Supposedly any tune on an Eco will void the warranty. The law, however, says they have to prove that the tune was responsible for 'X' damage.

Given that there are many many trucks running around with over 650hp/600tq on stock trans, transfer case and rear end - Ford would have a hard time proving a 450hp/550tq Eco was the cause of driveline failure.

 

Problem is they can afford a better legal team then I can.... and while it is in the courts my truck is being held hostage....

 

As I posted earlier, it all boils down to what you are comfortable with.

Nobody is forcing anyone to make modifications to their vehicles. If I had an Eco F150 and $400 burning a hole in my pocket, I'd get it tuned. Best bang for the buck.

 

I disagree, it is not about what other trucks can or have handled without issue, all that matters is whether it could have handled stock power and it is not their only their lawyers that you will be fighting but their engineers and unless you are an engineer, you cannot even come close to the technical analysis that they can provide. Plus, the court would see them as experts on the matter while you are just an average guy.

Think about it. We see parts fail on stock trucks. Those are parts where either the tolerances just added up wrong or the part was on the wrong side of the design specs. Add more power and that just makes it more likely that the tolerances will not work or that that part at the edge of tolerances, that would have been ok with no tune could fail. It does not mean the part was faulty just because we have seen many other trucks handle the added power.

Think of it like a bell curve where most trucks fall within a specific range for what they can reasonably handle for power. There will be a few frankensteins that can handle stupid power and a few that can barely handle stock power (those are the stock failures), with power on the x-axis and power increasing to the right, as you move right, there will be more trucks that cannot handle the additional power but it will be a slow ramp up until you hit that sweet spot where most trucks can't handle it.

I'm not saying don't do it, but I've seen the whining that happens when warranties are denied on powertrain with a modified engine on just about every forum I've been on. You add power and something breaks, it gives them an easy out.

And yeah, if it were me, I'd drop the $400 on a tune but I would understand that it is a bit of a gamble. Chances are it turns out fine but there is always a small chance of something going wrong.

 

my illustration wasn't meant to be a person's argument in court, it was meant to portray the risk level, as in relatively low. There are 11 second 5.0s running stock transmissions and rear ends and they are launching on slicks. There are Raptors running 650hp bouncing off the rev limiter and jumping, still on the stock trans/transfer case. The point being the driveline is built to handle far more that what you would net with a tune on the eco - it isn't even debatable. Yes, things happen, parts fail but in aggregate our platforms are very robust and have stood up to a good deal of punishment. That would be MY reasoning / alibi for getting a tune and not worrying about it. YMMV


It's up to each individual what their risk tolerance is. If having to buy a new transmission is going to cause you to lose your house, you probably ought not be messing with your transportation.

 

Great!! 59 more months! Ugh!

 

My 2012 Ecoboost was turned.... even with just the Edge CS Gas tuner is was definitely a step up... and I'm not saying I won't tune the 2015 but I think I'll "Try " to wait till I'm close to the end of my warranty