My truck is a 2011 XLT 5.0 4x4, under moderate acceleration, when my truck shift into 3rd gear, it doesn’t seem to pull as hard as it does in the other gears. It is not what I would call bogging down; the acceleration rate just flattens out in 3rd. When it shifts into 4th acceleration is normal again. This is most noticeable when accelerating from a stop up an incline and you are giving it a little more gas pedal than normal but not really getting on it.
I usually drive with a pretty light touch on the go pedal (with gas at $4.25 a gallon).
Could possibly be converter lock/unlock but I only notice this in 3rd.

Anyone else notice this issue? (I did a search and really couldn’t find anything)

 

Oh brother.......

 

I also have a 2011 5.0 and it does the same thing for some reason. Sometimes mine will go up in rpms than down like 1000rpms. Almost like its shifting but the gear indicator will still say it's in third. I also think its the torque converter

 

Thats cuz the 5.0 models were softened up to make room for the ecoboost. With such a high and short powerband in the engine the gearing in the tranny dont match up very well. I test drove the sierra when i shopped around, and the 5.3 with 30 less horses felt peppier than the 5.0, and with 342 gearing in the sierra vs my 355s.

 

ummm not sure here why you want to start out in 3rd gear in "normal driving" I am sure you are mildly lugging the engine and by the time you shift into 4th you are more into the power band. If you could start out in 4th you would notice the same thing only more pronounced.

 

Not sure I understand this response...I thought it was a legitimate question.

I am not starting out in 3rd, Truck is in drive...as it shifts through the gears, 3rd doesn't seem to pull as hard as the other gears under moderate acceleration. Not really bogging down but...almost.

 

I'm guessing because it's been asked and answered in a dozen or more threads, one that was active just a couple days ago.

Under light to moderate acceleration, the torque converter locks up pretty quickly in third to save fuel mileage.

 

TQ lock up budd. Plus Torque management. You need a tuner. SCT from 5 star. Fix that pesky complaint of yours.


My 5.4 pull like a hard in 3rd with no tune and 3.15 gears. Its a 2010 though.

These truck all come out different now. There is a guy on here with s 6.2 and can not burn tires. There is some kind of limiter on these new trucks 2011 and up. The tuner should fix that.

 

It seems as though every day there is a new thread nitpicking something on these trucks. Get's a little old...... That's all.
If you had bothered to search, you would know by now there are a dozen threads on the torque converter locking up in third.
Baffles me to no end how folks have time to focus on stuff like this. The calibrations on the F150 are astonishingly good, from a mileage and performance standpoint. It seems like everyone is buying an F150 for a first vehicle.

 

I did bother to do a search as I stated in my original post, but the converter lock/unlock that was being discussed, didn't really describe what I was feeling....so I thought I would ask...guess that was a mistake because apparently I broke some kind of forum etiquette by asking a simple question. I usually just read this forum and very seldom post anything but this time I thought I would rely on other F150 owners for a little input before having it checked out by the dealer...not sure why this was a problem, I thought the purpose of a forum was to get information and discuss certain topics (i.e. Ford F150’s).
I have owned Ford trucks for the last 35 years so this is not my first rodeo and I wasn’t nitpicking anything, as a matter of fact I really like this truck, good performance, good gas mileage, really comfortable and looks good to boot. I own a truck because I need one...information on the other hand; I guess I will need to get that someplace else.

To those that offered their insight...Thank You.