Manually shifting your 4r70w

281CI96Coupe · Jan 19, 2008

I want to know from tranny guru's out there, is it good to downshift your auto from drive to either 2nd or 1st gear istock form. Will this wear out your tranny life faster then usual or not? And are you suppose to be completely stationary before you can mess with 1st or 2nd?

- Nate

fobra559 · Jan 19, 2008

I don't think you need to be stationary to downshift. Like if your going uphill and you feel a little struggle and downshift to 2nd to get the car to pull easier uphill.

scupking · Jan 19, 2008

What ever you do don't downshift to first while moving faster then like 2 mph (trust me, I did it once and never will again). Other then that I always shift my auto. If I’m on the highway and want to pass some one I will turn O/D off bringing her back down the third, floor it and let her scream. I also like downshifting to second a lot when decelerating. I don't think it will shorten the tranny life as long as you have a good tranny cooler.

the98stang · Jan 20, 2008

downshifting to go uphill etc won't hurt the tranny. I advise however not to shift an auto on a regular basis.

propellerhead · Jan 20, 2008

scupking said:
What ever you do don't downshift to first while moving faster then like 2 mph (trust me, I did it once and never will again).

Can you expand on this some more? My 2-1 downshift point is set happen to 9 mph at 0 TP.

joshheat25 · Jan 20, 2008

I read somewhere not to downshift out of drive. I don't down shift. But I hear you can shift back and forth between 1-2. I have been in 2nd and put it down to first while moving like 3 mph and it jerks the **** out of the car! I always just up shift. with the exception of o/d.

scupking · Jan 20, 2008

joshheat25 said:
I read somewhere not to downshift out of drive. I don't down shift. But I hear you can shift back and forth between 1-2. I have been in 2nd and put it down to first while moving like 3 mph and it jerks the **** out of the car! I always just up shift. with the exception of o/d.

Yup that’s exactly what happens fells like tranny is going to fall out.

SVT32VDOHC · Jan 20, 2008

scupking said:
What ever you do don't downshift to first while moving faster then like 2 mph (trust me, I did it once and never will again). Other then that I always shift my auto.

I agree. I did this two my Dad's 95 GT back in like 98-99 when I was in high school. It would lock up the rear tires and make them squeal. I thought it was cool until the rear end starting humming a few weeks later. Turns out it needed a bearing kit. 250 bucks later it was fixed because of my at-the-time 17 year old dumba$$.

When I had my 00 GT back in 2004...I did this and I could chirp 2nd with stock tires and stock trans. But it shifted so effiecient on its own, I just left it in D. That car screamed for a stocker. It was a factory freak!!

fobra559 · Jan 20, 2008

the98stang said:
downshifting to go uphill etc won't hurt the tranny. I advise however not to shift an auto on a regular basis.

Yeah, I do it that in my 6 when going uphill. The V8 has no problem going uphill

CobraRed_96_GT · Jan 20, 2008

mostly opinions in here so far, so ill give mine. Is the 4R supposed to be able to withstand repeated manual shifts - yes. But it's also supposed to not overheat or generally wear down parts trough poor exchange of heat - so down shifting witch spikes rpms will cause even more heat in a tranny that cant handle normal operation's heat.
At least get a tranny cooler, but manually shifting will still assumably cause "more" wear - but so will not driving like a grandma. If you want to do it right - build the tranny with hard parts, and extra in-line filter to an effective cooler; and install a manual valve body kit that not only lets you select all gears freely, it adjusts line pressure and other attributes that you cant accommodate for while just moving down the lever.
I also recommend the B&M hammer shifter so it lets you up/down shift only once instead of mistakingly shifting from 3-1st, eek!

SRT Handz · Jan 20, 2008

IMO, if you wanna shift just get a 5-speed

Bad92GT · Jan 20, 2008

SRT Handz said:
IMO, if you wanna shift just get a 5-speed

depends on what your doing, your more autoX and cornering fool, so you need a 5 speed. I'm more drag racing oriented... and an automatic really comes behind and pulls through with out shifting a 5 speed. I shift mine regularly manually and its fine.. I have a mondo gigantic cooler on the front though

SRT Handz · Jan 20, 2008

i would rather have a 9 second manual 5 Speed car than a 9 sec auto car.... just because its really difficult dragging consistently with a 5 speed

Gerardo · Jan 20, 2008

i always down shift from 2nd to 1st in the take off when i'm in the track but i have a shift kit on it. it doesn't spin tires and i get power faster.

281CI96Coupe · Jan 20, 2008

SRT Handz said:
i would rather have a 9 second manual 5 Speed car than a 9 sec auto car.... just because its really difficult dragging consistently with a 5 speed

Sometimes, you make do with what you got, I hardly ever up/down shift anyway, i just wanted to know if it puts wear and tear on the tranny.

Dusstbuster · Jan 21, 2008

When you're crusing at highway speeds instead of "downshifting" just hit the OD OFF button and it'll downshift automatically...and it'll do it the way it wants to. That's what I always do, especially when you come to those speed zones that drop from 70 to 55 or 55 to 40/35.

CobraRed_96_GT · Jan 21, 2008

Dusstbuster said:
When you're crusing at highway speeds instead of "downshifting" just hit the OD OFF button and it'll downshift automatically...and it'll do it the way it wants to. That's what I always do, especially when you come to those speed zones that drop from 70 to 55 or 55 to 40/35.

+1, anything over 40-45mph i dont shift into 2nd from 3rd - and this is with a built auto.

SRT Handz · Jan 21, 2008

good thread.... i was always aware that shifting an auto too much f'd things up.

Smokeurhonda · Jan 21, 2008

Put it this way, the factory did not want you to shift manually. I've driven a few 99+ autos and when you manually upshift them the line pressure goes through the roof. Downshifting puts allot of pressure on you bands because it engages the gear so slowly. Long story short, manually shifting puts more stress on a trans, downshifting is worse. If you still wanna do it get a trans cooler to make your tranny last.

Rusty67 · Jan 22, 2008

Keep in mind I have a V6, not a V8.

I've been manually shifting my trans constantly and I've got over 100,000 miles on my engine/trans with no rebuild on either. The trans does have a shift kit. I usually drive around town with the over drive off unless I'm above 45 miles an hour consistantly. I NEVER shift from 2nd to 1st unless I'm at a literal stand still as this shift is hard on the trans even at 2mph. One of the main reasons I will down shift from 3rd to 2nd is the engine braking. I usually get 30,000 miles out of my brake pads at a minimum and the rotors never have a large lip on them. Also, before I changed my rear end out I would select my gears manually while driving around town because I hated the shift points. So I've got a lot of miles on mine and don't exactly abuse it but I beat it up quite a bit and it hasn't had any problems keeping up.

One tip for you guys who like to down shift, if you are going from D to 2, make sure you turn OD off first as it makes the shift easier on the trans.

When I swap the V8 in I'm going to put in a 5 speed as well, 6 speed if I got the cash.

Manually shifting your 4r70w

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