Cool Ford Trucks

All this said, I have heard Mixed reviews on the new 10 speed.
Friend has one and he claims shifts to fast to often.
Almost jerky. This was after dealer checked it out.

So might need a bit of tweaking to sort out.
not sure.
 
Ha, the transmission! Bare with me.
We used to get some of those complaints too.

Ok, the crucial thing to be aware about this transmission, and that some salesmen either did not learn about or failed to communicate properly to their clients, is that it is an adaptive transmission.
It spends the first several hundred kilometres of its life learning the driving habits of its owner and adapting to that.

The people that come in with issues are first of all, likely not aware of this fact, and second, I have to be careful here, are people who pay too much attention (ADD or a bit anal retentive) and the minute they think they feel something wrong they try to replicate it to confirm their suspicions, or try to outsmart the computer by varying their driving habits to prevent it from happening again.
Well, either action or combination thereof defeats the whole purpose of having an adaptive transmission.
The computer gets confused and this aggravates the driver even more and the cycle just gets worse. The driver then gets obsessed and becomes convinced there is something wrong.

Ford rolled out specific training to the salesmen when the transmission first came out in 2017 for them to take the time to explain this properly to clients.
Salesmen being human, they sometimes cut corners too.
Or it could be a case of a recent hire saleperson that is not up to date on all the training. But the problem starts at the point of sale.

When we received the first complaints, we were caught unaware also.
We recalibrated transmissions. Our techs took test drives.
The ownership experience I describe above emerged as a consistent pattern.
It came to a point where the techs got frustrated with those few clients and dismissed the problem as being a product of the client’s imagination.
The techs would drive normally and not detect anything.

We adopted the strategy of open, clear and very concise communication with these clients.
We would recalibrate the transmission and explain the above and told the client to stop worrying about it, and be patient, to give time for the process to work.
To just drive normally and not try to outsmart the computer.
We also emphasized to our salesmen to take the time to properly inform clients at new vehicle delivery.

The result was that all the issues went away.
The kicker, or should I say the proof in the pouding, was that the majority of clients, those who drove their trucks like they stole them or those who are just not mechanically inclined enough to care or notice anything, never had any issues.
The result confirms the process.

Lesson: just get in and drive!
 
Good post, I always enjoy having that sort of rational perspective presented, as opposed to the keyboard warriors that like to fire up the Blamethrower and rant about how Ford is screwing them/ not honouring warranty/ building a shitty product.

I didn't know that about the ten speed transmission to be honest, I learned something today.

I suppose the days of automotive technology being purely mechanical are behind us, seems boggling that the computer would learn how you drive and adjust for it. Not that I should be surprised.

Well done, thank you.
 
67 AGAIN said:
Ha, the transmission! Bare with me.
We used to get some of those complaints too.

Ok, the crucial thing to be aware about this transmission, and that some salesmen either did not learn about or failed to communicate properly to their clients, is that it is an adaptive transmission.
It spends the first several hundred kilometres of its life learning the driving habits of its owner and adapting to that.

The people that come in with issues are first of all, likely not aware of this fact, and second, I have to be careful here, are people who pay too much attention (ADD or a bit anal retentive) and the minute they think they feel something wrong they try to replicate it to confirm their suspicions, or try to outsmart the computer by varying their driving habits to prevent it from happening again.
Well, either action or combination thereof defeats the whole purpose of having an adaptive transmission.
The computer gets confused and this aggravates the driver even more and the cycle just gets worse. The driver then gets obsessed and becomes convinced there is something wrong.

Ford rolled out specific training to the salesmen when the transmission first came out in 2017 for them to take the time to explain this properly to clients.
Salesmen being human, they sometimes cut corners too.
Or it could be a case of a recent hire saleperson that is not up to date on all the training. But the problem starts at the point of sale.

When we received the first complaints, we were caught unaware also.
We recalibrated transmissions. Our techs took test drives.
The ownership experience I describe above emerged as a consistent pattern.
It came to a point where the techs got frustrated with those few clients and dismissed the problem as being a product of the client’s imagination.
The techs would drive normally and not detect anything.

We adopted the strategy of open, clear and very concise communication with these clients.
We would recalibrate the transmission and explain the above and told the client to stop worrying about it, and be patient, to give time for the process to work.
To just drive normally and not try to outsmart the computer.
We also emphasized to our salesmen to take the time to properly inform clients at new vehicle delivery.

The result was that all the issues went away.
The kicker, or should I say the proof in the pouding, was that the majority of clients, those who drove their trucks like they stole them or those who are just not mechanically inclined enough to care or notice anything, never had any issues.
The result confirms the process.

Lesson: just get in and drive!
Click to expand...
So at the end of the day, this is a very bad transmission for a mutli person truck.
I have some trucks driven by3/4 guys a week and someone different on weekends.
Trust me, as a guy who tries to get guys to drive a certain way each are different.

Personally I think engineers are getting to cute. Design it to shift where it should
and how its driven won't matter. this has worked fairly well for the last 40-50 years.
So leave it alone. How many vehicles are driven by husband and wife?
how many are driven often by both?
how differently do they drive?
Does Ford expect us now spend 120k for two trucks, so it only has one driver?
All great questions, answer not possible, simply because every household and business is different.
 
TrueBlue02058 said:
According to Car and Driver magazine, the next gen Raptor could end up with the GT500 engine. Cause apparently Dodge is coming out with a Hellcat engined Sport P/U. Dodge’s strategy is put a Hemi in everything.
Click to expand...

Too late for a GT500 powered Raptor to be a last hurrah for this generation, time to move the rumour on to the next gen.

I'll get that leprechauns Lucky Charms before I'll see a supercharged V8 powered Raptor in the driveway. lol
 
Ohtobbad said:
So at the end of the day, this is a very bad transmission for a mutli person truck.
I have some trucks driven by3/4 guys a week and someone different on weekends.
Trust me, as a guy who tries to get guys to drive a certain way each are different.

Personally I think engineers are getting to cute. Design it to shift where it should
and how its driven won't matter. this has worked fairly well for the last 40-50 years.
So leave it alone. How many vehicles are driven by husband and wife?
how many are driven often by both?
how differently do they drive?
Does Ford expect us now spend 120k for two trucks, so it only has one driver?
All great questions, answer not possible, simply because every household and business is different.
Click to expand...

Not necessarily Trevor. Allow me once again.
In an effort to be brief yesterday, I overlooked another important feature.

In order to be an adaptive transmission, it is also a smart transmission.
That means it selects the best gear for the circumstances at any given time.
So it pretty much never shifts through all the gears successively and sequentially.
Let’s say from a stop or red light in traffic, once you pull away it may go 1st, 3rd, 5th and then 6th, 8th.
But at the next stop it may go 1st, 2nd, 4th, 6th, 7th, 9th.

Those folks that have a touch of OCD (that’s the term I should have used yesterday) can see this in the instrument cluster if they have the gear display activated.
Some of them start to worry that their transmission is not working properly and they then pay more attention to that then the road in front of them.
Again, they may try to replicate the condition to confirm their suspicions or they may try to change their driving habit to see if the transmission can hit all the gears consecutively.
They can’t, or they start to notice the transmission starting to gear hunt.
They come in with complaints too.
My transmission is not working properly. 3rd gear doesn’t work or something like that.

We again have to explain that it is not supposed to necessarily hit each gear consecutively.
Salesmen are supposed to explain this too at delivery.
It is a smart transmission, designed to use the best gear under the circumstances.
Is it a cold start or are temps warmed up?
Is it an aggressive launch or an easy pull away?
Is it an uphill grade, flat or slight downhill grade?
Are you loaded or empty?
Pulling a trailer or not?
Are you using premium or regular fuel?
Snow on road or dry?
The transmission will always try to be in the best gear for best performance and efficiency.
So if it determines that it is best served by a 2nd to 4th shift, that’s what it will do.
It is not malfunctioning. It is doing exactly what it was designed to do. And it will also do this on downshifts too, so be ready for it.

The best thing remains to drive it and forget it.
Or drive it like you stole it.
Those situations are trouble free.

Let me put it this way.
It is powerful and designed to work, so it likes to pull a load.
That is when it is happiest and working best.
So don’t try to interfere or think that you can outsmart it.
Just give it a load to pull and it will oblige.

To your concern Trevor, I would suggest don’ even think about it.
Let all the people that will drive this thing drive it the way they drive from day one.
It will adjust to that environment from the get go.
It’s not really behaviour. It’s algorithms.
I’m not an engineer but something like that.
It will always want to be in the best gear and it wants to pull.
Give it that without trying to outsmart it and it is happiest.

I can speak to a couple first hand experiences.
First, we have two 2019 F150’s in our rental/loaner fleet at the dealership. Both equipped with the 10 speeds and 5.0’s.
Those are always out being driven by different people from day 1.
They go out a lot because we have lots of truck customers, loggers, farmers and contractors.
When they bring in a truck they don’t want an Escape as a loaner, for example.
Both those trucks drive perfectly. No issues at all.
I would know as I drive them a fair bit to either deliver or pick up and to gas them up after each use.
Since they are rental/loaners, clients probably drive them like they were “stolen”.

Second is we have a large Road repair and Rail maintenance contractor as a client. They also contract flag persons for DOT, CN, Hydro and what not.
I can’t divulge their identity on here but suffice it to say that between all business lines they cover most of eastern Canada with several different employees.
They have an impressive fleet of 2018 - 2019 F150’s that travel all over and driven by different employees.
They have a mix of 3.5 and 5.0’s.
We see them in occasionally for maintenance or the common recent recalls for block heaters, seat belts and the like.
To my knowledge, there has not been one concern with transmissions.

The takeaway is that the people who just get in and drive are having trouble free experiences.
The clients that are reporting issues are those that are, for lack of a better description, looking for it.
Individuals prone to OCD, some ADD, nit pickers, people just prone to worrying about every little thing. Worry worts.
Like someone said earlier, it is no longer a mechanical or analogue world.
It is a digital world. Let the computer do it’s thing and it works.
Try to outthink or outsmart the computer and things unravel.

A good comparison to end on would be the use of a dual clutch automatic in the last generation Focus.
In tbeory, it should have been a hit.
And it likely would have if young adults from the tuner crowd bought them.
In reality, it was seniors on fixed income or young girls out of college and the like, all looking for maximum fuel economy because they had bills to take care of.
Not many or any young men bought that car.

The result was that owners drove extra conservatively to save fuel.
Complaints came in of balking transmissions, or shudder.
Of course, they had cars with race derived transmissions, meant to be driven spiritedly (if not beat on) but they were driving ultra conservatively. A bad scenario in the making.
The result was that the transmission got a bad rep.
In fact, it was not sold to the right consumer group.
Those that were driven hard had no issues.

In retrospect, Ford put that transmission in the wrong car.
Hindsight being 20/20 they likely would have done much better had they used it in an auto version of the Fiesta and Focus ST and even the Fusion sport. All of which are geared to more spirited driving.

There was a lot of work into the 10 speed by both Ford and GM and I think it is well suited to it’s current duties.
It is likely more “smart” than “adaptive”.
Saying that it adapts is basically the same as saying that it always seeks to be in the best gear for the given circumstances.
Just get in, drive and don’t think about it.
 
Last edited:
Marc, thankfully your were brief :p

I get it and to be honest I have not driven one. So in honesty hard for me to fair in comments.
I know 2 people who do have one and both say the same thing differently.

Note they never said it is in wrong gear or that they tried to change driving habits,
might very well be they did, no idea.
What they said is, it changes gear quickly, sometimes feels to much so but
word was choppy and rough. Felt like it was jerking when it switched.

could be driving on a flat without changing speed and it would keep changing
gears and you knew it, because of the roughness in the shift.

Was it them? was it a real problem? in their minds?
who knows and without driving it I have hard time commenting.

Now I am curious to drive one and experience for myself.
I read about its development and thought it was going to be quite the setup.
I guess with anything new, time will tell.
 
TrueBlue02058 said:
It makes sense that a 10 speed would shift faster that a 3 or 4 speed and I hope they don’t go any higher than 10 speeds in an auto considering big rigs had 18 speed Manuel transmissions.
Click to expand...
Like many things, rigs had different transmissions for different set ups.
I preferred the 15 speed over 18.
but sometimes preference is not always the best example.

Autos are taking over in truck world now also.
thats a whole other conversation.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top