Is your truck the same?

[Mitch65]

So I’m trying to figure out if I have an issue with my transmission or if it’s just a characteristic of our rangers.

when I’m cruising around town at speeds of say 25-40mph the truck seems to be lugging a little bit. It keeps the RPMs very low and I get a vibration/lugging sensation. It feels the same as driving a Manuel transmission in too high of a gear. It almost feels like the truck is bogging down until I give it more gas. No stuttering or jerking but just a low vibrating feeling and I can feel it in the wheel. It’s like holding an electric toothbrush but not as strong. At times it feels like the road surface changed but it didn’t.

sport mode is great but I find it hold the rpms too high. No vibration in sport mode.

I have no vibration on take off and no vibration when reving the engine in park. I only have it when the truck is lugging along in 7th gear and 1100rpms at 35mph. 2021 Tremor 520 miles on it

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[Opusnbill7]

Normal. It's trying to save fuel by upshifting aggressively (sometimes too aggressively). You get used to it after a while.

 

[AzScorpion]

So I’m trying to figure out if I have an issue with my transmission or if it’s just a characteristic of our rangers.

when I’m cruising around town at speeds of say 25-40mph the truck seems to be lugging a little bit. It keeps the RPMs very low and I get a vibration/lugging sensation. It feels the same as driving a Manuel transmission in too high of a gear. It almost feels like the truck is bogging down until I give it more gas. No stuttering or jerking but just a low vibrating feeling and I can feel it in the wheel. It’s like holding an electric toothbrush but not as strong. At times it feels like the road surface changed but it didn’t.

sport mode is great but I find it hold the rpms too high. No vibration in sport mode.

I have no vibration on take off and no vibration when reving the engine in park. I only have it when the truck is lugging along in 7th gear and 1100rpms at 35mph. 2021 Tremor 520 miles on it

Sounds pretty normal and remember that the transmission is still in a "learning" mode. Mine was acting wonky for the first 1,200 miles or so then it seems to smoothen out. If it were doing it in S mode then I'd be more concerned. Once you put some more miles on it it should be a lot better.

 

[Mitch65]

Normal. It's trying to save fuel by upshifting aggressively (sometimes too aggressively). You get used to it after a while.

I see I see. So you also get that luggy, vibration feeling in the steering when when it does it?

 

[Opusnbill7]

I see I see. So you also get that luggy, vibration feeling in the steering when when it does it?

Yeah a little "buzzy" sensation. If It starts to bother me I goose it a little and it downshifts and goes away. Usually I just ignore it.

 

[FunInTheSun]

My truck does this too. SO the short answer is YES, this is "normal". BUT...

Gives me the jitters. Can't be good for the engine. And for anyone inclined to jump in to disagree and tell me all about how the wonderful Ford engineers designed the engine this way, and it doesn't hurt it, I will just ask you two questions.

Why?

Can Ford engineers repeal the laws of physics?

Yes, they designed it all this way, but they did it to reduce fuel usage, not to make the engine last longer. Look up CAFE (Corporate Average Fuel Economy) and understand how that works. "Doesn't hurt Ford Motor Company's bottom line" is not precisely the same thing as "doesn't hurt the engine".

The engineers work with what their bosses tell them to do. If they did beef up the engine in any way, it was to make sure the engine could endure this abuse for long enough to get through the warranty period without too many problems or complaints. But vibration is bad. Especially low-rpm, high torque operation on a "stroker" 4 cylinder engine. You can use the shift button to make the transmission shift down, or like someone else posted, give it a push on the loud pedal, and once it downshifts, it stops, but my reflex is to pull off the gas to lower the vibration, so it's super annoying to deal with. Demanding MORE torque when it's already lugging seems like exactly the wrong thing to do. Manually shifting to keep rpm above 1200 or so smooths it right away.

I use S mode to avoid this, but like you pointed out, that means rpm is kept too high. There's a whole thread about this " D mode vs S mode", I think.

I think it's made more noticable because at 1100 or 1200 rpm there is spme sort of natural resonance in either body panels, tides, frame, or suspension that sort of amplifies the vibration. It drives me crazy. It's kind of like the wind buffet noise you get on some cars when you only roll down a back window and it starts that super low frequency booming. Makes me feel like an epileptic seizure is coming on if I don't make it stop.

 

[FunInTheSun]

no, but ask Phil, if he ever stops in again
he noted how long and arduous the torture testing is on the engines they design.
so while you may believe the engine is about to grenade itself if it chug a lugs a little, the data Fords engineers worked with says differently.
regardless of mileage requirements. they have to work with both.

Im not worried myself that lugging will implode my motor, even though mine does this as well.
I find it around 14-1500rpm though. i get the dash rattle at that moment. a little bit more gas, or flick the +/- button and lock out some gears and the problem goes away.
im not emotionally attached to my truck or its engine...so if one day it does shit the bed...i move on and get another.

Now you're putting in words I never said. Didn't say I was worried. Didn't say it would grenade the motor. Just said it "isn't good for it."

I also specifically said the engineers most likely beefed it up so that most of the engines would make it through the warranty period without too many problems. So no worries, mate.

But that's not the same as saying they didn't program the transmission shift parameters so aggressively that my old man wouldn't smack them upside their silly heads for lugging the engine.

You may be the kind of owner that just changes the truck when the warranty runs out, or when the motor blows up. If so, you can feel free to drive however you like. Me, I like driving them for a long time after I finish paying for them. That means paying attention to things that shorten their life.

 

[Mitch65]

My truck does this too. SO the short answer is YES, this is "normal". BUT...

Gives me the jitters. Can't be good for the engine. And for anyone inclined to jump in to disagree and tell me all about how the wonderful Ford engineers designed the engine this way, and it doesn't hurt it, I will just ask you two questions.

Why?

Can Ford engineers repeal the laws of physics?

Yes, they designed it all this way, but they did it to reduce fuel usage, not to make the engine last longer. Look up CAFE (Corporate Average Fuel Economy) and understand how that works. "Doesn't hurt Ford Motor Company's bottom line" is not precisely the same thing as "doesn't hurt the engine".

The engineers work with what their bosses tell them to do. If they did beef up the engine in any way, it was to make sure the engine could endure this abuse for long enough to get through the warranty period without too many problems or complaints. But vibration is bad. Especially low-rpm, high torque operation on a "stroker" 4 cylinder engine. You can use the shift button to make the transmission shift down, or like someone else posted, give it a push on the loud pedal, and once it downshifts, it stops, but my reflex is to pull off the gas to lower the vibration, so it's super annoying to deal with. Demanding MORE torque when it's already lugging seems like exactly the wrong thing to do. Manually shifting to keep rpm above 1200 or so smooths it right away.

I use S mode to avoid this, but like you pointed out, that means rpm is kept too high. There's a whole thread about this " D mode vs S mode", I think.

I think it's made more noticable because at 1100 or 1200 rpm there is spme sort of natural resonance in either body panels, tides, frame, or suspension that sort of amplifies the vibration. It drives me crazy. It's kind of like the wind buffet noise you get on some cars when you only roll down a back window and it starts that super low frequency booming. Makes me feel like an epileptic seizure is coming on if I don't make it stop.

I think you absolutely hit the nail on the head with this one. I guess my truck is as Ford would say “operating as designed” lol. While I agree the way they programmed this trans isn’t very good it’s still much better than my 3rd gen Tacoma trans. I leased a Tacoma and after almost 3 years I couldn’t bring myself to buy it so I got this ranger and Iv been super happy with it! The power plant in the ranger is miles ahead of the Tacoma! If these Rangers show good reliability (so far so good) then they are the best mid size ever made!

 

[BlackRanger01]

Like the last thread, yes I know exactly what you mean by that vibration and mine does it. Some days it does it more and some days it's less. I've always had v6 before this truck and v6 are smoother than i4. I remember my parent's old 92 escort with 4 cyl vibrates like a mofo, even more with A/C running and it ran like tops, never an issue.

 

[2020FX4]

When I'm cruising in traffic around town and don't feel like being in sport mode, I lock out the top few gears and most of the lugginess goes away and the truck drives way better.

 

[FunInTheSun]

shortened life by running it in S with higher RPMs?. just askin'

No manufacture would last long if they set the bar height at the end of the warranty period.
they shoot for much further down the highway of mileage than that.

and i apologise if i put words in your mouth. that tone was set in the actual thread about lugging when others pretty much claimed that would happen. wrongly assumed you were attached to that crowd as well.

Define "life", and you will realize the answer to that one. Everything in life should have a purpose, even if it's just something esthetic like "fun". Trucks in museums last a really long time, but they aren't really being used as transportation, are they? You can save a lot of money on your electric bill by never using any electrical appliances, or turning on any lights, too. But is that "life"?

I guess I'd rather have a little bit more choice than "hyper-miler" D mode and "road-rager" S mode. I've complained about automatic transmissions ever since I first owned one. I drive "assertively", but not aggressively, as I believe true economy is getting the truck into the higher gears sooner gives better mileage than "walking on eggshells" approach to the throttle pedal. It's also quite fun to "move out smartly" now and then. I try to balance getting where I need to go with being reasonably economical with my resources, and also having a little fun while I'm doing it, and part of the fun is learning to handle the controls expertly.

As for your second point, once you understand CAFE, and how it works, you will realize that they may not have too much choice where they set that bar, as they are at the mercy of Federal Regulators who will FINE them per vehicle if they fail to hit FLEET mileage targets. So when the revenooers come knockin', the bosses instruct the engineers to hit the mileage numbers or everybody can just go home. And the engineers just do the best they can for reliability. They add bearing surface area, increase oil pressure, specify greater lubricant film strength, tighten side clearances, improve surface finishes, widen passages, redesign internals so the engine "tolerates" the abusive operation better, but that doesn't change the fact that lugging the motor pounds the components more than smooth operation. ("Increases operating stresses" if you want it to sound more 'engineerish')

 

[FunInTheSun]

When I'm cruising in traffic around town and don't feel like being in sport mode, I lock out the top few gears and most of the lugginess goes away and the truck drives way better.

Yep. D mode works OK until you get off the gas. Then it goes into "just OD'd on thorazine" mode. Seems to shift up at least one gear more than it should, sometimes two.

I just wish the "gear lockout" selection in D mode started at the currently selected gear, rather than making me punch that button 5 times from 10th to downshift one gear. But you're right. It's mostly good then until the speed limit changes, or traffic slows down.

The only other quibble I have is I like to shift to neutral when stopping, because I like chauffeur stops, with no suspension bounce as the truck comes to a complete halt. And doing that means I have to do the 10 speed shuffle to lock out the gears again, because they reset when you shift out of D. I also don't like fighting the transmission versus the brakes, particularly since there are so many downshifts with a 10 speed transmission. But there's only so many battles you can fight in this world, and there is no Manual transmission option for these bad boys...

I'm waiting to try out a few ECU tunes to see how the shifting behavior changes, but I still have some teething pains to get sorted before I start thinking about engine mods. Got a Check Engine Light with a P0171 DTC, and nobody knows what the problem is yet, including Ford. Fuel trims are pegged rich, and the idle is starting to surge when it's out of gear. Once that gets sorted, I will be playing around with a programmer.

 

[Cabose-1]

Yes. Unfortunately its normal. Sport mode is awesome! But keeps gears to high. Trailer mode is good too. I have been trying it out more.
But regular drive mode is awful!! Lots of lugging. Miss daisy might like it!
This is what i do, i lock out gears.
Interstate all 10.
Regular 55mph or 65mph highway, or norm 45 and above city driving, i only use 8 gears.
35 to 40, i use only 6 or 7 gears.
In neighborhoods or driving less than 30, i only use 5 gears.

Its crazy, i think my buttons are going to wear out. Need to try out tow haul mode more often, and see how it works.

 

[dondonbabyraptor]

Define "life", and you will realize the answer to that one. Everything in life should have a purpose, even if it's just something esthetic like "fun". Trucks in museums last a really long time, but they aren't really being used as transportation, are they? You can save a lot of money on your electric bill by never using any electrical appliances, or turning on any lights, too. But is that "life"?

I guess I'd rather have a little bit more choice than "hyper-miler" D mode and "road-rager" S mode. I've complained about automatic transmissions ever since I first owned one. I drive "assertively", but not aggressively, as I believe true economy is getting the truck into the higher gears sooner gives better mileage than "walking on eggshells" approach to the throttle pedal. It's also quite fun to "move out smartly" now and then. I try to balance getting where I need to go with being reasonably economical with my resources, and also having a little fun while I'm doing it, and part of the fun is learning to handle the controls expertly.

As for your second point, once you understand CAFE, and how it works, you will realize that they may not have too much choice where they set that bar, as they are at the mercy of Federal Regulators who will FINE them per vehicle if they fail to hit FLEET mileage targets. So when the revenooers come knockin', the bosses instruct the engineers to hit the mileage numbers or everybody can just go home. And the engineers just do the best they can for reliability. They add bearing surface area, increase oil pressure, specify greater lubricant film strength, tighten side clearances, improve surface finishes, widen passages, redesign internals so the engine "tolerates" the abusive operation better, but that doesn't change the fact that lugging the motor pounds the components more than smooth operation. ("Increases operating stresses" if you want it to sound more 'engineerish')

I don’t care what the argument is but just saying the Ranger is tested to run 150k miles with no major repairs to the 90th percentile of customers.

 

[RANGER_MARC]

So I’m trying to figure out if I have an issue with my transmission or if it’s just a characteristic of our rangers.

when I’m cruising around town at speeds of say 25-40mph the truck seems to be lugging a little bit. It keeps the RPMs very low and I get a vibration/lugging sensation. It feels the same as driving a Manuel transmission in too high of a gear. It almost feels like the truck is bogging down until I give it more gas. No stuttering or jerking but just a low vibrating feeling and I can feel it in the wheel. It’s like holding an electric toothbrush but not as strong. At times it feels like the road surface changed but it didn’t.

sport mode is great but I find it hold the rpms too high. No vibration in sport mode.

I have no vibration on take off and no vibration when reving the engine in park. I only have it when the truck is lugging along in 7th gear and 1100rpms at 35mph. 2021 Tremor 520 miles on it

Yes, mine does this in "D" mode, and it is an annoying but bearable aspect of this (mainly wonderful) truck. Getting a tune (or putting it in S all the time) will (mostly) take care of this, but, as other members have said, at the cost of (slightly) reduced mileage.

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