Which is correct?

A) Firmness of gearshift will not harm your gearbox. The quicker the gearshift, the less slipage within the gearbox and less heat build-up... which equates to the longevity of your transmition.

B) Firmness of gearshift places undo pressure on your gearbox and its operating internal components, which will surface its ugly head in due time. If it was as harmless, and therefor beneficial, to your transmission as some say, then vehicle manufacturers would have made this available as an OEM.... which they did not.

Obviously, the various tuner manufacturers will stand by option [A] but I've spoken with more than a handfull of people, whos opinions I respect, who say option [B] is correct. The underlying fact, they say, is that if it was all sweet and dandy, shift firmness would have been a standard OEM availablilty.

Thoughts?

 

(A) is your answer.

 

I'd like to hear a reply from an Automotive Engineer who designs transmissions. It's possible the "soft" shift is seen as a "comfort" thing.

I remember once owning a big Mercury Marquis with a 429 cid engine and a C6 transmission. That car shifted so smoothly, you couldn't feel it. You just knew it happened from the change in engine sound (and there was no audible "slippage" during those shifts either).

My next car was a Thunderbird. You felt every one of those shifts, and I never quite believed the transmission would last - but it did.

- Jack

 

Reverse acting:

Low pressure/High torque reduction = Soft
High pressure/Low torque reduction = Firm

You can work it either way, more or less firmness.
IMO the trans will last however long if you set it up for soft or firm.

 

Vehicles come from the factory with soft shifts for comfort of the driver. Im prety sure the soft shifts come form the clutches disengaging and at a slower rate so you do not feal the clunk. The clutch discs are sliping slightly to alow the shift. The faster the clutchs and all the internal move the less they slip Which inturn make a firmer shift. The less sliping the longer a tranny will last the the less it will heat up with inturn lets it last longer. But you can make a trany shift too hard that will cause damage. The harshness of the shift comes from the valve body and springs and the tuning of the tranny. Mike Troyer says it is called torque managment is what gets adjusted with the turner. The hard part is finding the happy medium of harshness and smouthness of the shift so tranny will last the longest. Mike wrote a whole bunch of info you could find if you serch.

 

sell more vehicles to women- they do not want to feel quick ,precise shifts-phil

 

After getting Troyer's tunes and feeling for myself what he programs as "firm" shifts I'll just say this..

For ME, the shifts now feel like they should have coming out of the Dearborn plant.. quicker, smoother.. better mated to what the engine is trying to do at any given rpm..

On the other hand, when you stab the thing the shifts can be verrry quick... snap your head back quick.. just what I like , but not something I think your typical 75 year old rancher might appreciate so much..

Ford has no idea who's buying their trucks and they sell a ****load to just those ranchers, grandads, etc... so it's in their interest to keep things pretty tame unless you're getting a Harley or the late lamented Lightning..

I'll say this as well.. since getting the tunes from Troyer it takes more concentration to drive the truck in heavy stop and go traffic.. just a light touch on the throttle and it wants to jump.. .. so I have to be realllly light on the thing when just trying to creep along.. but sooner or later there's an opening and now I can just pass like some A-hole.. LOL

 

Me too... that'd be great.


Tex,

Good post.

 

Just a driveability update..

Today was the first time it's rained around here since I got the tunes from Troyer.. so first time on a wet road.. lol

I know I've said that the throttle response is much better, so you can imagine on a wet street.. This is with the 93 perf tune..

Takes a feather touch, I mean featherweight, to not spin the tires.. I kinda scared myself on a couple of turns from a stop... takes very little for the rear to break loose..

Lesson learned tho, now I know!!

 

Check for user "ASE Mechanic" he wrote the Edge code. He will definitely answer ur question. I us the "canned tunes";lvl 2. Nice "firm" shifts when I punch it.

 

Right now, from these forums, I'd say ASEMechanic is the expert.

I have the same truck as you (in Dark Copper color) and also liked the canned level 2 tune. But then, I decided to "fix it" since it wasn't broke, and started mucking around with WOT shift points, timing, etc., nothing serious:

WOT shift: 1-3: 5100, 3-4: 4900
Firmness: 1-3: +4, 3-4: +3
Std. Shifting: 1-4: -1 (for fuel economy)
Timing: 0.25 (since we are at 2500 ft)
Rev Limiter, Speed Limiter and WOT fuel were left at "default".

The short story is - I did not like the results at all. (And, as you can see, I made only small changes). The idle now seems to "hunt" (you feel and hear it) and when starting at partial throttle from a stop, the transmission seems to "slip" as the engine speeds up and the car starts to roll but then it "grabs" (hard - with an almost audible "clunk").

So now, I'm trying to return it to a level 2 "stock" tune, with the correct tire size, which I measured at 2500 mm and which was fine with the other settings left at "default".

I'll let you know how things work out. Hopefully, I can figure out how to get the previous settings back.

- Jack

 

He should be if im correct he wrote the tunes for Edge

 

OK, I got the thing reset to level 2 with everything but the tire size set to default, and it feels "right" now. No "slipping" on start and transmission doesn't engage with a "clunk". In fact, I don't see, feel or hear any slipping as it moves through any of the gears. The engine RPMs simply drop to a lower setting as the thing shifts up on acceleration.

IMHO, this is the way it should be!

- Jack

 

Hmm, surprised there aren't any dissenting opinions since it was in this forum that I read the firmer shifts would mess up your tranny. Regardless, mine is set at a firm shift, with a little bit firmer at WOT. I like the feeling, though it gets kinnda interesting if the roads area wet and the thing shifts mid turn.

 

Just tell Bill "asemechanic" what you want to use the truck for and how you want things and what mods you have and in minutes he can have a tune specific to you. He did one for me earlier and I will be trying it out as soon as I get home.