A43D Kicking Down too much?

[Northoak]

Hey y'all.  My truck isn't really a motor home but rather a 1983 longbed with a camper shell on it but I've had much better luck finding information on the A43D transmission from this forum. 

I've got a problem with my rig where it likes to kick down on the highway way too soon.  I'll be going about 50 mph on flat ground and want to speed up a little but when I do the truck goes into either 3rd or second (i can't tell which) and seems to redline rather than accelerate.  I won't be able to go any faster because the gear appears to be maxed out.  This leads to the truck running hot and wasting gas.  I'm a pretty passive driver who takes it slow and accelerates slowly.  When it does hold gear the truck maintains a solid 65 or even 70 without getting too hot.  If it was a dolphin or something I wouldn't expect to get to 65 mph with all that weight but its just a truck with a shell.   I'd like to be able to stay in overdrive when I'm on flat ground to maintain highway speeds.  I've already done the overdrive solenoid bypass mod so I know its not an issue with that.

I'm a little confused about the function of the kickdown cable here.  I found this on the Toyota mini forum:

"The A43D runs on that cable to read throttle position and the governor inside the tailshaft housing.

When you tighten the cable, it'll read more throttle than it should, thinking it should be in a lower gear.
you should loosen the cable so it reads less throttle than it does *now*, allowing it to upshift"

If this is true could I just loosen my kick-down cable so that I can stay in 3rd or overdrive and thus maintain highway speeds?

Thanks for the help and all the info on my other post 🙂

[linda s]

I can run my motorhome at 70 without overheating in 3rd gear. Never use overdrive so it's been running highways in 3rd for 14 years now. Look for another reason for the hot problem. Yes any slight stress on the trannie will make it kick down. Not unusual. Most people who want a more efficient use of 4th gear change the differential gearing. Your 83 has either 3.73 or 4.11 gearing. Depends on heavy duty or standard. Most of our motorhomes are at 4.10 and some upgrade to 4.56 or 4.88. 

Linda S

[Northoak]

I see, I assume mine is 3.73 since it’s a standard 2wd pickup.  Maybe an upgrade is in the future.  Do you think loosening the kick down cable help me stay in higher gears longer?    I’m hoping to try some easier adjustments before I dive into a rebuilt.  My fluid level is good and luckily my leak is gone thanks to a speedi sleeve and the bushing replacement this forum helped me figure out.