s197richie

+1 on going to bama for a good CAI/tuner combo for an auto. That's an excellent first mod and should hold you over for 1-6 weeks lol...
remember no dealer can rubberstamp your warranty...if you've put gears in your car, that's the end of the warrantyas far as most of the rear end parts are concerned, but that's it. Your a/c starts blowing warm or your power window goes out, there's no way in hell they can turn you away. Also they have to prove that the mod caused the failure. Most of us just feel it's pointless to drive a car with such a huge aftemarket and not take advantage of it, just because of the slim chance of something going wrong and us having to put out a little of our own money. Hell, if your CEL comes on, scan it with your tuner, google the DTC, buy the damn $50 sensor at a parts store, clear the code and you're done.

LanceH

yea, unfortunately, I never seem to be like MOST people

Can you imagine what that complete rear axle assembly plus labor would of cost had it not been under warranty?

howarmat

You can get a complete axle for about 600-700 and its not to hard to change yourself actually......Not all dealers will void the warranty for some mods also.....and like moosestand said I am not a whiny *** whos takes it to the dealer for a freaking squeaky dash....the only thing I took it in for was the emergency brake TSB....

moosestang

Whiny ***!!!

I bet Ford techs all across the country are pulling their hair out every time someone brings their car in for a rattle. Of course my car is lowered so I voided the rattle part of my warranty!

s197richie

OP if you can wait out your warranty (5 yr/60k on the powertrain), then more power to you and you have much more willpower than any of us ever will...
otherwise, roll the dice...or maybe it would be easier for you if you had an older mustang or f-body with no warranty to worry about (don't know your situation, maybe a second car is in your budget...if not, trade out and pocket the difference, or use it for the mods and/or possible pop-up repairs?)

LanceH

Well, I guess I could mod my paid off out of warranty 03 Dakota but I'm thinking that won't be as much fun, LOL.

So does anyone know a reputable shop to do the gears in the Frederick MD area?

Or should I just take it to the dealer, maybe not the one that replaced the rear? There is another Ford Dealer about 15 miles down the road in Mt Airy. Or should I avoid dealers all together?

Thanks All,
Lance

wmtheflash

If you have an automatic, then you'll need a new tune to get the most out of your new gears. The shift points on your automatic are computer controlled, obviously, that's not the case for the manual. It's much more important, then, that you get a tune with your new gears.

s197richie

I'd stay away from dealers for performance upgrades, JMO...

Diabolical!

I can't imagine what kind of factory defect would warrant changing the entire rear axle. Chances are, if you replace your rear gears and something breaks in the rear... it'll be your gears. Just mod the hell out of her and don't look back. I paid off my car in less than a year, and as soon as the last payment went through, I blew my warranty into the past. Mods are your friend

dirtydeedsinc

Sounds to me like the dealership didn't have a clue how to fix it so they just swapped everything. I call these types part changers. Keep changing parts until the problem is fixed.
On the warranty, I'm not worried about it. By the time it gets to the dealership my intake and tune is stock. Gears are getting swapped soon once I make up my mind on 3.73 or 4.10. First I'm installing the UDPs then doing LCA and DS.