So exactly one month ago on 1/4/21 I bought a brand new 2020 F150 Supercab Stx Fx4, 2.7 Ecoboost. It came with 208 miles from the dealer and since then I have driven it to about 1500 miles. It is stock.
I have since seen some of these problems talked about in this forum but have not seen a lot of conclusions...
I am not super experienced in talking about or diagnosing car troubles so please forgive me for not having the right words to describe some of this, but I would love some of your input on how to proceed.

The Problems:
Transmission - At around 500 miles I started noticing a physical jolt accompanied by a "thud" noise when the truck is shifting up between 3rd and 5th gear as well as down from 5th to 3rd gear. It might even be "skipping" 4th if that's possible. It usually happens somewhere where I'm focused on maneuvering the vehicle like a tight turn. Is this a transmission issue? Is there something wrong with it or is it normal and something i have to live with? I traded in a 2016 6 speed and never had anything like this happen in that truck. I spoke to a service rep about this at a dealership and they acted like I was crazy.

Steering - At around 1000 miles I started feeling as if there was a slight amount of "play" in the steering wheel. If I am going straight I feel like I have to constantly adjust the steering wheel about a centimeter in either direction to keep the truck centered in the lane. This is particularly noticeable around 35-55mph. It's not a lot of play but enough to be very annoying. This play is also accompanied by some vibration when traveling over poorly paved roads. Its like I can feel every bump or unevenness in the road IN the steering wheel. It doesn't feel "unsafe", yet, but it doesn't feel like I'm driving a "built tough" truck. The steering feels light and cheap and easily manipulated by road conditions. So, is this a problem? Or something I have to live with? The same service rep at the dealer acted like I was crazy about this too.

I feel strange bringing in a brand new vehicle to a dealership service department with these complaints because they are not Major problems prohibiting me from driving. I am sure there are people out there with these issues that don't even notice them or think twice about them. But I payed a lot for this truck and traded in a perfectly good one that to be quite honest, I miss. How do I broach these topics with a service department? How do I get someone to give a ****? I planned on having this truck for 8 years or more, and planned on doing some warranty voiding mods to it, but now I'm feeling a little sketched about it all...

Have any of you had these same issues and gotten them fixed? If so I would love some details on that. Are these issues fixable? How hard will I have to work to get a dealership to actually assess and work on these issues? Also I am worried about sending the truck in and then having it come back with worse problems or different problems. But I guess this is what vehicle ownership is like sometimes..

Thank you guys.

 

Based on what I've been reading the new 10 speed auto sometimes has these shifting anomalies and there isn't anything Ford can do. The service manager has heard about these issues many times I'm sure. My son rented one with the V8 and 10 speed and he said it shifted like that occasionally.

 

I agree with Roadie..... do some searching on Ford 10-speed auto issues and class action lawsuits.

My comment on the steering:
last time I had to correct steering like that as I traveled down the road was on a 1955 Pontiac. It was common on all cars back then. Have not experienced it in the last 3 or 4 decades with newer cars and trucks. I guess it could be an alignment issue and not a steering issue.

That's what that warranty is for....... go get'em. document, document, document!!!!!

 

I had the hard shift in the first shift upon starting off to work in the AM. The local
Ford dealer ran a software update and it went away. They explained the system 'learns' from how you drive; really? Oh, that little upgrade cost me over $200.00! Which reminds me, my after market insurance should be paying that out.

 

On shifting, try the ECO mode and see if it's a bit smoother shifting . All 5 modes modify the engine/shift points differently. That's why they are offered in a 10 speed.
Also, starting off cold, the trans fluid is a higher viscosity and will shift more abruptly until the temperature heats up. Look at it on your dash display. Switch is on the steering wheel to see all the data available. In the old 4R70 and 100 trans, it would not shift into OD until the temps came up, by design.
.
The steering is electric assist. There is a Torque sensor and a steering Angle sensor that controls the electric motor assist.
A change in front alignment to a bit more Caster should be more stabilizing. The truck is a bit sensitive to road 'angles' as you drive, so small corrections are often needed as you drive.
Every truck off the assembly line is not perfect and different than your last truck..
If you were to have a load in the box that lowered the rear an inch or so, you might find steering would feel better , hence a the bit more Caster in the front alignment for unloaded normal use.
Been there already. Had a shop do it for me, provided the setting as found on all 4 wheels and settings after making the changes to the front.
Sometimes the rear is even out of track making the handling feel funny.
These checks require the latest alignment racks to provide that level of measurement.
I went to this shop because not expecting a dealer to work at that level without a lot of rangling over it. The cost is better that being unhappy driving it. I took charge of the problem or it would not get any better by itself.
I found out how much my steering improved with a load, that prompted this re-alignment.
Front tire pressure has a large effect on steering effort as well especially with 275-65- 18 inch tires as stock for my model.
So there you have it, more than just guessing.
Good luck.

 

Thanks Bluegrass,

After writing the post and about 500 more miles of driving in 4 days I have decided the only thing that is really eating at me about the truck is the steering. If ford wont do anything about it then what kind of shop should I look for to make these adjustments? I was hoping for a response with some technical terms about the steering components so thank you. I know there surely must be a way to tighten it up.

 

Are you experiencing excessive steering wheel movement before the front responds?
I'm trying to get a bit better understanding of what your feeling in steering.
It can be low tire pressure, something loose, steering shaft coupling, steering rack ratio, steering assist delay for some reason, you don't like etc.
If you go to a shop, talk it over with them before having anything done so you see if they are really interested because it will cost their charges no matter the outcome.
Then if they see excessive wheel play that is not from alignment, you have a bit more to support the perceived issue.
.
On shift quality, I would not be having the tendency to try making the truck 'fit the wishes of the driver' by always blaming the shift program unless there is a huge harshness or some obvious non standard shift response. Often the reprogram is either a degraded attempt at program operation to appease the driver, again plus the learning can modify it again.
For example, in default mode from a cold start and take off, the trans is cold at ambient outside temperature. It takes time to heat. Look at the trans temperature and see this.
In default mode the trans will shift a bit precision as the engine rpm will go upward to the shift point, engine torque increases. You will feel this as a more positive shift that is normal. My 2018 running temp. is around 175 degrees. In default shift mode, all the gears are upshifted through un-necessarily for normal driving.
Using the ECO mode often goes 1 to 3 to 5 then up as needed. This should soften the overall operation instead of complaining about poor shift quality and try to modify it with a shift re-program, barring an obvious issue.
Some will have a different opinion, and/or different circumstances but consider the advanced design you own and not try to compare with the old 4 speed OD slip boxes that are a world back in design behind low powered engines.
Good luck.

 

Yes, there are thuds in the shifting and I think bluegrass explains it well. The transmission does indeed skip gears as it deems what is needed. The logic makes sense. The ride is nice but yes you do feel just about any variation in the road which gives you the feeling like the suspension is insufficient. With the larger wheels also comes a worse ride as I think the shorter side walls on the tire make it ride rougher. That story by dealers saying the computer is learning how you drive is hogwash. I had a Toyota Tacoma with that problem as well. Did battle with the dealer for 7 months before I found the service bulletin to fix it. Dealer claimed they’d been waiting for the service bulletin but could never get it. I found it on the internet and gave them a copy of it and they were shocked. Good luck

 

Two weeks ago I bought a 2020 SuperCrew 2.7 Ecoboost. It had 1900 miles on it. I noticed a similar rough shifting sporadically that I did not feel On the test drive. Their Service Tech said it’s a normal characteristic of the 10 speed transmission. Sometimes the computer skips gears as it shifts depending on how it is being driven. It may be worse if the Boost is kicked in and attempting to accelerate faster through those gears.

I think you have to submit all issues you find and have them documented on the vehicle service record. It makes it easier to get things covered later if it continues to get worse but doesn’t become a major problem for many more miles — especially anything that may not become “major” until the end of the warranty period. (Can you guess why I am mentioning this? HINT: I also have an F150 with a recall that is outside of warranty by 2000 miles.) I’d recommend you have both the transmission issue and the steering issue checked out so you have a documented service record that shows a potential problem starting when the vehicle was “new”.

 

You need to reset the transmission adaptive learning tables in the TCM. You can easily do this with Forscan and ELM adapter.

Ford can do it too. Some techs will look at you funny and tell you it’s not going to work. It will work. It will fix the harsh shifting and skipping gears as long as transmission is not actually damaged inside.

steering…I would say reset all adaptations in BCM and PCM. That should correct the steering issue.