I love mine. It is so awesome to have a true overdrive with 3.73 gearing, and still have that low granny hole to get 'er up and running when you have a big load on. Fuel economy is pretty good.
The only gripe I have (and it is a pretty small gripe, not that big a deal) is that the gap between 3rd and 4th (2nd and 3rd if you go by the knob, but what does the knob know???
) is pretty big. That becomes a problem when towing heavy at first, but you'll learn to deal with it after a couple days. The worst part about the 3rd-4th split is engine braking. There are several hills around here that i like to take at about 30 -35 mph going down, which is right in the middle of the gap between the two gears. 4th won't keep it slow, and 3rd is running darn near at redline.
So i fixed that by wiring up an exhaust brake so 4th will hold it at 35 and life is good.
Earlier models (like mine) had troubles with clutch fork release arms braking, and shift forks bending and binding stuff up. It doesn't cause tranny breakage, but it stops you until you get it fixed.
That said, the 03 you're considering does not have that problem, since Ford fixed it in the 2001 MY pickups.
So, my take is that the ZF 6 is the best light-medium duty transmission out there. They don't break, they just don't. They run forever, flwlessly.
...real life experience worth alot more! I'm sure the original poster would rather hear it from the horse's mouth.
Great fuel economy and you can choose where you put the engine RPM wise.
