I am about to take delivery on a 2005 F250 Lariat 4x4 w/6.0L motor. I have been reading through the threads on aftermarket tuners. This is all new to me and I am trying to make sense of all the posts. I have a couple really simple questions:

1) How long should I run my truck stock before I consider purchasing a tuner such as Predator or SCMT?
2) How easy is it to cause damage if I do something wrong while I am using the tuner?
3) Will the use of a tuner void or allow the dealer to not honor my warranty?

I apologize if these questions are answered somewhere in the threads, they are hard to find.

Thanks ... can't wait to take delivery!

 

1-personal preference or a matter of opinion.i chipped mine from the onset,so far i have had no problems
2-if you use the wrong setting and tow heavy loads without proper equipment you can cause damage
3-yes they can,talk with your dealer on many issues they will be willing to work with you,but when it all comes down to it ford has the final call not the dealer....

 

Congrats on the new truck Frank. I think you should get to know your truck better and have some fun. Rack up the miles and later when you feel your ready to tune the truck that is when I would.

I'm not going to comment on an actual mile figure so give it some thought and time to break in.

 

1. If you decide to get a tuner, you can use it any time, in my opinion. I would just drive it around and see if you like the way it runs stock. If so, don't modify it.

2. It is easier to cause damage using a tuner than with stock because you have more power and torque available. Self discipline is the key here. If you use a "in between" setting and don't abuse it, you should be ok.

3. Using a tuner itself will not "void" your warranty. If you had a catastrophic failure, requiring a sizable sum of money to repair, Ford will send a tech rep out to look at the damage to see if they will honor the claim. If the tech rep has a good reason to believe the damage was caused by a modification, they will deny the claim and the dealer will have you pay. This is a subject open to debate. Read your warranty thoroughly. See if it is worth the risk.

 

Personally i put exhaust and gauges on in the 1st week.
Then i drove it for @10k miles to see if any issues came up that might need warranty.
It did.
A tranny solenoid went south and Ford took care of it no problem.
I didn't want Ford hassling me a over a tuner.
Anyway,after 10k i went with a SCMT and man its good. So is the Diablo Predator from what i hear.
If you have a tuner and need to remove a trace their is a way.
A member here verfied that using a SCMT 1704 that you can reload the stock tune ,unload it and reload it again with the truck ignition on but not running .
This supposably fools the memory of the computer.
I'm basically saying that you can modify but do it wisely and remove the goodies before you go to Ford .
Some idiots leave their gear in including a big honking Banks **** in the dash and they wonder why Ford gives then the rasberries.

 

Loonatic is right, also drive it around a little after restoring so that if you are having a problem that should throw a code, it will show up in the PCM memory. If you are in with a problem that should have a code and it's not there, that raises a suspicion that you have done something. One guy posted that he was restoring the original tune in front of the dealership. Not wise IMHO.

 

Thanks guys, I think it's good advice to get to know the truck before I start messing with it. Since I ordered the truck near the end of the model year (production wise) I should be getting whatever fixes they have made to the tune etc. I appreciate the words of advice. Frank