Added gear for newer F53's

rhinorider wrote:
You guys ever drive on icy roads ? I have a 2011 encounter and when the cruise control is on when you go downhiil the transmission downshifts instead of letting off the the throttle
I was on dry pave,but it was January in Canada.
Sh#t can happen on an Icy road.
It really downshifts hard, could really get the rear end squirrely.

Rarely do we drive on icy roads, but will remember that. We are planning a trip out west this winter and will more than likely get into some snow and ice. The new tranny downshifts much smoother than my 06 did.

I never drive on ice or in rain with cruise control on. It's a good way to get yourself in a scary situation.

You guys ever drive on icy roads ? I have a 2011 encounter and when the cruise control is on when you go downhiil the transmission downshifts instead of letting off the the throttle
I was on dry pave,but it was January in Canada.
Sh#t can happen on an Icy road.
It really downshifts hard, could really get the rear end squirrely.

I picked up my new coach today. I towed my Jeep off the lot and hit the tow/haul button. I drove around 200 miles and the "tow/haul" function worked exactly like my 2006 F53 chassis. It downshifted perfectly when I laid on the brakes and kicked down with the cruise control engaged, when speeding up on long downhill jaunts. No problems, despite what I have heard about this being non-functional and only corrected by a third party program. The other thing I noticed is that instead of the coach running at about 3000 RPM's at 75MPH, It runs around 2300 RPM's at 75MPH. Very nice, and does add some noise relief in the **** pit during long straight cruising. I did notice that shifting is much less hard. The shifting is very smooth and less jerky. So far, I am very impressed with the new transmission.

The torque is the same, but at a slightly lower rpm on the 2016. I think the torque is 457 in 2015 and 460 in 2016. The main difference is the 2015 can Rev higher to get the 42 extra hp, and on the 2016 the computer doesn't allow the higher rpms.

Thank you for explaining. It does make sense that the rating system is the only thing that has changed with the engine. The engine is the same. Can someone explain how the torque has changed with this new transmission? Thanks

1 ton Fords have had the 6 speed behind the diesel engine for at least 4 years. Does the display in the dash always show what gear it is in?
I wish my Ram 8 speed would do that. It does not.

Hikerdogs wrote:


Yes and no. In previous year.s the horsepower was rated at 4750 rpm. In 2016 it's rated at 4000 rpm. Same engine - different rating system.

Same engine hardware - Same rating system. Different engine rev limit - 4000 RPM.

timmac wrote:
The new 6 speed trans in 6th gear is the same as the 5 speed in 5th gear, no RPM change, it just adds 1 extra gear for closer shifting and such.

I knew someone that replaced his fairly new 2012 motorhome with a 5 speed to a new 2016 6 speed trans motorhome because he hated how the 5 speed shifted in the hills, he lost thousands in trade in and I told him 5 Star Tuning for $425 fix the 5 speed issue, his jaw dropped to the ground he did not know about the 5 Star Tuning.

Also the new 2016 V-10 with 6 speed has 42 less HP..

Yes and no. In previous year.s the horsepower was rated at 4750 rpm. In 2016 it's rated at 4000 rpm. Same engine - different rating system.

With the 6 speed transmission the gear ratios are slightly different.
1st gear - 3.974
2nd gear - 2.318
3rd gear - 2.516
4th gear - 1.149
5th gear - .858
6th gear - .674

5 speed gear ratios
1st gear - 3.11
2nd gear - 2.22
3rd gear - 1.55
4th gear - 1.00
5th gear - .71

With the 6 speed transmission the engine is turning slower than the transmission output shaft in both 5th and 6th gears

With the 5 speed transmission the engine is turning slower than the transmission output shaft only in 5th gear

Six speed is a license built copy of the German made ZF transmission. It is unique in that it does not have a "direct drive" or 1:1 ratio in it, all speeds are either under or over drives, with 5 & 6 being overdrives. other unusual feature of it is that while almost all automatics shift up by engaging a clutch or band, overriding the lower gear it was in, this transmission has at least one "switch shift" where it has to disengage one gear and engage another, which is trickery done by the electronics.

Most transmissions (5 speeds for example) are three reduction gears, direct drive (4th) and overdrive (5th). The Mercedes transmission in my Sprinter chassis motor home is like this, and the tranny runs somewhat cooler in 4th as the gears are not loaded up, generating heat. It is still an undersized PO$ however!

Charles