As a second career I work at the local community college. I always ask the automotive students their opinion about who has the best transmission, GM, Dodge or Ford in the 150/1500 series vehicles. I can't say that I ever get a reliable answer. It seems to me that it depends on the year and models. One kid actually works in a transmission shop and he claims that the Suburbans are in 4 to 1 more than the Fords, say Expeditions for transmission overhauls. Of course this is extremely unscientific research. I retired from a municipal police agency. Our city, as a whole, had thousands of vehicles. What I think I observed about cars was that back in the 1990s the GM vehicles were the best. That is most hard miles driven without a repair. By the time I retired it was the Fords that were the better cars. So, anyway, what American brand has the best transmission for long term life while occasionally towing a travel trailer, excluding diesel heavy duty vehicles?

The best transmission is the one in the truck you own. That is unless you have problems. :)I have had several vehicles with over 200,000 mile on them. The only failure I had was on an 80's vintage Ranger with a manual four speed, and that was at 215,000 miles.Now that may not be much for some of you folks, but it is more than most people put on their vehicles before they trade.

Winter boredom setting in already? :R

My 84 GMC 4 speed auto failed at 80K miles.My 92 Chevy 1500 failed at 90K miles. Both towed occasionally.

Big Katuna wrote:My 84 GMC 4 speed auto failed at 80K miles.My 92 Chevy 1500 failed at 90K miles. Both towed occasionally. Those 700R4 transmissions weren't very good, they were a stop gap measure until the electronic 5 speeds came out. I had a 1992 K1500 pick up with a after market trans temperature gauge. It was frightening how towing my 18 foot boat three miles from the boat ramp and backing into the driveway would elevate the temp

It depends. lol The kids are right. Different years of trucks use different transmissions. You have to be more specific about what year. They have each had their ups and downs. It's not like in the old days where they used the same engine and transmission for years and years. (or even decades) These days they change them every few years.

Fightin words, best transmission, 150/1500 series?

ROBERTSUNRUS
Explorer
Dec 15, 2016
westend wrote:
I've alway been partial to Fords but have owned all the big 3 and even a Mazda truck. All of them had a long life (hope I'm not jinxing myself, lol). I tend to watch the fluid in the trannys and try to flush/renew fluid at decent intervals.

My take is that any truck transmission out of the big 3 will give good service if it's maintained and a decent cooler is on the truck.

Right now, I have the Ford 4R100 mated to a 5.4 V8 and it is a decent transmission. One of the best I had was the Ford cast iron C6 from years ago. That unit would downshift at 70 mph and get me going in a few seconds.

:) Hi, Ford's FMX was cast iron; The C-4 and C-6 were aluminum.
Drbolasky
Explorer
Dec 14, 2016
I'm going to be the odd man out - the TorqueFlite in my 2000 Dodge RamWagon has served admirably well for 134,000 miles. Towing accounts for about a quarter of that total.
Community Alumni
Dec 14, 2016
ken56 wrote:
So then how hot is too hot? My tranny in normal driving/towing runs just under 200 degrees, like 196/198 and has since it was new. I take that as the normal operating temp. Going up some hills it has been up to 210, not a big jump up off of normal. I have a '14 Silverado with the 6 speed electronic trans.

For your truck 200 is normal. Your truck has a normal operating range of 160 - 200 degrees. It's expected that you will exceed that while towing in hot weather. If you're towing often and exceeding the normal operating range regularly then you may want to follow your Severe maintenance schedule.

Transmission fluid will work fine even at 300 degrees, but the life expectancy of the fluid is severely reduced. Running at 220 degrees for an extended time is normally the mark where you have to start getting worried. At 220 the fluid begins to break down and varnish begins to form. 220-250 is fine for a few miles like when you're pulling up a grade. However, if you get into this range it's best to slowdown or pull over to get the temps into a more reasonable range.
goducks10
Explorer
Dec 13, 2016
The worst tranny of my experience was the 6sp in the 2009-2010 F150. No select option and no OD lockout. I towed a 7300lb TT, had the 5.4 with 3.73 gears. I swear it would shift at the site of it's shadow. When going a typical overpass on the interstate runnng 60-65mph it would drop from 6th to 4th then back to 5th, then 6th and sometimes back to 5th if there was a little headwind.
If it had the select shift like the 2011 it would've been fine.
It also had the common tranny bump when coming to a stop from 2nd to 1st. It felt like someone tap the back of the truck. Then it would sometimes bump on accelerating from a stop. Took it to the dealer twice. 1st trip was a flash and the 2nd trip they told me to just drive it since it's still under waranty and when or if it breaks they'll know what to fix. Really?
ken56
Explorer
Dec 13, 2016
So then how hot is too hot? My tranny in normal driving/towing runs just under 200 degrees, like 196/198 and has since it was new. I take that as the normal operating temp. Going up some hills it has been up to 210, not a big jump up off of normal. I have a '14 Silverado with the 6 speed electronic trans.

The only Ford I have owned was an old Courier, small pick up with a manual tranny and I don't even remember the model year. I started hearing a whine come from the trans and knew it was a bearing going out, took the trans out myself and took it into a small service shop. He told me it was a good thing I got it in to him 'cuz it was ready to go and would have destroyed the rest of the gears if it had happened while driving. Put it back in and drove that truck for 2 more years. Lesson is to know your vehicle and its sounds and how things feel, pay attention and don't drive like a fool and expect things not to break.
Vulcanmars
Explorer
Dec 13, 2016
I would agree that the late model units do not have as many issues like the 80s/90s units. I've been in the fleet business for a while: At one time Ford was the best, Dodge was the worst. The both can go over 150K with just a little care.
Heat in the #1 trans killer. Every truck I own gets an old school trans temp gauge.
Community Alumni
Dec 13, 2016
You can't go wrong with any of them. Transmission issues are getting to be a pretty rare occurrence on well maintained vehicles in general. Sure you have failures every now and then, but there aren't many vehicles out there that are still prone to failure. Transmissions these days do a really good job of protecting themselves. GM, RAM, Ford, Nissan, and Toyota are perfectly fine to go the distance. It's really down to personal preference. Some prefer the feel of the the old 5 speeds while some can't wait until 12 speeds come out. Some refuse to give up their stick while some refuse to go back to them. Some like trucks that shift at certain points while others prefer other shift points.
westend
Explorer
Dec 13, 2016
I've alway been partial to Fords but have owned all the big 3 and even a Mazda truck. All of them had a long life (hope I'm not jinxing myself, lol). I tend to watch the fluid in the trannys and try to flush/renew fluid at decent intervals.

My take is that any truck transmission out of the big 3 will give good service if it's maintained and a decent cooler is on the truck.

Right now, I have the Ford 4R100 mated to a 5.4 V8 and it is a decent transmission. One of the best I had was the Ford cast iron C6 from years ago. That unit would downshift at 70 mph and get me going in a few seconds.
n7bsn
Explorer
Dec 13, 2016
If you are talking "new", there may not be any difference between the GM and the Ford
They jointly developed a truck transmission for this application.
falconbrother
Explorer II
Dec 13, 2016
I have a buddy with an early or mid 90s Chevy PU. He has to have a transmission every 70,000 or so and he doesn't tow. He told me that the truck looses 2nd gear. But, he loves that old truck in spite of the known issue. I just want to spend my hard earned cash on a good used vehicle that I can relay on for a while. I'm not overly fond of any brand. My wife has a Chrysler Town and Country van, 2010, that has so far been an excellent vehicle. If the Dodge trucks are this good I'll be glad to own one.