hey i was just wondering if anyone had any recomendations on the cheapest and easiest way to get more hp. i have a 2003 lightning and was wondering maybe about exhaust and chip. do either of these make any sense? any other recomendations? thanks

 

Cheapest and easiest, IMO, would be lower pulley and custom tuned chip.

Nitrous and a custom tuned chip is another choice.

Exhaust won't get you much. These beasts exhale pretty well and don't show marked improvement with exhaust mods until you're pushing 450 - 500hp.

But you can always do it for the sound!

Stewart

 

Had to throw this in there...

 

yah i was wondering about a pulley for the s/c also. but i would suspect it would void my warranty. does this have much risk for creating a prob? cuz the i already sold my soul to the bank to get the truck, and the last thing i would wanna to is have to fix the motor on my own $$

 

As with installing just about any mod, you would have to remove it before you went to the dealer for warranty service. Instead of a chip, get a tuner with a custom dyno tuned program that keeps the A/F ratio safe. I personally wouldn't put a blower pulley on without a chip or tuner, but many have done it with no problems.

Best bang for the buck IMO if you are tight on $ in case I had to pick one mod would be the Tuner.

 

The most common first mods are a 4lb pulley, chip, filter kit, and shift improvement kit of some kind. I didn't go that route because I didn't want a cookie cutter truck or fight the warranty battle that I shouldn't have to fight in the first place.

I got about 25 rwhp with full JDM exhaust and a drop in filter. Not the best bang for the buck, but definitely a noticable gain. My truck runs just as well as most local trucks that have chips, pullies and filter kits.

 

Yeah, but then you have to be concerned about belt slippage, plus you have to get a special tool to pull the pulley off because they're pressed on...

The lower pulley is so much easier in my opinion, plus you don't have to be as concerned with your belt slipping because when you change the lower pulley to add boost, you're swapping in a bigger diameter pulley. When you change the upper pulley to add boost, you're swapping in a smaller diameter pulley.

Amigo, I don't wanna sound rude or anything, but if you don't have the cash to play, and you wanna keep it under warranty, DON'T modify the truck.

You wanna play? Then you gotta pay if something goes wrong because it's not fair or right to modify the truck, making it produce power it's not warrantied for, and then if something adverse happens, to expect the dealership to pay for it.

That's just plain wrong. It's cheating and fraudulent. Don't do it.

Stewart

 

I think you misunderstood me. I wasn't implying i wanted to defraud the warranty program. i was just wondering what problems might arise from these mods and how common these problems(if any) are. i simply don't have the $$ to pay for repairs myself so i want to be very sure about anything i might do to my truck. If a engine failure did happen with no warranty i would have to park my truck, and i sure as hell don't want to do that! But i would park it before i would try to scam anybody!!!!

 

Yeah, I'm sorry amigo. After I posted this, I left and was driving down the road, thinking about how I worded my response and realized I was implying you might consider doing that. Which is not the case.

I SHOULD have said, if you're worried about voiding the warranty, don't do any mods. And then I should have posted, people that have mods and have voided their warranty, then have something break and expect the warranty to cover it, taking their mods off and having it brought to the dealership, are cheating and defrauding a business.

Sorry for the miscommunication!

Stewart

 

That is true if the mods caused the problem. On the other hand, if you bring a vehicle in for warranty work on a transmission and they void the warranty because there is a K&N air filter installed, that's not right either. I have read on a few boards about warranties being voided for various stupid reasons.

I had modded my Lightning when it was just going out of warranty. I wouldn't have even bothered to bring it in for dealer service with mods installed. This is a reason why my 6.0 is staying stock as well. I don't know much about diesels and can't afford to fix any major problems without a warranty, so I have to be happy with it being stock for awhile

 

I'm going to clarify a few things here. Nobody get offended.

First of all, there is no such thing as "voiding the warranty". All they can do is deny warranty coverage on a case by case basis. If anyone tells you otherwise they are mistaken.

Second, the dealer has to prove that the mods installed caused the failure. There are two common failures of the Lightning engine: the connecting rods and the spark plug threads. These have both been proven to be design flaws because they happen regularly on completely stock trucks. The only way they can legally stick you is if there are signs of detonation when they tear it down. A good tune will prevent that.

Third, it is not uncommon for a dealer to automatically deny warranty coverage on performance vehicles because they don't want to mess with it. They get paid more when the customer is writing the checks, so that's what they try to get people to do.

 

Same here. And when I read those threads (without having any firsthand knowledge of the incident, and based purely on what I read) I feel like the customer is being cheated and screwed over.

Yep. Same here with my 7.3L Ex.

BUT! The Ex is around 85K miles, so it's not much longer I'll get to "play" with it too!

Doncha hate having to wait!!

Stewart

 

Yeah, I guess it's easy to use the term "voided" because once a warranty claim has been denied on a covered part (and if its due to mods) that info is put into the Oasis computer system. So if you go to a different dealership, they'll see where your warranty claim has already been denied by the first dealership, and why. So in effect, the warranty has been voided for that particular part/problem because it won't get covered by any dealership.

So you are right, the warranty coverage is technically denied, but semantically, it's not incorrect to use the term voided.

That's my excuse and I'm sticking with it!

Yes, the Magnuson Moss Warranty Act. Here's a pretty good website I bookmarked awhile ago.... http://www.granatellimotorsports.com/magnusonmoss.htm

The problem is, I agree with your third point (below) and unfortunately, even in light of Magnuson Moss (your second point) the onus is once again put back on us to force the dealership to honor coverage.

Stewart

 

It is difficult for me to write anything without first hand knowledge of warranties being voided (sorry, denied). I am sure there is probably more to some of them being denied than a simple filter, or the dealer measuring thread depth on tires and claiming that the vehicle wasn't used as intended. But there are a lot of warranty denials that went around on the boards for some pretty lame reasons. If they want to deny it, then they will, and it is up you you to prove them wrong. I know that is not the way it is supposed to be according to the Magnusson Moss Act, but that's the way it is in some cases.

It's like the company policy of the place I work. It says no personal internet uses, no personal phone calls or emails during company time, etc. Everybody does it including the people who wrote the rules. But if they want to fire you, then they site the policy and fire you. That is an extreme example but I've seen that done. If Ford or the dealer wants to hold you to the letter of the law, the manual tells you about maintenance schedules and not putting aftermarket parts on. If you don't follow those instructions then they can deny coverage (once in Oasis it is as good as voided), not that they will. Would you go to the dealer with a pulley and chip installed to get warranty work done on a power steering pump for example? I wouldn't even bother because it is not worth the aggravation.

Sorry, I know this is off the original topic. phlurm - The answer to your original question is chip or tuner, pulley and filter is the best bang for the buck. The answer to your second question is if you want to make absolutely sure the warranty is not voided, then don't do anything.

 

Our Ford dealers around here are known for being jerks about warranty work on all SVT vehicles. I haven't seen a legitimate case yet that a call to the Federal Trade Commission didn't clear up by the end of business on that day. It isn't the consumer's responsibility to prove anything, most just don't have a clue what their rights are and if they do they don't know what to do when they have a problem with their warranty.