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?

[ken56]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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.

[falconbrother]

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 take one.

[CavemanCharlie]

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.

[seaeagle2]

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

[Big_Katuna]

My 84 GMC 4 speed auto failed at 80K miles.

My 92 Chevy 1500 failed at 90K miles.

Both towed occasionally.

[3oaks]

Winter boredom setting in already? :R

[rbpru]

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.