"5 star tuner" on a V-10?

It looks like the Ford 5-speed (6 speeds internally) TorqShift 5R110W transmission started in the E450 in chassis model year 2005. What I understood to be in our 2005 E450 Class C when we bought it:

http://www.certifiedtransmission.com/ford/e450/

I'm getting a little dizzy here reading about all the different tranny's. I don't think the E-450 V-10 is available with the Torqshift 5-speed 5R110 automatic transmission.....If I'm correct they only come with the 4R1000. Is this a correct assumption ?

I don't know if this will get me in trouble with the moderator, but here is a direct quote clip from Wikipedia on what came in my V10 Class C motorhome (starting, I believe, in Ford's E-Series cutaway van a bit later with model year 2005):

"The Torqshift 5-speed 5R110 automatic transmission replaced the 4-speed in the 2003 model year truck in order to compete with the Allison 1000 series from General Motors; it was paired with the new 6.0 L diesel engine. The TorqShift design in fact has six forward ratios, but only five are advertised, with the 'hidden' gear only used in extreme cold weather. The TorqShift 1st to 5th gear ratios are 3.11, 2.22, 1.55, 1.00, and 0.71:1. It also utilizes an alternate 4th gear, overdrive on 2nd gear of the 3-speed automatic component (0.72 x 1.55), that is 1.10:1 that is used under cold start conditions to aid engine and transmission warm up. On the TorqShift, once the Tow/Haul mode is activated it can help increase a driver's control when towing large loads up and down steep grades and automatically minimizes shifts and maximizes available torque. Upon descent, the Tow/Haul mode utilizes engine braking to help extend brake life and improve driver control. An adaptive shift function monitors the TorqShift's performance over its lifetime, and adjusts shift pressures in real time to assure consistent shift feel and compensate for wear. For ease of maintenance, the TorqShift's oil filter is a spin-off style, mounted on the passenger-side exterior of the transmission. Also the TorqShift's larger fluid lines and a larger transmission oil cooler help to assure cooler operating temperatures, even under the most demanding conditions. This was Ford's first automatic transmission to feature PTO. The transmission can be equipped with an integrated PTO provision (which automatically locks the torque converter providing power to the PTO gear when the operator turns on the PTO switch)."

I dont really monitor the site, but here is a link that will help ya find out more: looks like it costs arounf $415 now. Dont know if it will be on sale again, just have to watch.

http://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/955188-the-5-star-mike-sticky-thread.html

http://www.5startuning.com/got-a-v10-6-8l/

http://www.5startuning.com/product/ford-6-8l-v10-rv-motor-home-only-x4-power-flash-device/

I think you would be better of going to one of the ford specific sites with your trans questions. There really are a lot of gearheads on them and some are actual ford techs who give info. Look up ford-trucks.com and look for the right subject area. This is the v10 forum: http://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/forum49/

This is a listing of the forums: http://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/index.php

Hank and Phil, thank you both! Hank, please PM me when 5 offers a deal. Phil, I Don't think I fully understand the way 4R100 thinks. It defaults to OD unless "OD OFF" is selected. But, hitting a slight grade in OD with cruise, seems to downshift deeper than Direct or simply OD OFF. more of a passing gear situation. It'll pull the same grades easily out of cruise. You're right about tow/haul. Rented a C with torqshift and it wasn't neurotic in t/h. The diff is that I have to give up OD or (maybe AND) cruise to stop neurosis. The torqshift let's you keep both. Ford developed 5R to be an Allison killer. I'd be happy with anxiety meds for 4R. If 5star will do that I could be happy.

j-d wrote:
My issue is mostly the neurotic downshifting.

John, I know your V10 doesn't have the TorqShift tranny so you may not have had a lot of driving time with one behind the V10 in a Class C rig.

With our TorqShift, driving the motorhome full time in it's Tow/Haul mode pretty much stops the downshifting. Since a motorhome loads the chassis heavily all the time anyway, probably a Ford engineer would say keep it in the Tow/Haul mode all the time as that's exactly what the mode was meant for.

With your tranny - which has less gear combinations (I believe the TorqShift has 6 combinations, with only 5 being under control of the driver) than a Torqshift - I'm not sure how it's Tow/Haul mode (does it have one?) would act to reduce excessive downshifting.

JD I am not familiar with your trans, but mine is the 5R110 or whatever the name is. Same as in my F350. The 5 star does correct the down shift as I said . I think you would be happy with one, but maybe wait to see if there is another sale coming up. I found the invoice and it was $352 altogether. There was another guy who was going to/did get one for his C but cant remember his name. He was from houston or someplace I think, maybe he will chime in?

My issue is mostly the neurotic downshifting. Ours is 4R100 and I'd hoped TorqShift corrected more of that than it seems to have.

We'd all like more HP and better MPG, but the HP really seems OK and I'm not sure there's much room for more MPG at the weight and frontal area we run.

Most of the OP's who have offered comments and suggestions how to Live With or Work Around this powertrain's behavior do not seem to be among those who actually drive one.

Yes it was the 5 star site, I really cant remember the final price as it was about a year ago and I have CRS syndrome. But I think it was close to that. They had a special over the Christmas period and that is when I took advantage of it.

Hank85713 wrote:
Yes I have one on my 2012 winnebago. It is actually a 2011 engine setup. I bought the rig and was dismally unsatisfied with its overall performance. If you like down shift with 4500-5000 rpms just to keep going then you dont need one. The 5star actually civilized the engine to make it enjoyable to drive. Gives a little better throttle control and actually seems to have help improve milage. Nothing the rave about abut seems to have helped .5 to 1 mpg depending on terrain. We put 4500 miles on ours this summer and it only went to the high rpms with the tuner a couple of time up in the colorado mountains. No CC involved, just mashing the pedal. we crossed over wolf creek was down to about 26mph nearing the crest, passed a struggling new dodge at 36 mph just before the crest. So overall yes I think it helped, but they can be expensive, bought mine last year during the christmas sale about $350 as I recall, could have been a little less.

I am looking to change out the muffler to a free flow gibson unit and will try to get a better air intake setup. Its all up to you, but I did what I did and am planning to make the other changes. And no the mfr's do not build except to pass government requirements. They leave much on the table that the aftermarket has taken the challenge to make your system perform better. Mufflers are a prime example they try to keep everything quiet for noise issues, same with the air intakes and as a result there are a lot of power losses in between. Go to one of the sites dealing with the V10 and ask there and then judge for yourself.

Did you get that price on The "5 star" site?....I think thats the only place to buy them, correct?