Thunder

yes, that sounds alright to me. The last thing you want it to do is to hunt for gears all the time. This heats up and burns the tranny out in no time. I also installed an in line filter with a spin off filter to keep the fluid super clean.

I never pull in overdrive with the 5th wheel behind. My truck has a miss so pulling now in overdriveI can't do. I slowly lose speed on a level surface with a head wind. I will be fixing this in the spring time (body swap) with another 7700

Rob/HBT

Raptor22

Boy do i sure like my standard transmission...

banshee150

tell me about it, this is my first auto ever, ive only been driving for 9 years now , but still. its a little weird geting used to it, i was considering a 4.6 5speed but it just wouldnt have gotton the job done, needed the 5.4, i got no complaints, just an extra right hand now with A.D.D

Raptor22

Haha. I know what you mean. Back when I was in the process of getting my license, 95% of my driving was in a standard transmission vehicle. Finally when the test came around my dad wanted me to do it in his 2004 Jeep GC, an automatic... that was sure weird to get used to...

My 1989 Thunderbird is an automatic and I wish it wasnt...