I've got an '06 F150 XLT supercab with a 5.4 engine...I am a little disappointed in it's sluggish preformance..my question is...if I bought a programmer/chip, will this void my extended warranty??? I asked a tech at a local Ford dealership and he said it would....If not...what brand would ya'll suggest....thanks..... Hook'em Horns

 

did he say why it would? From reading in here,and you can an should use the search button warranty issues are a ify thing,if something goes wrong ,they would kinda have to prove that your chip/prog was at fault thus voiding warranty,or maybe you would have to prove it wasnt..see were im going....any how IMHO programmer is prob your best mod for the $$ performance wise....read some post,some very happy people here

 

If you have a failure in any part of the drivetrain you can expect them to deny your warranty claim if they know about your reprogrammed PCM.

I am not saying I agree with it but if you alter the drivetrain to perform outside of stock parameters then you have given them a slam dunk cause to deny your warranty.

On the bright side if you use something like the Edge or Xcal2 you can always reload the stock program when the truck needs to go in for service and you won't have to worry.

 

Exactly. Relaod the stock tune, take it in, get it fixed, reload the performance tune. Silence is golden

 

My personal recommendation would be a Troyer tuned XCal2 but the prudent thing to do would be use the search. There’s a boatload of posts about all the different hand held programmers and ultimately you need to make the decision. Do the research because knowledge is key and you don’t want to make a costly mistake.

 

Hi green06F150,

First, congratulations on your new 2005 F-150!

With regard to warranty, yo have the right to do any modification you like and have your warranty remain intact AS LONG AS the mods you installed did not directly cause the damage requiring repair - that is the law, and you can read up on that over at the web site from the people who are largely responsible for almost all the rights we have as vehicle owners, the good folks at SEMA - of which we are a member. Their web site is located at www.sema.org

With regard on which way to go, it's a matter of what you want - most people who have just dropped the kind of money you have on a brand new vehicle want their tuning done by those who have the most experience performance tuning these trucks, and that is us here at Troyer Performance. We have specialized in performance-tuning the F-150 platform for over 14 years, and have tuned more of them than anyone else, including the brand new 2006 models.

Our hand held tuner is also by far the most advanced, having the most detailed & quickest datalogging & diagnostic capabilities, USB connectivity to your PC, the ability to add on options like a large dash-mounted touch screen that will be out shortly, and many other things. Additionally, you can easily return your tuning back to stock in just a few minutes should you ever have a problem and need warranty service for any reason - however, our tuning does NOT damage your vehicle - in fact, the automatic transmission tends to last longer thanks to the reduced slippage, which extends the service life of your primary wear & tear materials, which are the friction materials like bands, clutches, etc.

I know this is a touch decision, but remember that it is NOT the hardware you use, it's the actual *tuning* inside - we are very well familiar with the problem you are having with a near-total lack of basic throttle response, and how sluggish that makes the vehicle. We easily cure that and calibrate it so that it is not only more fun, but also safer to drive thanks to a much quicker-responding powertrain that still imparts a nice, smooth characteristic which the new F-150's are famous for, but with none of the downside that hurts performance so much as you have already experienced.

If you spend some real time reading the posts here from so many of our customers, you will find that the majority of people here trust their tuning & other performance needs to us here at Troyer Performance, due to our long-standing reputation as F-150 performance experts.

If you would like to go over any of this in more detail, please feel free to give us a call at our number listed below & we'll be happy to explain all of this to you in appropriate detail.

In the meantime, have fun enjoying that brand new truck!

 

I also have a question about programmers. I am looking for a programmer that increases the low end power of my truck. I have an 05 Scab XLT 4X4. I use my truck to drive thru mountain areas in BC to go hunting and fishing. I also tow a trailer with a couple of quads or a 15 foot boat trailer. I do use my truck in 4wd so this is why I want lowend power. I was thinking of a 1745 Superchip, but really like the features of the Edge unit. I feel a canned tuner would suit my needs better than a custom tune. I may also add a Magnaflow cat back and a CAI possibly a trueflow unit after the tuner. Hopefully it is okay to ask here as there are many threads on tuners already.

Thanks

 

Well, you can go with a "canned" tuner if you want, but I don't see why unless you are simply looking to go cheap and don't' care about getting the best results.

Anyone that actually cares about getting the most out of these vehicles would always want a true custom tune done, as the difference in power & performance gain as well as overall driveability is significant - as we showed at our last Dyno Day, where we compared stock power levels to the power levels with some "canned' tuners, and then what our tuning does, on bone-stock 2004 & 2005 F-150's - it was no contest, we easily made significantly more power, and showed that the canned units made only a fraction of what they claimed.

And that was just at full-throttle - the real key to getting the best overall performance, for towing or any other real world use, are the part-throttle torque gains and the throttle response - there once again, it's hands down no contest.

Everyone should do whatever makes them happiest, to so sure, but most people with expensive new vehicles are far more concerned with getting the *best* results - which is why most of them come to us for our Troyer Performance custom tuning, as we have specialized in this platform longer than anyone else, and have custom tuned more of each model year of F-150 than anyone else, by a wide margin.

If you'd like to go over the differences, etc., please feel free to give us a call at our number listed below, & best of luck whatever you decide!

 

Thanks for the info. This is what I find most interesting.
I will check out more info on your custom tunes.

 

Yes, the part-throttle work is virtually always what is lacking the most, as most chipmakers do not invest in the type of equipment or even if they have the equipment, the manpower to really optimize & maximize torque available at any throttle position & rpm versus the EGT's (exhaust gas temperatures).

So there's a lot more to it than just foot-to-the-floor numbers, which, though important, are not the most important given that even the most aggressive driver doesn't spend 2% of their time at full-throttle.

Thanks for your post, & have fun!

 

mike tuned my nearly 4 ton 3/4 ton work van- it was fdy2 code- open loop issue i believe- i drive my van between 2000-3500 rpm range -babying it to sip gas- the part throttle torque he produced is unbelievable!-phil

 

Hi Phil,

Thanks, that's very kind of you to say.

You know, one of these days we're going to have to find a way to get together, my wife & I would enjoy meeting you (or maybe you & your wife), maybe put one or more of your vehicles on the new dyno, etc.

Of course, I may be putting my foot in my mouth as I don't remember off the top of my head where you are at, you might be 2000 miles away, so I guess I should have taken a quick look at your profile again first - at any rate, if you ever do get a chance to drop by, we'd be happy to get together & go out to dinner, etc.

Have fun,

 

Any V10 guys using the XCal2? What do you think?

Mike, do you do much with the V10's?

 

Hi BDPSD,

Yes, we sure do tune a lot of V-10's, and have for years.

They are actually one of our favorites, as they make us look like heros due to the fact that they can't go open loop from the factory and of course we fix that - so in addition to the gains we get from our "normal" custom tuning, the V-10's get even higher % gains than some other trucks do with gasoline engines.

Now overall, just due to sheer production numbers, there are a LOT less V-10 SuperDuty's than there are F-150's of course, so we do tune more F-150's than V-10's - but we tune a good number of V-10's of every model year, from the very first to the newest 3-valve versions, and we love to tune them with the nice gains we get, as the owners love the results.

I'd like to see even more V-10's being made, as it's a very viable engine - it's really just a 5.4 V8 with 2 more cylinders, so it's a great torque-producer when tuned properly, and for it's size & weight, really doesn't do bad gas mileage-wise, relatively speaking.

Feel free to give us a call to go over this in more detail, & we'll be happy to let you know exactly what we can do & what we'd recommend for your V-10, how you use it & what your preferences are, etc.

Thank for your post & good luck with your truck!

 

Thanks Mike,

I'll give you a call...