Undriveable 2021 TRD-OR - HELP WANTED

Hi Everyone. Before you rake me over the coals...I've spent a TON of time reviewing threads on this forum in search of answers. Based on my research, I feel like my experience is somewhat unique, so I'm starting to wonder if I'm driving a lemon, and putting more into this thing is just throwing good money after bad. That's why I'm starting a new thread.

First, my setup: I've got a 2021 TRD-OR, Access Cab w/ Automatic. I've got 33" tires, a ~1.5" lift, and a fiberglass topper (all of which exaggerate my issues, I'm sure). I recently had what I believe was some variant of the 'Overland Torque Tune' (or overland tailer tune?) flashed by someone in the Tuned Yota network.

My Issues: The biggest issue I've had with the truck since I bought it was the constant downshifting on the highway. Even before I put the 33's or the topper on it, it couldn't hold 6th gear on even the slightest incline. After the 33's, no chance of even holding 5th on an incline unless I'm tucked in behind a semi. The problem never seemed to be a lack of power, but more that the thing just would not allow you to touch gas the pedal without it downshifting.

So I chatted with the guys at Tuned Yota and told them that all I wanted was to be able to use the gas pedal on the highway without the truck downshifting. They assured me the tune would be a big step in the right direction. Well, that was a month ago, and I can tell you with absolute certainty that the tune did NOTHING to alleviate the constant downshifting. If I so much as breath on the throttle in sixth gear, it drops to unlocked 5th. If I put it into S5, it will still unlock the torque converter on pretty much every incline if I'm using cruise control. All I want is for the truck to let me use the gas pedal without downshifting, is that not possible?

That takes me to my newest issue. I had them put on the 'mild' throttle response on the tune. After test driving it, I noted to my tuner that it felt much more sensitive, and that there seemed to be a good amount of 'dead pedal' after the tune. While he was more than willing to adjust the tune at that point, he did indicate that people usually just need to get used to the new response, so I went with it. After a month of driving, I definitely haven't gotten used to it. I could get used to an overly sensitive throttle. What I can't get used to is 1/4" of dead pedal, followed by 1/16" of pedal that takes me from zero to Ludacris speed. I sit at every stoplight terrified the light is going to green, because I know I'm going to have my head jerked back at a completely unpredictable point in time. I've tested this while stopped using my hand and I can push the pedal down over 1/4" with absolutely no response, then the RPMs will suddenly jump up. Is there any way to get rid of the dead pedal and get a linear throttle response?

This thing is an absolute nightmare to drive. The F250 Diesel I traded in for it drove like a BMW M3 in comparison. If the answers to both my bolded questions are "no", I'm going to sell this POS and move on. Sorry for the long intro to this thread. Thank you to anyone who takes the time to read this and provide a response.

 

Sounds like the downshifting and converter unlocking is an expectations issue. My stock OR does basically the same thing it's pretty normal. Your bigger tires will make yours downshift more without a regear. I say if that's the issue then ignore it and know these trucks like to downshif.

Your pedal response sounds like a tune issue. Did your pedal response feel normal before the tune?

 

5.29s, Magnuson supercharger, or both.

 

That's the issue I'm faced with. Do I actually put more money into a truck I hate driving, in the hopes I will actually solve the problem? After reading all the posts on this forum, I thought for sure the tune would help. Well $500 later...

Thanks for responding. Regear is definitely an option, but my god if my wife found I I dumped another $2,500 into this thing, she'd fillet me.

 

Sell it or drive it.

Putting stock size tires back would help a lot, I imagine.

As an aside, what's with people buying cars with multi speed transmissions and not expecting them to shift? You know how shitty it would be if the truck stayed in 6th on a hill? Bog central

 

I'm sure you're right about expectations, but I have never driven, much less owned a car that needed to downshift this much. Again, I don't think it needs to downshift, I just think the programming on these things is so dumb that all it knows is "driver touched pedal = transmission must react". The engine has 280 f-ing bhp. Why can't it hold a gear at 2000 rpm going 65 mph? It makes no sense!!!

I would say that the pedal always felt 'non-linear' to me, but it never felt dead+jumpy. It was definitely not an issue before the tune.

 

many people have solved this with a regear. the lift and extra weight the 3.5 is not a fan of and the gearing of the transmission. different gearing and tune solve this for most folks.

 

Return stock, sell it , buy a stick shift and reinstall all the parts.

I am on 33’s with my automatic , stock tune and highway and inclines are normalish.

Take the topper off to see if it makes a difference.
If not then return to stock tune to see how it feels.

 

What year did you get tuned? Alot has changed in the last year even so they may have an updated version for you. Where are you located? A guy would almost certainly let you try another tune for free to see if it fixes your issue or flash you back to stock to see if it helps.

 

Ha. That's a fair question. And again, my expectations/understanding may be way off here, but I thought the multi-speeds were to GET you to the speed you want to drive. Once you're there, I want it to STAY PUT!!! My F250 had a six speed auto and I'm not kidding I don't think it downshifted on the highway once in the entire time I owned it (granted, that was a diesel which loved 1500 RPM, so apples to oranges...)

 

I got it tuned last month. Problem with the retune is that I drove 4 hours (round trip) to get it tuned. I need another 4 hours in this truck like I need a hole in the head...

 

Unfortunately OP the gear hunting has always been an issue on the 3rd gen. It’s the one complaint that has been talked about since its inception so I have to assume you bought it having done no research on the truck or you would have known. IMO I’d take it back to the stock tune and drop a set of 488s or 529s in it.

 

I don't mean to make light of this problem but does it run similar with your ECT engaged?
I run mine all the time.

 

I already contacted the dealership asking them to keep an eye out for a manual for me. Problem is, I don't think they offered the Gen 3 access cab in a manual. Do I have that right?

Regarding the topper: I have wondered how much the aerodynamics are impacted by the topper. I need it on there most of the time, but I'll try taking it off this summer.

 

Yup these trucks gear hunt . Bigger tires are just going to make it worse . The tune will help but not a real solution . Regear is the route u want to go . As far as a linear throttle response not going to happen it’s a throttle by wire system . Basically u push the pedal sends a signal and then the computer takes a moment to compute . I miss the old days when u had a cable .

 

My truck does not gear hunt. I definitely watched a lot of videos of that before buying, and the truck never jumps around looking for a gear. I think you're right that my options probably come down to 1) live with it, 2) 488s, or 3) sell it. I think I could live with the downshifting if not for the absurd throttle response. Hopefully a re-tune will resolve that.

 

Try driving it in “sport” mode to keep the gears locked out I had to do that on my 2018 when merging on a short on ramp by my house I would take every morning

 

I'm glad someone brought the throttle by wire issue. I have confirmed many times, in several different ways, that there is no 'delay'. For example, sitting in park, I can push the throttle down 1/4" with my hand, and keep it there as long as I want, and the throttle will never respond. Push it another 1/8" and I'm at 1800 RPM. It really feels like a 'dead zone' in the pedal response map.

 

That was dramatic

 

1. I don't think you know what a lemon is.

2. That's the way these trucks drive.