I have never had a problem shutting off the EGR without having a blocker plate. Been doing it on my dad's truck for over 100k miles. I also did it on my truck for about 40k miles before I bought one of Rick's EGR delete pipes. I wouldn't do it with a DPF still in place though. I don't believe that has anything to do with the downshifting.
What year Josh?...I think both trucks I had trouble with were '07.5, maybe an OS issue? :dontknow: