Weird downshifting behavior (4th to 3rd)

[NvrFinished]

Hello all,

I got a chance to go up to my local ski area this weekend and drive my Ranger back down the mountain to test out the +/- buttons and feel out what gears it wanted to be in before the snow comes. I experienced a disturbing issue while doing so.

When getting a bit too fast in 4th, and shifting down to 3rd (tried this several times), there is what feels like an acceleration. Not even a momentary "neutral" feeling of coasting downhill, but an abrupt split second "acceleration" before then kicking into 3rd, revving high, and slowing back down.

I haven't experienced this in any other vehicle where it goes faster and feels like I tapped the gas pedal, before downshifting and slowing. This is going to be a problem on the snow (sometimes ice) when it kicks down like that after accelerating.

Anyone experience this? Do I have an issue or is it a Ranger thing? 6, 5, 4, all worked well, it was the shift to 3rd that was surprising.

Thanks

I was going to start a thread on this exact topic. You are not imagining things. Downshifting from 4th gear to 3rd gear does cause the truck to temporarily speed up. It drives me nuts.

I live on hill that is just steep enough that 4th gear will hold speed at approximately 30-35 MPH when off the gas. If I downshift to 3rd, it feels as though the truck goes into neutral for a few seconds before 3rd engages. The truck actually speeds up and the tach climbs higher than it should when 3rd gear catches. I've learned to skip through 3rd and go to 2nd if I'm at 35 MPH or below.

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