ShiftSense Pro - transmission shift controller for Gen3 Tacoma

In my case I didnt manually shift gears. I just put it back in D (was testing to see if the SS had any impact on my diff howl).


Edit: Op answered the question I had: it's a safety. The truck needs to be going <65 for SS to engage. I was going above that and likely slowed down enough for it to re-engage (I my toggling on/off didn't do anything special..I just slowed down)

When I put it back in S it beeped but the light didn't come on.

So I tried again. When that didn't work I put it back in D and toggled the power. It worked when I put it in S after that.

All in all it wasn't a big deal. I was curious if that's expected behavior.

 

Any time you go from S to D and back to S it should re-engage immediately. There should be no need to turn it off then back on. Ill PM you to see if we can figure it out..

 

I did notice that mine fails to engage above 65mph(3 beeps), is that a safety feature?

 

Yes, that is what I was just going to mention here as well. As a safety feature, the SS requires the speed at initial engagement to be <65 mph. Once engaged though, it controls all shifts up through top-speed of the truck.

There is a bit of information regarding this on the website FAQ's and in the operator's manual provided with each device

 

I been driving with the SS for 4 days now, city and highway. Straight forward installation, put the box under Qi charger. Big improvement over stock shift points. Makes the truck much much more enjoyable to drive.

Though I do have one improvement suggestion. Under very light throttle, I wish the SS would shift into the next gear sooner. Say I'm accelerating, then back off the gas pedal (because I reached my desired speed), under very light throttle, SS will not shift into the next gear (S4) until ~40 MPH, the RPM would hang around 3000 RPM for far too long, even though I am barely on the gas pedal. The same scenario can be said for going from S2 to S3 when I let off the gas around ~23 MPH. This is on a completely stock TRD Pro with stock rims and tires.

If you are on the fence about the SS Pro, BUY IT. Its a great product that will drastically improve the driveability of your Gen 3 Taco. Some small adjustments (mentioned above) would make the SS perfect, for me.

 

Bingo! I installed mine last Friday but didn't really start driving with it until Monday. Once I get to the highway it's fine. But inside the subdivision, and on the approach road to and from the subdivision it seems to hang in second gear and then 3rd gear f-o-r-e-v-e-r, while the engine screams "I'm in the power band". Under very light throttle I would like for it to shift sooner from 2nd and 3rd.

 

My neighborhood is 25mph all the way through. I typically leave my car in "D" until I turn out of the neighborhood and then flip it over.

 

While that is a work around, I prefer the SS Pro to shift into the next gear, if I am "feathering" the throttle, at 3000 RPM.

My issue with the RPM hanging at 3000 RPM, this makes the truck very jumpy (~40 MPH in S3), great if I want to keep accelerating (I would have keep the pedal down if I want to keep accelerating). Once I reached my desired speed, and back off the throttle, SS Pro wants to keep the current gear, instead of shifting into the next gear and drop the RPM back to something more reasonable, say ~2000 RPM.

 

With SS Pro, the 'minimum' upshift speeds are programmed at 22 mph for 2-3, 36 mph for 3-4, and 52 mph for 4-5. If you are very light on the throttle (without letting totally off), youll see it making upshifts at those speeds.

Most of this selection has to do with the large spacing of the gearing in this transmission. Making the shift sooner than this leaves the engine falling back to sub 1500 rpm in the next gear and it suffers a major drop in torque/hp.

Understood you dont need the power for all circumstances, but letting it make the upshift any sooner means it will have to make another downshift as soon as you get back into it, and one of the primary goals of the ShiftSense was to reduce the hunting which we all feel with the OEM D-mapping. With the 3.5 being a higher-reving engine, that means you have to hold it in the lower gear a bit longer.

With SSP you can generally be much lighter on the throttle than you were with D, so keep that in mind when allowing it to make the next upshift.. (very light and it will upshift).

 

Been driving with mine for about a week now and it has absolutely transformed the driving experience for me. IMO any feeling like the rpm's are 'hanging' and not upshifting is simply due to being used to the way too early upshifts before installation. I would say that if they all came from the factory like this since day one there would be ZERO discussion about transmissions or shift points. Does it add low rpm torque? Of course not but that is what it is.

Thank you OP!!!

 

if anyone is wondering...#1239 has been shipped. Won't be able to use it for a while - Just had shoulder surgery and can't drive! Bummer.

 

This is the behavior I see as well. As long as you are below 65, it will reengage for me.

 

I just got the email and 1249 has shipped!

 

A big Thanks to the OP . I spent 2 days driving around with it and I am very impressed. Drives like a totally different truck. Should have come from the factory like this. If you want your truck to perform smoothly this is the part you need.

 

Hey guys, decided the SSP wasn't for me. Selling for what I paid for it, so you pay the same price without the wait!
Only been in the truck for a week, mine has the new chip in it. Will ship with original instructions, etc.
$175 shipped. Making a classified ad also.

 

why?

 

I just prefer the way the truck drives in S5 + ECT. Nothing wrong with the product, just not my preference.

 

cool thx

 

I've been using SS Pro now for a couple of weeks now and am also enjoying the transformation. I know several people have asked what is the difference between this device and ECT. To me the shifting points seem similar to the few times I have used ECT. One noticeable difference between the two is that the throttle is more receptive when using ETC and the truck seems more powerful or "punchier". I liked the analogy another poster stated regarding D being "eco" mode. I would put SS Pro more towards ECT.

My one wish for this device (and maybe I'm being lazy/picky):

Disclaimer: I understand the OP's reasoning for the chosen shift points and am not disagreeing with them.

I've encountered several times where I'm on the cusp of shifting to the next higher gear and I just can't get there due to not wanting to reach the speed needed to shift. For example, if I am driving a comfortable 50mph and don't wish to go any faster. My pickup is telling me that we could shift to 5th and be fine as long as we are just cruising. In this situation I have shifted to S5 and cruised until I came into traffic or had to stop. Here's where my wish comes to play... Since I shifted to S5 I'm no longer in SS Pro mode and I now need to go to D and then back to S to get back to SS Pro. To me, and remember I stated that maybe I'm just being lazy/picky, the horizontal shift to D and then another horizontal shift back to S just doesn't seem as natural as a vertical shift from S5 to S4. In other words, I would like to be able to do vertical shifts in S without losing the SS Pro mode.

I'm happy I made the purchase. On a side note, my wife asked me about the "thing" I bought for the Tacoma. I tried explaining it to her and finally said just drive it like you always have (in D). She claims she has never noticed anything strange about the shifting. Sometimes I wish I was more like her.

 

hahaha

My girlfriend noticed immediately.*



*She probably noticed how I wasn't pissed off or ready to drive it off a cliff.