Wildcatsteve

ON the gearshift, I have tried the M position, and I just can't get a handle on when to use it. I know you can block certain gears, but I do not understand under what situations you would do this.

I have read the manual a couple of times, but I just can't grasp it. Sorry, I'm a rookie!

SixShooter14

you can use the gear lock-out to keep the truck from losing momentum on hills. Especially useful while towing.

By downshifting manually before a hill, the truck doesn't lose as much as shifting half-way up the hill. Or hitting M to keep it in a higher gear to pull small rises (not steep enough to be a hill) sometimes the truck doesn't know you're at the top of a little hill and it'll downshift at the peak of an overpass or something. Then a second later shift back up as you're over the crest.

you can also use it for engine braking. by downshifting manually and letting off the gas, the engine will compression brake, slowing down the vehicle.

I rarely use the M mode. I use the gear lock-out occasionally, but "Sport" and "tow/haul" modes work quite well for me. Surprising with this being the first automatic trans vehicle I've owned.

untraceable

played with my select shift a bit today for the first time. not a huge rpm difference between 6-5th. I can totally see myself running in 5th and 4th pulling a trailer. esp with the 5.0 which loves to rev. I believe it was just barely over 2K rpm in 5th at 70

marshallr

In "D" you can lock out higher gears. It will always start in 1st, then change up as high as you have it set. If you lock out 5th and 6th, then it won't go any higher than 4th gear. I find this useful when towing or to use engine braking when going down hill.

The only practical use for "M" in my opinion is to select a specific gear to start in. In ice or snow you'll often get much less wheel spin starting in 2nd or even 3rd gear. This is only possible when using "M". Some people like to pretend they have a manual transmission and manually shift.

With the transmissions on these trucks both 5th and 6th are overdrive. While 4th isn't a true 1:1 ratio, it is really the closest to top gear. It is perfectly normal for one to drop down to 3rd or even 2nd gear when pulling a load on an incline. No one driving a 4 speed would worry about using those gears, but it is a cause of concern for some with a 6 speed until you realize both top gears are overdrive.

Feathermerchant

In ancient manual transmissions, top gear was 1:1 which meant that it connected the input shaft to the output shaft. No gears were used to transmit power from the engine to the driveshaft. AFAIK automatics always have some gears involved.

untraceable

Oh, so I had to read up a bit on my tranny. I thought locking out 5-6 was a figure of speech using M mode. Just hitting the minus in drive locks them out eh?

7thSeal

Simply put, it gives you control over shift points unless at lower rpms than the engine is designed for. If you forget to downshift... it will do it for you. If you forget to upshift... you'll mainly lose gas mileage as it will stay out of 6th until you tell it to shift. Watching your rpms is the key when choosing to manually shift. Manually shifting can actually get you better mpg once you understand the best rpms for your particular engine.

BostonBruins

Yes. I lock out 6 as soon as I go into drive because it pisses me off in traffic. Jumps between 5th and 6th like crazy because I just don't get long stretches at consistent speeds. Much smoother for me on my commute locking out 6th.

I tried M mode once and it was kinda slow and awkward since you have to press that same button on the column shifter. Then I remembered I was driving a truck and not a Ferrari with paddle shifters.

Wannafbody

To manually shift using M is kinda clunky. These trucks need paddle shifters.

7thSeal

I have console center and shifting is right and thumb point with arm resting comfortably on console. Nothing clunky about it, I do agree though that paddle shifters may be even quicker, but that will be for a different model.