Auto Tranny ?'s

[Dieselpwrdredneck]

Are the stock auto trasmissions in the early superduties any good?
How good are they on holding power?
Good for towing?
Do you like yours?

I am still not sold on auto's, but finding it hard to find 6 speeds in the body that i want

Thanks
Neal

 

[fordtrucker4life!]

Well I have heard that the early superduties had weaker trannies up untill the torque shift. I know a few people that have needed trannies, but they drive them hard. One got 150,000 miles and the other got 175,000.

 

[forddeerediesel]

I got 168000 out of my early 99. I put 100000 on it since I had it, and pulled 20k+ with it. Have to watch temp closely. Currently having a problem with my tranny, but I think it is electrical. now that I have led you to think that auto's are ok, I would still have rather had the 6 speed.......

 

[aklim]

In 01, Ford put a diode in it and it caused problems. Other than that, they are fine. I love my auto.

 

[patrickc]

I had the same problem when I was looking for a truck it seems not to many people buy sticks anymore. I found a few trucks that were standard but they all had high mileage and looked like they were constantly worked (5th wheel) so instead I settled for a mostly highway driven automatic.

I got about 160,000 miles out of my stock 4R100 (2002 F350) it frequently hauled 15,000lb trailer for the last 100,000 miles of its life. I now have a built 4R100 and additional cooling (trans pan and additional cooler) to help it maintain cooler operating temps. I have not had any problems since.

 

[Tail_Gunner]

I got about 155,000 miles of towing out of my auto before it crapped out. I replaced it with a Brian's Truck Shop tranny. Yea, they're pricey. But one BTS tranny is still less than two Ford rebuild trannys. The BTS tranny has been plugging away for about 120,000 miles so far without problem.

You really extend the life of your tranny by making sure it has adequate fluid cooling. I think the rule of thumb is you double the life of your tranny with every 10* decrease of trans fluid temp.

My early 99 just had the small tranny cooler without the cooler in the radiator. I switched it out to the larger V-8/V-10 cooler and added an auxillary cooler on top of that. Typically in the summer, my towing temps are around 165* +/- 10*, with the max I've ever seen was briefly around 200* while towing up a long mountain grade. Non-towing, it never gets above 150*.