1999 F150 XLT 4x4 5.4L

I have found i like to use 2nd instead of drive in town when doing 35 mph or less. Especially when im going down hill so i don't have to ride the brakes at all. Doing 35 ind 2nd the engine is running about 1800-2000 rpm as apposed to drive it runs about 1500-1700 rpm.

Are there any pro-cons to this? Would this cause more or less wear on my transmission or drastically effect my fuel economy? What do you guys think?

 

hmm, Idk you would want to. at 35mph I am at about 1k rpms and pulling close to 30mpg.

 

Well you will be wearing 2nd gear clutches really bad at low speeds. Have you re-geared for your tires? I know in my truck I wouldn't want to drive like that, I feel like im messing up my tranny as it is in D! with 35" tires and 3.55's.

And I would rather wear 50$ ceramic pads, than a 1000-1500$ rebuild on a tranny.

 

I don't know if the truck has been re geared. I bought it the way it is. How can i tell? I have gps navigation, the speed indicated on the gps almost matches the speed on my speedometer. Maybe 1 or 2 mph off. Idk if that means anything or not, im just throwing it out there.

In my town there are 2 main roads that i usually travel each are a long hill and i really don't like riding my brakes. I just started putting it down in 2nd a couple days ago when going down the hill and it seems to work really good but if its going to cause problems then i wont do it. Again my rpm only go up maybe 400.

 

oooo I thought you meant you were pulling away in 2nd... If your downshifting on a hill, I don't see a problem with that. Most engines these days don't use any fuel if they are engine breaking, because the momentum is turning the engine over.

well my truck hits 2000 rpm at 87mph in overdrive. and that's with 3.55's and 35" tires. so if you have 3.55's see where you truck hits 2000rpm in overdrive.