Dial Shifter - Let Me Vent!

[Montana-TN]

I am an "Old Guy" millions of miles under my belt, driving a tow truck for a living at age sixteen, street racing in the early 70's and one of my favorite sayings; "back when it was legal to drink and drive" (don't get upset it is just a joke, but true)
Whoever prompted Ford engineering to adopt the dial shifter should be fired! I is inherently wrong in every aspect of humanity.
As the proud owner of a 2024 Expedition Max I have to admit it didn't bother me initially, but it didn't take long for this unnatural cumbersome basic function of driving to start eating away at my soul.
The fact some person somewhere in the great country thought this shifter was a good ideal baffles my mind. I'm assuming it was copied from some modern European design or a video game.
I truly understand it is my unwillingness to change that has brought this rant to print, maybe there is some weekly evening meeting I can attend to help me with this problem although I'm pretty sure it will not help.
I do love the truck, but I will end with; If at any point Ford or the aftermarket ever develops a plug-and-play retrofit normal (Human style) shifter the way it was intended to be (Park-Forward, Drive-Back and Neutral somewhere in the middle) I will buy it at any cost!
Just so it is clear, this is not the way I normally talk. It was incredibly hard for me to write this post and not have it removed due to my normal use profanity.
Thanks for the venting session, I'm curious if there are others who feel the same way, please chime in.

 

[Rob6805]

Shift controllers like Ford's dial aren't going away. Jeep/RAM have a similar style. The dial type is 100x better than the stupid buttons GM uses. They take up much less space that can be used for storage. I don't mind it one bit.

 

[Hellwig]

Shift controllers like Ford's dial aren't going away. Jeep/RAM have a similar style. The dial type is 100x better than the stupid buttons GM uses. They take up much less space that can be used for storage. I don't mind it one bit.

2025 suburban will switch to column shifter. GM is aware the button shifter is ****** now. Buttons are so inhumanly stupid.

 

[Rob6805]

2025 suburban will switch to column shifter. GM is aware the button shifter is ****** now. Buttons are so inhumanly stupid.

I don't mind a column shift.

 

[Hellwig]

I don't mind a column shift.

Same here. I actually prefer a 2025 suburban with LZ0 diesel engine more than 2024 expedition. But I simply can't wait for one more year.

 

[99WhiteC5Coupe]

I am an "Old Guy" millions of miles under my belt, driving a tow truck for a living at age sixteen, street racing in the early 70's and one of my favorite sayings; "back when it was legal to drink and drive" (don't get upset it is just a joke, but true)
Whoever prompted Ford engineering to adopt the dial shifter should be fired! I is inherently wrong in every aspect of humanity.
As the proud owner of a 2024 Expedition Max I have to admit it didn't bother me initially, but it didn't take long for this unnatural cumbersome basic function of driving to start eating away at my soul.
The fact some person somewhere in the great country thought this shifter was a good ideal baffles my mind. I'm assuming it was copied from some modern European design or a video game.
I truly understand it is my unwillingness to change that has brought this rant to print, maybe there is some weekly evening meeting I can attend to help me with this problem although I'm pretty sure it will not help.
I do love the truck, but I will end with; If at any point Ford or the aftermarket ever develops a plug-and-play retrofit normal (Human style) shifter the way it was intended to be (Park-Forward, Drive-Back and Neutral somewhere in the middle) I will buy it at any cost!
Just so it is clear, this is not the way I normally talk. It was incredibly hard for me to write this post and not have it removed due to my normal use profanity.
Thanks for the venting session, I'm curious if there are others who feel the same way, please chime in.

I have a 2015 Expedition Limited 4x4 with the large, console mounted transmission shifter. It is too large, and takes up valuable space. I’d prefer a rotary-switch transmission control.

My son has a Dodge Ram 1500 crew-cab with the rotary transmission shifter. It is easy to use and doesn’t take up so much valuable space in the front.

The Expedition replaced a Dodge Durango SLT 4x4 which had a column shifted transmission lever - which I much prefer over the console shifter.

I’m an old guy too, having driven many vehicles, including 3 and 4 and 5 speed manual transmission cars, and column, console and rotary-switch automatic transmission vehicles.

 

[ROBERT BONNER]

I'll pile on. Look at my signature line. Every vehicle has a completely different shifting method (OK, the GT500, and the 5.0 LX are manuals). The 2013 150 is column, the 2022 F150 has a console shift lever and the Expedition, of course, has the dial.

While we're bashing dials.... I have another beef. The Transfer case selector on the Expedition and the 22 F150 are similar, but different....OK they're both dials, that's the only thing they have in common. The fun part is that the Expedition knob rotates the "menu" of drive modes, and the F150 moves the "curser" on a fixed menu of drive modes....So, if you like "sport" mode, or "leaf" mode, they are both on the left side of the "menus". For the Expedition, you rotate the knob clockwise to select one of those two and CCW to select modes on the other side of the menu. Not on the F150, you have to rotate the knob CCW to choose Sport or Leaf and CW to choose modes on the other side.....Now when I switch vehicles I'm always rotating the knobs the wrong way. At least the steering wheels are both on the left side. and the accelerator is to the right of the brake.

 

[zeecarr]

Once the shifter stopped being connected to any sort of linkage or cable to the transmission it ceased being a shifter and became a big, space taking, clunky joystick that simulates being a shifter. Personally I like the knob and it is miles ahead of the button push on new GM SUVs. It takes up a lot less space and gives room to move the drive mode control out from behind the steering wheel to a place where they can more easily be accessed.

This is progress no matter how some of us look at it. To me having a fake shifter just to make us old guys happy is no better than having the radio play engine noise in electric cars to simulate a gas engine and transmission shifts.

 

[5280tunage]

I do like the knob way better than the GM buttons, but I personally would love the lever on the center console. I loved my last jeep that had that and allowed me to easily shift between gears manually tapping right and left. I miss that a lot. I also really really hate that this electronic crud instantly throws the vehicle in Park if you open hte drivers door. As a driver of many vehicles and someone that tows and moves vehicles around tight spaces a lot, I often want to open the door to look at things. Heck, since that stupid thing doesn't have mirrors that automatically tilt down when you're in reverse, I sometimes pop the door open to see how close I am to something like a curb. Stupid electronic safeties because some idiot did something they shouldn't have done and probably sued Ford. Ruins it for all of us.

I think I just saw a post where someone replaced a rotary knob shifter in a Ford (i think it was one of hte smaller suvs) with an F150 shift lever, and it appeared to be plug and play.

 

[JamaicaJoe]

The column shifter was better. Took no space on the console. I don't know why car designers have to get fancy with all this. There was a recent article (somewhere) where someone converted a stupid Expy shift knob to a console lever shifter. It just took some parts from a wreck.

 

[JamaicaJoe]

Shift controllers like Ford's dial aren't going away. Jeep/RAM have a similar style. The dial type is 100x better than the stupid buttons GM uses. They take up much less space that can be used for storage. I don't mind it one bit.

If I recall some celebrity got run over , killed, by his jeep due to uncertainty that the vehicle was in park mode. Auto designers need to stop messing with the ergonomics of stuff that is safety related. I am still getting used to a console lever after having driven with column shifter so long. It is not clear to me what gear I am in and at least in the older vehicle there was a pointer on the dashboard.

 

[Asphalt Kid]

I'm an old guy also, I do like the rotary shift it makes the console appear less cluttered....I sometimes rotate the rotor in the wrong direction when parking...which is a little scary..Still learning.......

 

[5280tunage]

This is also why one of the first things I did on this was put a raptor steering wheel with paddle shifters on this. I hated the rotary thing with little buttons that you have to take your eyes off the road to use. Seriously, you take away my ability to scroll through usb drive folders to find music, which is just a couple inches away from the top of the dash where I can easily see whats going on, but require me to look down worse than the idiots on their phones to select gears. DUMB!!!!

And i use the gears a ton on mountain passes, it makes everything from engine breaking to accelerating up a 10k' pass better!

 

[Pawpaw]

Another old guy here also. Not a big fan of the dial shifter...almost like going back to a Avocodo Green rotary dial wall phone!! I miss the manual transmission's of the cars of yesterday. We all wanted a 4 speed hooked up to a fire breathing V-8 with multiple carbs!! This was until I had to drive a Mack military truck with a 5x4 dual transmission..20 speeds and 2 sticks. All of a sudden my rotary dial looks like a first world problem!!

 

[BravoAlpha]

I prefer the column shifter as well but this arrangement is not a deal breaker. My 21 Silverado has a column shift. I like it.

 

[Rob6805]

If I recall some celebrity got run over , killed, by his jeep due to uncertainty that the vehicle was in park mode. Auto designers need to stop messing with the ergonomics of stuff that is safety related. I am still getting used to a console lever after having driven with column shifter so long. It is not clear to me what gear I am in and at least in the older vehicle there was a pointer on the dashboard.

That was a 2015 Grand Cherokee with a funky console shifter that the Germans used on some Mercedes models too.

 

[Randy-IA]

2025 suburban will switch to column shifter. GM is aware the button shifter is ****** now. Buttons are so inhumanly stupid.

Button shifting has been around a long, long time. The difference is the first ones were still manual and used a button to move the linkage.

 

[Pawpaw]

Button shifting has been around a long, long time. The difference is the first ones were still manual and used a button to move the linkage.

Chrysler had pushbutton shifting in the late 50's and early 60's. I even had a pushbutton shifter on my '72 115 Evinrude!!

 

[Dice Roll]

What is the problem here? Do you like things to be in the way? I can have stuff out over the console and it’s not sticking up to mess me up. It’s not cluttered in the dash area.

You can even get out and not have to bother with it because when you turn it off, the trans goes into park by itself. When having to do a lot of back and forth moves, it’s way easier than messing with a stick and button deal.

I seriously can’t find a downside to this and don’t want another vehicle with the old school stuff ever again.

and I’m a guy that drives a 1969 car on the weekends.

 

[image98]

I'm a Gen 2 Ford Raptor owner and own a 2019 stealth Expedition. In a sport truck, I like the traditional shifter, but in something that is more ergonomic and functional as a daily, I don't mind the rotary shifter in the expedition. However, the rotary shifter does have a delay of around 1 second, which I find annoying. The gear lockout on the Expedition, having to push buttons on the center console is unsafe and unpractical. Almost useless compared to the paddle shifters on the Raptor, which I absolutely love. I also daily driver a 65 mustang with a 6 speed t56 and 5.0 coyote, which neither of the new vehicles can compare to when it comes to the fun factor. It all comes down to personal preference. Who would have thought 10 speed automatics would be a thing?