Ford 7.3 Godzilla Engine

[NH_Bulldog]

The 10 speed transmission that comes with the 7.3 engine has multiple drive modes and also SelectShift (manual gear shifting/selecting using a rocker switch on the shift lever). Anyway, one of the drive modes you can choose is Tow/Haul. This changes the shift points and also uses the engine/transmission to assist on downhill grades without having to ride the brakes.

[wegone]

Have they got the bugs worked out of those 10 speeds yet?

[Max23]

I guess I would assume so. My 2018 has the 10 spd and I love it. It's smooth and works great in tow mode especially on the downshifts to help. My one gripe would be, why they even use 1st when not in tow mode, it just barely gets a roll going and shifts up right away. When not in tow mode it will skip gears as it goes up so why use first right off. Oh well, I'm not an engineer so I guess, I'll accept their expertise on this. LOL

[wegone]

Originally Posted by Max23

I guess I would assume so. My 2018 has the 10 spd and I love it. It's smooth and works great in tow mode especially on the downshifts to help. My one gripe would be, why they even use 1st when not in tow mode, it just barely gets a roll going and shifts up right away. When not in tow mode it will skip gears as it goes up so why use first right off. Oh well, I'm not an engineer so I guess, I'll accept their expertise on this. LOL

Can't you lock out gears?

[Max23]

You can shift manually if you want. I prefer not to. To my knowledge [and I may just be unaware] you have no option to just lock out gears you don't want to use when you put it in drive. Again, maybe I am unaware of a feature. Don't know. I am very techy and have looked through all the trailer setting and stuff on the control panel, haven't seen anything like that. Don't know.

[wegone]

Originally Posted by Max23

You can shift manually if you want. I prefer not to. To my knowledge [and I may just be unaware] you have no option to just lock out gears you don't want to use when you put it in drive. Again, maybe I am unaware of a feature. Don't know. I am very techy and have looked through all the trailer setting and stuff on the control panel, haven't seen anything like that. Don't know.

Oh...my 2011 Super Duty 6 speed allows it. Don't use it tho

[sourdough]

Originally Posted by Max23

You can shift manually if you want. I prefer not to. To my knowledge [and I may just be unaware] you have no option to just lock out gears you don't want to use when you put it in drive. Again, maybe I am unaware of a feature. Don't know. I am very techy and have looked through all the trailer setting and stuff on the control panel, haven't seen anything like that. Don't know.

I don't know (remember) how the Ford works but in the Ram you can "lock out" gears buy selecting a gear manually and limit the tranny to that range of gears, ie; if you select 4th it will go up and down but not past 4th. If you want to lock out the OD gears you can set it to 6 (or whatever you choose) to keep it in that range. I'm not aware of any option to selectively lock out random gears. When doing this manually you are no longer in D but selecting gears.

[JRTJH]

Originally Posted by Max23

You can shift manually if you want. I prefer not to. To my knowledge [and I may just be unaware] you have no option to just lock out gears you don't want to use when you put it in drive. Again, maybe I am unaware of a feature. Don't know. I am very techy and have looked through all the trailer setting and stuff on the control panel, haven't seen anything like that. Don't know.

Originally Posted by Island Eddie

Oh...my 2011 Super Duty 6 speed allows it. Don't use it tho

Unless Ford deleted that feature in the 2015 SuperDuty, you can't do what Max23 is asking with your transmission nor can I with mine.

He is saying that you can't "lock out a lower gear (1st) while in DRIVE (automatic mode).

That said, yes, you can "lock out first gear" while in MANUAL mode, but doing that only allows the transmission to operate in first gear. You MUST manually shift to a higher gear or the transmission will only operate in first gear and NEVER shift.

When in AUTO mode, you can "lock out higher gears, working down, but you can NOT lock out lower gears, working up. In other words, you can, in AUTO, use the buttons on the shift column to lock out 6, 5, 4, etc (working down) but you can not use those buttons to lock out 1, 2, 3 (working up).

There is no means on the 6R140 transmission and, as far as I can tell, to lock out first gear in "normal driving or towing". That same limitation is present in the 10R140 transmission, used in the 2020 through current SuperDuty line and in the 10 speed transmission used in the F150, which is the 10R80. You can "lock out higher gears, working down" but you can not lock out lower gears working up when in AUTO. In MANUAL, you can only operate the truck in ONE gear and must manually shift to the next gear EVERY TIME THE TRUCK SHIFTS. This is not practical for day to day operation in "normal driving or towing"... Even then, you're not "locking out first gear" you're manually selecting second gear and every shift must be manually selected.

There is no way to select 2-3-4-5 (lock out first gear) with any Ford transmission, while operating in AUTO and no way to do it in MANUAL without physically pushing the "UP/DOWN buttons" on the shift column with EVERY shift.

ADDED: I'm sure there is probably some "add on programmer code" that you can add (reprogram) to the truck computer program that would lock out first gear, but it's not available from Ford and would very likely void the truck warranty if used.

[NH_Bulldog]

I have never had an issue with the transmission. Always smooth, and never seems to “seek” when pulling long hills, but that could be a factor more related to the engine power/torque.

Yes, you can lock out higher gears if you want, but only top down, not bottom up. For example, in regular drive mode, just tap the gear selector switch on the shift column down and it removes “10” from the display. Click again and “9” goes away. Again and “8” goes away, etc. etc.

[jasin1]

is first gear on a 10 speed typically geared much lower then on a 6 or 8 speed? for example i have a six speed aisen with 4:10 rear gear…is a 10 speed with a lower 1st and say 3:73 rear equivalent?

is it a super low granny gear?

[NH_Bulldog]

I don’t know the ratios offhand, but 1st gear is to get things moving no matter what load you are hauling (on none at all). The transmission “reads” the demand and will either shift up though the gears sequentially 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10 under a heavy load or skip unnecessary gears and shift 1-3-5-7-9-10 unloaded. Either way, you start in 1st regardless of load.

My Ram 2500 had a 6 speed manual and unless I was towing, I would start out in 2nd gear since first was geared so low. I swear my left (clutch) leg was more muscular than my right in that truck

[wegone]

Well I've never tried locking out any gears, so I will default to you all who know more about it than me.
I do know that in tow/haul it seems to shift quicker, than when not.

[Max23]

The 10 spd in tow/haul will seem to shift quicker as well, only because it will not skip any gears when set to tow. In standard D it will skip gears as it deems appropriate. It is also much more aggressive to downshift when set to tow. Of course to help with slowing down a load. All makes sense, but as stated, that 1st gear is really low and we all grew up with having 1st in our manual pickups being what we referred to as, granny gear. Used only when necessary. Thats kinda where I come up with the "not sure why they don't skip it when not in tow mode" mentality. Maybe I'm just old. LOL. Grew up on the farm, used to driving large grain trucks, tractors and whatever you could throw at me. Only used granny gear under load. Hard to teach an old dog I guess. Thats why I revert to , I'm no engineer and I'll go with their expertise.

[NH_Bulldog]

The “secret” sport mode is fun too (increases pedal sensitivity and shift points), but even with a 34 gallon gas tank I try to avoid it most of the time so I can enjoy the illusion of fuel efficiency.

[NH_Bulldog]

Originally Posted by Max23

The 10 spd in tow/haul will seem to shift quicker as well, only because it will not skip any gears when set to tow. In standard D it will skip gears as it deems appropriate. It is also much more aggressive to downshift when set to tow. Of course to help with slowing down a load. All makes sense, but as stated, that 1st gear is really low and we all grew up with having 1st in our manual pickups being what we referred to as, granny gear. Used only when necessary. Thats kinda where I come up with the "not sure why they don't skip it when not in tow mode" mentality. Maybe I'm just old. LOL. Grew up on the farm, used to driving large grain trucks, tractors and whatever you could throw at me. Only used granny gear under load. Hard to teach an old dog I guess. Thats why I revert to , I'm no engineer and I'll go with their expertise.

I just did a quick test and forced it to stay in 1st. I hit 2000 rpm’s at 15 mph so it isn’t too too low of a gear ratio.

[jasin1]

here is the gear ratios for the new 10 speed super duty trans and the older 6 speed…the article also mentions that the light duty f150 10 speed is a joint collaboration with allison/ gm but the super duty version doesn’t share any parts and is a separate transmission altogether https://www.dieselhub.com/trans/10r1...qshift-10.html

[JRTJH]

Here are the 2022 Ford specs for the 6 speed and the 10 speed transmission gear ratios as used in the F250/F350 trucks.

Yes, there is a lower first gear and a higher tenth gear. That equates to "more power to the wheels starting from a stop and more "overdrive" when up to cruising speed with the 10 speed transmission. Remember though, that when it comes to "power delivered to the drive wheels, the diesel (and I believe the gas engines as well) are "computer limited to prevent driveline damage" until the truck is moving and meets specific conditions before "the entire power production capacity" is allowed to be produced, so there may not be much difference in actual "torque to the drive wheels" even though the first gear ratios may be significantly different.

Here's the actual specs from Ford

[Harry Comes]

Originally Posted by NH_Bulldog

With the 10 speed I get 9-10 mpg towing at 70-75 mph. I get 14-16 around town unloaded and 18-19 on the highway unloaded.

I am really impressed with the Godzilla and it’s performance so far.

These are the same numbers I'm seeing with my 22 F350 7.3 with 3.73 gears. 34,000 miles on it and it's been great.

[jasin1]

he just released new video with updated fuel economy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTul4vMKmbY

[Badbart56]

If it won't out-perform my 6.7, why would I want it?