I've had this regular cab STX for about a year now and love it....with one glaring exception. I go on several trips a year out to far SW Texas and there are a good number of big grades on the trip. While I really like the truck around town, the four-speed trans is a real pain on the trips. When it hits a grade, it comes out of OD and then shifts down to second, hitting 3500 all the way up the grade (sometimes a mile or more). Annoying as hell and kills the gas mileage. This last trip I just left the cruise control off and picked up about 2mpg.

My question is, why did Ford source this old four-speed automatic for the '09 truck? I know the 5R555 was available and had been because I had one in my '05 Mustang GT. My truck has the towing package - was the five-speed not stout enough for towing? Or did Ford just have a bunch of old four-speeds gathering dust the decided to offload them in trucks?

I don't suppose there's any solution for the annoyance, is there? Short of just biting the bullet and getting a new truck (which I am considering)? I really like the truck and it's got low miles - I was planning on keeping it but this major annoyance is making me reconsider.

Thanks for any input!

 

They put the 4 speed auto in all 2009 and 2010 trucks with the 4.6 2 valve engines. The 4.6 3 valve engine and all 5.4's had the 6 speed. They never put the 5 speed tranny in anything but the Expedition and a more heavy duty one in the super duty.

It's just how it is... If you left the cruise on, it's gonna hunt for gears on grades no matter what tranny you have. I am guessing you have a high gear ratio which probably isnt helping your cause.

Guessing you bought the truck used and didnt know this. If you bought it new, I am sure you would have done your due diligence and found this info out yourself.

 

Not if you have an EcoBoost. Unloaded can hold 6th on any hill I have driven at freeway speeds, crossing the Rockies included. I've hauled cars through the Ozarks and the truck will downshift more going down a hill for engine braking than it did to climb the hill.

O.P. You have the base engine trans combo from that vintage. That engine needs to rev to make power and the 4 speed trans doesn't have the gear spacing to allow it to slow down much. It's either reved way up or lugging when you're climbing hills. On the plus side it is a very durable combo and they have almost no problems.

 

Right you are - it just never occurred to me that it would be an issue, and to be honest, this was the only low mileage black V8 regular cab STX I found after months of looking, so it probably wouldn't have been a deal killer even if I'd realized.

Good to know that but I'd expect nothing less. I've had several F150s and never had trans problems with them, even with my old 2000 5.4 that I put thousands of miles on towing my racecar. Ford builds good trucks.

 

Till it overheats and leaves you stranded

On a cold, dry day

 

IMO the 4.6 2V power curve couldn't adequitely handle any transmission other than the 4R75E's gear ratios - 2.48:1 / 1.56:1 / 1.00:1 / 0.70:1 / 2.32:1(reverse)

Especially if the RAR is <3.55:1
.

 

Thanks, Joe - that's the kind of thing I was wondering about. I figured there must be a logical reason for them to use a pretty outdated trans that recently. As I mentioned, I had a 5R555 in 2005 and just assumed that's what they'd be using. But I guess we all know about assumptions......

 

The 5R55N/S would never stand up to the requirements of a full-size truck. While it was better suited for the Mustang and Lincoln LS, it was barely acceptable in the Explorer. The vehicle weight (and anticipated towing capability) play an equal part in the suitability of a transmission.

Also worth noting that their durability was quite awful by comparison. Biggest issue (and what I experienced in my 02 LS) was the servo wearing the bore and fluid leaking past the seal as a result. By the time symptoms are present, the clutches are likely fried.

Also worth noting is that the 4R75E is a design with deep roots and what you have is the final version with just about every bug worked out of it.

The 6R80 (and 6R60 sibling) currently used had some bugs in the beginning, but they were generally fixed with software updates.

So while the shifting may seem annoying, keep in mind that the trans is biased towards efficiency. In other words, it's a small V8 in a heavy truck and this is expected. I've towed loads of roughly 7,000 lbs. with mine and almost always through the mountains of Western Maryland. It gets the job done. But if a 5.0L, 5.4L, or 6.2L donor truck fell in my lap for dirt cheap, I'd swap. But as a truck, it has served me well. I bought mine new nearly five years ago.

 

Keep in mind cruise control isn't calibrated to hold a gear and vehicle speed, it's calibrated to hold a vehicle speed and do it relatively aggressively compared to controlling the accelerator pedal yourself.

If you were able to pick up 2MPG with cruise off, that indicates you're a pretty smooth driver for the conditions and that you should just avoid cruise for those conditions.

 

If you wanted, I imagine custom tuning could compensate and adjust the shifts enough that it would hold OD a little better. But the truck IS just gonna do that.

My 06 5.4 is even more annoying when it kicks down, cause my exhaust is louder than sin and sounds like I'm racing when it drops out of OD. I love when I'm on the phone and it does it . . .

But I agree, just take it off cruise and it'll be a lot better. Shouldn't be too annoying to only do it occasionally.

 

Well, there's at least a dozen of those big grades on the trip and I've made it four times since I got the truck.....that's probably at least a hundred runs up those grades, so I've got it down to a science by now. I just roll it up to 90 when I approach the grade and by the time I crest it, it hasn't downshifted and I'm down to about 80. It's just not as relaxing as sitting back and driving.

When I leave the cruise off, I get about 18 mpg, averaging about 85. When I get out to Alpine, I'll usually burn a tank around town and consistently get 21-22, which ain't too bad. I never worry about mileage at home but it's gotten to be almost a game when I'm on the road, to see how much I can nurse out of it.


Aside from the mileage, that's the problem with mine. It's loud and it's really loud when it kicks down to second gear and revs like that. More annoying than anything.

 

So if the root issue is an exhaust that isn't suitable, why not address that?

Remember that the transmission is downshifting to give you the power you need at a given speed and load. It's a small engine in a heavy truck.

Try going up a really steep grade in WV with a 7,000 pound trailer. I had it floored and couldn't get over 45 in 2nd. It may be annoying, but it is what it is. I will say that my Magnaflow cat-back is absolutely perfect though. Aggressive on the outside, but sounds great on the inside under any condition. No droning or excessive noise.

 

Funny how I love hearing mine all the time, except when I'm on a 4 hour drive. I've come to accept it as the trade-off for the loud exhaust.

But, like EsJayEs said, maybe a quieter muffler with a cutout would be better than trading the whole truck in?

 

Same here - I enjoy how my truck sounds all the time, except when it's roaring up those grades. But that's a tiny fraction of the time I'm behind the wheel, so I can live with that.

I wouldn't trade the truck in on a new one just because of the trans - I've driven the 5.0 version and it's got a ton of benefits over the old 4.6 drivetrain, not least of which is mucho more horses under the hood.

 

Yeah, about 100 more plus 385 tq and a six speed trans.