i have a 2000 lightning,have done the 12lb blower pulley,ram air,80 mm mass air,throttle body,chip,3:73 gears,2400 rpm stall converter.shift kit and aluminun stainless steel drive shaft,26" mickey thompson et streets.with these mods my trucks hits the rev limiter,i understand the tire size changes the rear end to approx 4:05.so why did my truck run fine before the converter,and now it hits the rev limiter and doesn't shift to the next highest gear.i've been told there is a problem with some breakage with the ford trannys,has anyone heard this,and is it happening during the 1-2 shift.i love the truck and it's a beast.i have the power, now what do i do to make it all work???

 

The transmission is controlled by the computer and it expects a certain "rev rate" that your mods have obviously gone beyond. So, the truck hits the rev limiter before it can make the shift.

Talk to the person who did your chip and have them adjust both the shifting and the rev limit.

The stock Lightning trannies are about as tough as they come from the factory, but as with everything there are limits, especially when you start playing with sticky tires and torque converters (much more driveline shock).

Later!
Jeff S.
Lightning #74 in '95 - 11.92@115.2
Lightning #582 in '00 - 13.36@101.75

 

hey jeff
thanks for the comments,but there is a much more severe problem.as i have investigated this from a person who does alot of testing for ford.the trannys are bad news.the normal lightning is programmed to shift ino second gear on 5 cylinders,yep 5 it's a fact.the truth is the stock tranny can't hold the power of an 8 cylinder shift.imagine the times when this is fixed,and there is a fix.the 2003 will have some of the mods but there is a clutch kit for the auto tranny.there are several things that cause em to fail.as time passes i think you'll see more and more transmission failures,don't get me wrong,i love my truck and wouldn't take a vette in trade, i had a 99 c5 and would rather have the truck.if your interested i can give you the info on the fix
thanks you have some impressive times my best is a 13.20@103.79
but the 12's are a clutch kit away.
thanks again
jerry

 

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 02-May-01 AT 11:07 AM (EST)[/font][p]Actually, the internals of the Gen 2 Lightnings' transmissions are the updated version of the same thing that's in my '95 Gen 1 and that has put up with in excess of 600 hp for more than 2 years and 30K miles - and the transmission is completely stock!

The Lightning tranny does duty behind the turbocharged Powerstroke which makes more torque than even the Lightning. It's one tough piece.

I did know about the cylinder-cut on the shifts but that's to reduce driveline shock more than to save the clutch packs in the tranny.

I've heard of very few people hurting their transmissions at this point (though I have heard of a couple). Over time, who can say.

I'd love to know about any information you have concerning the transmission and potential upgrades. Thanks for offering!

YMMV, standard disclaimers apply.

Later!
Jeff S.
Lightning #74 in '95 - 11.92@115.2
Lightning #582 in '00 - 13.36@101.75

 

Jeff
I have spoken to a person at Level 10 who make the torque converter's for our trucks, or i should say the upgraded one.They have done extensive testing and the trannys do fail,it can be at 5000 miles or 30,000 but they will fail.The clutch kit they make allows our trucks to make an 8 cylinder shift into second without driveline shock.I'm in the process of getting my transmission fixed(should say a new one put in 6800 miles) after it's in, I'll put in the clutch kit.It has extra bands and allows launching the truck at 2000+ rpm's which will cut down the 60 foot times and take a couple tenths off the qtr.I've yet to run with my new converter,but claims are .5-.7 off qtr mile times.We'll see,I enjoy my truck tremendously,and wish I had an older one as well,if you ever hear of one for sale let me know.
thanks
Jerry

 

the end result= bad transmission,back to running 26" tires,not hitting rev limiter.the tranny was bad.truck launches well,and converter is great.

 

jeff
are you the president of the lightning owners of america? just curious,sent in my application,let me know, thanks
jerry hart

 

Jerry,

Until last week I was the president of the National Lightning Owners Club (Lightning Owners of America is kinda a dirty phrase since that's the name of a club that disappeared with a lot of people's money back around the '95 time frame).

If the application comes my way, I'll forward it on to Sal, the new President. Matter of fact, I have some stuff to ship to him today, and I'll run by the PO before I do so that if it's there it'll head right over.

Later!
Jeff S.
Lightning #74 in '95 - 11.92@115.2
Lightning #582 in '00 - 13.36@101.75

 

 

What's goin on?

I just bought a 01 lightning 2 weeks ago-sweet is all I have to say. I just got off the phone with a guy from where I bought it from and he says that the trannies are about as tough as they come and the reason for only using 5 cylinders is that using all 8 or any more than 5 will kick spin your tires out from under you without dought. TOO DANGEROUS!! He did note that shifting with all 8 cylinder would, after time and regular abuse, break the tranny-what truck wouldn't break any tranny with all that POWER!!
Hopefully this helps you know that FORD wouldn't put junk in anything they sell later

Chance

 

This months issue of Muscle Mustangs and Fast Fords talks about the gen2 lightning trannies in detail, and what they did to fix it (From Level 10 tranny shop)

Can't wait to get my lightning!

Les

 

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 11-Oct-01 AT 10:04 AM (EST)[/font][p]"The Lightning tranny does duty behind the turbocharged Powerstroke which makes more torque than even the Lightning. It's one tough piece."

Which truck uses a turbocharged PSD?

 

??????????????

That would be ANY truck that HAS the PSD. F-250's , 350's , 450's, 550's etc.....since '96ish I think.

 

All PSD's are turbocharged??? I had no idea.

 

That's cool!! But did you ever wonder how they were getting 500+ pound feet of torque out of these motors??? I believe the non-turboed 6.9 and 7.3 were around 400lbs. with a dismal 170ish hp.