Fightin words, best transmission, 150/1500 series?

[falconbrother]

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?

[CavemanCharlie]

Clockman wrote:

CavemanCharlie wrote:
Everyone I know that has a Chevy pickup from about 2000 to 2008 (approximately)had to do a transmission swap at 70-130000 miles. They were really bad transmissions.

Unless you have a Year 2000, 2500 with the 4L80 trans, then you can go 240,000 like I'm at.....

My 2004 pickup needed a tranny at 80000 miles. My close friends have a 2005 Suburban that needed a tranny at 100000 miles. And, I have heard of a lot more. Of course on occasion you will get one that last longer but, on the whole they have a bad reputation.

Of course the first Ford 4 speed auto back in the 80's called the AOD had a bad reputation too. I have 2 cars with that tranny that have 150000 miles on them and I have had no problems with it. So, it really does seem to be partly a matter of luck.

Still, since the OP asked, if I were him I would avoid Fords from the 80's and early 90's that had the AOD and also Chevy / GMC's from the early 2000's. Those seem to be some of the ones that have bad reps.

[Clockman]

CavemanCharlie wrote:
Everyone I know that has a Chevy pickup from about 2000 to 2008 (approximately)had to do a transmission swap at 70-130000 miles. They were really bad transmissions.

Unless you have a Year 2000, 2500 with the 4L80 trans, then you can go 240,000 like I'm at.....

[colliehauler]

Ford for 2017 is putting in the light duty transmission in the F-250's instead of the torque shift.

[colliehauler]

PaulJ2 wrote:

deltabravo wrote:

seaeagle2 wrote:
Those 700R4 transmissions weren't very good, they were a stop gap measure until the electronic 5 speeds came out.

There were other transmissions after the 700R4, prior to an electronically controlled transmission in GM trucks, and GM has never had a 5 speed automatic transmission in a gas truck.

I have an 8.1 gas truck with a 5 speed automatic.

My Chevy work truck was a 8.1 gas with a 5 speed Allison

Good friend just had a new torque converter put in his 2015 GMC truck, I guess GM has issues with them.

[CavemanCharlie]

Everyone I know that has a Chevy pickup from about 2000 to 2008 (approximately)had to do a transmission swap at 70-130000 miles. They were really bad transmissions.

[westend]

ROBERTSUNRUS wrote:

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.

You're absolutely right. My memory has started to get blurred. Here is a quote from another message board about the vintage cast iron Ford-o-Matic: "IMHO, if ever there was a 100% perfect automatic transmission, it was the 1951-57 cast iron, air-cooled Fordomatics. With three forward speeds these indestructible workhorses would outlast the entire car. It was only when they cheapened them with water cooling lines, aluminum cases, and missing front pumps did they have a shorter (and more expensive) life expectancy."

[PaulJ2]

deltabravo wrote:

seaeagle2 wrote:
Those 700R4 transmissions weren't very good, they were a stop gap measure until the electronic 5 speeds came out.

There were other transmissions after the 700R4, prior to an electronically controlled transmission in GM trucks, and GM has never had a 5 speed automatic transmission in a gas truck.

I have an 8.1 gas truck with a 5 speed automatic.

[time2roll]

They have taken away all the best transmissions and gone automatic.
May as well get the ten speed at this point.

Perfect will be a simple reduction gearbox driven by an electric motor.

Otherwise my 4R70W is doing fine at 190,000 miles. Just three gears when towing is kind of pathetic though.

[falconbrother]

Drbolasky wrote:
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.

We had a Dodge 3500 RamVan with about 240,000 when we sold it. Great van and very well made.

[deltabravo]

seaeagle2 wrote:
Those 700R4 transmissions weren't very good, they were a stop gap measure until the electronic 5 speeds came out.

There were other transmissions after the 700R4, prior to an electronically controlled transmission in GM trucks, and GM has never had a 5 speed automatic transmission in a gas truck.

[ROBERTSUNRUS]

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]

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]

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]

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?