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MDS Gear+/-

Ram19Va

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Figured I'd post how to turn on/off MDS on here as I was not too familiar with the gear+/- functionality. To turn off MDS I started out putting it in Drive and "then" I would hit - and then + to reach 8, but that is a lot of unnecessary button pushing.

Once in drive, no matter what gear you are in you can turn MDS off. Of course the gear number wont show till you hit the - button....that is the button that turns MDS off.
So if your driving say 45 and in 6'th gear, you hit -. That turns off MDS, and will show 6 then 6 to right of that. The left 6 is what gear your in. The right 6 shows how high it will shift. So just hit + twice and your set to reach 8.
- to turn on, and then + to 8 or whatever you want max gear to be. No need to do it while still, and wear out the + button lol.

Side note on Gas mileage. With 3.92 gears and 87 octane I managed 18.5 MPG with MDS off on a nearly 3 hour drive. Half Interstate, and Half rural roads(60-75mph most of the time) That's with 2 stops and driving normally.
 

Ram19Va

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3 Main reasons in order:
1. With the aftermarket exhaust I have, Carven Competitor, it is so noticeable when it cuts on. Imagine you have both back windows down and you hear a loud reverberation from that....well when MDS cuts on, unless you accelerate hard to cut it right off again you will hear a sound that is similar if not louder and very annoying.
2. After having a taste of what its like to have 8 cylinders on all the time the truck sounds and drives better to me.
3. MPG differences are negligible with it on. Maybe a .5-1 MPG increase with it on from my measurements.
 

VaderRebel

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MDS should be an option like eTorque. I hate it. It's waaay better on the 5th Gen, but still noticeably annoying. I agree, I bought a truck with a V8 and I want all 8 cylinders at all times. There is hardly enough savings to justify it. It should only activate after 55mph.

Uhg, bureaucratic engineering garbage.
 

GregHBNA

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If i wanted a truck that ran on 4 cylinders, I would have bought a canyon or colorado.
an 8 cylinder truck should be firing all 8 cylinders all the time, I hate the transition.
 

Mason1217

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Figured I'd post how to turn on/off MDS on here as I was not too familiar with the gear+/- functionality. To turn off MDS I started out putting it in Drive and "then" I would hit - and then + to reach 8, but that is a lot of unnecessary button pushing.

Once in drive, no matter what gear you are in you can turn MDS off. Of course the gear number wont show till you hit the - button....that is the button that turns MDS off.
So if your driving say 45 and in 6'th gear, you hit -. That turns off MDS, and will show 6 then 6 to right of that. The left 6 is what gear your in. The right 6 shows how high it will shift. So just hit + twice and your set to reach 8.
- to turn on, and then + to 8 or whatever you want max gear to be. No need to do it while still, and wear out the + button lol.

Side note on Gas mileage. With 3.92 gears and 87 octane I managed 18.5 MPG with MDS off on a nearly 3 hour drive. Half Interstate, and Half rural roads(60-75mph most of the time) That's with 2 stops and driving normally.
The second you get in the truck and start it, hit tow/haul, instantly turns off MDS and gears hold rpm's more before shifting. Some people have even gone as far to say its equivalent to "sport mode" I wont go that far but it does make it drive different and shuts down MDS instantly.
 

XDBrad

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The extra 1-2 mpg isn’t worth it to me. I say give me the option to permanently deactivate it and I’d be happy. I had this go bad on my last truck (GMC) and the entire top of the engine and all emissions to include the cat converters had to be replaced. Thank God for warranty, when it all done the bill was around $4k.
 

Goatmann

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So if your driving say 45 and in 6'th gear, you hit -.

That turns off MDS, and will show 6 then 6 to right of that. The left 6 is what gear your in. The right 6 shows how high it will shift. So just hit + twice and your set to reach 8.

- to turn on, and then + to 8 or whatever you want max gear to be. No need to do it while still, and wear out the + button lol.

Does the truck downshift to the next lower gear Pushing the -, and then up again with the +?

Is the button press a quick tap to disable the MDS or a normal push?

I use the gear lock quite often, but never paid attention to wheather the MDS shuts off. Something new to play with on my morning commute tomorrow.
 

XDBrad

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The +/- is simply a gear limiter, the transmission will shift on its own up to the highest gear you have selected. Stated in another way you cannot manually control the transmission with the switches, just limit the highest gear.
 

Goatmann

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The +/- is simply a gear limiter, the transmission will shift on its own up to the highest gear you have selected. Stated in another way you cannot manually control the transmission with the switches, just limit the highest gear.

Thanks Brad,
Fully comprehend gear limiter/lock operation. Just not grasping the turning off MDS, and if any effect locking the gears to the next lowest when pushing the - button.
 

VaderRebel

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The +/- is simply a gear limiter, the transmission will shift on its own up to the highest gear you have selected. Stated in another way you cannot manually control the transmission with the switches, just limit the highest gear.
Just curious if you've actually tried, because you're mistaken. It won't let you nuke the trans dropping to 1st gear at 60mph, but it does control the trans, just like paddle shifters on sports cars. It also doubles as a disable for MDS. Tow/haul I find to aggressive for city driving, but it too disables MDS.
 

XDBrad

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Admittedly I haven’t used it much other than putting it in 8th and letting it do what it will but now I’m wondering if mine is not working right. I cannot down shift the transmission with the - button. Sitting still it will cycle through the numbers with the - button though. Probably need to have the dealer take a look....
 

Ram19Va

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Interesting about that tow/haul switch. I'm going to give that a try this week to see how it is.
 

VaderRebel

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Interesting about that tow/haul switch. I'm going to give that a try this week to see how it is.
Make sure you have a full tank of gas... it's not going to help your average mpg. If you're concerned that is... if mileage isn't a concern, have at it! Post pics of the burnouts!
 

GregHBNA

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No, but If you're just taking off, and you only pushed the - button once, it will limit it to 1st gear and your trans will rev until you figure out what you screwed up.

Simpliest way to do this is to make sure you are up to speed and hit the - button once. If you're already in 8th, the 8th will be the top of the gear range.

Just curious if you've actually tried, because you're mistaken. It won't let you nuke the trans dropping to 1st gear at 60mph, but it does control the trans, just like paddle shifters on sports cars. It also doubles as a disable for MDS. Tow/haul I find to aggressive for city driving, but it too disables MDS.
 

GregHBNA

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If you've already hit the - button while you're in 8th, it will set 8th as the top gear.
if you hit it - again, then it will FOR SURE make the truck downshift to 7th.

Admittedly I haven’t used it much other than putting it in 8th and letting it do what it will but now I’m wondering if mine is not working right. I cannot down shift the transmission with the - button. Sitting still it will cycle through the numbers with the - button though. Probably need to have the dealer take a look....
 

GregHBNA

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If you folks don't understand how this works, I suggest you just not go hitting the +/- buttons at random unless you are competent what its doing!
 

Lights Out

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how do you suggest the manual gears should be utilized then ?
 

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