transmission question

[2000eb]

i know i know i havent been on in awhile the fact is im really never online anymore except via my phone once in awhile. well i have been looking into tq converter locking switches the only reason is because the lake i like to go to is about 20 miles down a crazy road with 25 mph speed limit and thats for good reason its alot of very steep ups and downs and sharp turns and the brakes are killing me. i have found a few dyi articles mainly fron the powerstroke guys for tq converter switches for the 4r100. has anyone done this? the problem is even when you shift into second the transmission wont really slow you down at all its a famous 4r100 downfall. and just incase someone asks my boat itself was 3500lbs from the factory with a straight 6 and now it has a 302 v8 plus the weight of the trailer. the tongue weight does not even squat the truck but it has the old school hydraulic brakes.

 

[Thermo]

I know this might sound obvious, but, why not shift the truck manually using the gear shifter. Would do roughly the same thing. If you are doing 25, drop the truck down into 1st gear and let the motor wind up to around the 3,000 RPM or so mark and use that to help slow you down. Ok, the torque converter is still slipping some. It isn't going to hurt it any as long as you are keeping some movement on the truck and the tranny can cool the fluid with the tranny cooler. Just don't be shifting the truck with your foot on the gas.

 

[2000eb]

4r100's are known to not hold you back even noticibly on steep hills with a load. i manually shifted it into second and it made no change what so ever. plus even with the tq converter lock switch you cant use it in 1st gear because there is not enough line pressure to support it in 1st gear even on aftermarket ones they will not let you use it in first but thats computer controlled also the do it yourself one will let you but everyone advises not to or they say it will cause severe damage. the hills im talkin about are very steep and its a two way road with every turn bein a blind turn it hugs the side of a mountain. i only wanna do this because i like this lake and there is a lake another 9 ir so miles past it thats even better but the extra 9 plus miles are dirt and even worse. this is not your typical highway or road. i though about just doin the brakes but i want to look into this as well.

 

[chad9f9]

I plan on installing a shift kit on my transmission for the same reason. Transgo and B&M are the popular ones. Transgo is recommended by my mechanic buddy. The kit will firm up your shifts and Holds 1st-2nd-3rd at any RPM. Backshifts at your command. Greater performance and durability. It will require removing the valve body, replacing springs and some drilling.

There are a lot of discussions about shift kits on the F150 forums. Below is the link to the Transgo site with the 4r100 kits.

TransGo | E4OD/4R100