Recipe for long term gains w/ lower warranty concern?

[Badgertits]

typically I have thousands in mods ordered before I even take a new ride home, but since this was my first new Ford & factory boosted vehicle I wanted to take my time do some research & put some miles on before doing anything. I also paid for 100k extended factory warranty & this is my DD so While I def wanna Tap into that extra power I don’t want to do so @ the expense of reliability/driveability/warranty coverage. Also want to stay within $2000 budget

This is what I’ve planned out.

Mishimoto intercooler - like that it’s in stock location w/ no real modification to the truck, shouldn’t raise eyebrows @ the dealer.

Gearhead tune + tuner (I’m guessing they use Ngauge?)

Mishimoto tranny cooler- I believe Raptors already have a tranny cooler from factory, but while it’s supposedly normal to break 200+ degrees I can’t imagine running cooler wouldn’t extend the life/performance of the transmission.

Cobb drop in air filter

Colder spark plugs- what is recommended? I’ve seen guys running them gapped @ .025 - .028 vs factory .030, what brand NGK? Do they come pre-gapped @ those measurements?

Relocate front license plate allow more air to intercooler

I’ve got 10k miles on the truck so far w/o a hiccup & will be taking it on a 2000 mile road trip next week- gonna order parts while on vacation & get em installed after.

 

[BIG TIME BALLER]

I'm not sure I understand the need for more power in the Raptor application.

1. Off road - more power than the Raptor already has may be a hindrance.

2. Street - as a DD most are trying to maintain reasonable MPGs... not worse.

3. Drag race - is anyone drag racing their Raptor?

4. Cost - your talking about spending thousands of dollars to add more power that has no real purpose... other than the couple times you put the hammer down here and there... and even then it’s still a truck and not going to feel fast.

5. Warranty/Reliability - why risk your warranty knowing the EB and the 10 speed have some issues... you may need to use it. Why risk increased stress on your drivetrain for more power that again has no real purpose and arguably will be hardly noticeable... certainly after you get used to it?

 

[Badgertits]

I'm not sure I understand the need for more power in the Raptor application.

1. Off road - more power than the Raptor already has may be a hindrance.

2. Street - as a DD most are trying to maintain reasonable MPGs... not worse.

3. Drag race - is anyone drag racing their Raptor?

4. Cost - your talking about spending thousands of dollars to add more power that has no real purpose... other than the couple times you put the hammer down here and there... and even then it’s still a truck and not going to feel fast.

5. Warranty/Reliability - why risk your warranty knowing the EB and the 10 speed have some issues... you may need to use it. Why risk increased stress on your drivetrain for more power that again has no real purpose and arguably will be hardly noticeable... certainly after you get used to it?

You should definitely change your forum name. Maybe small time hustler.

Big time ballers spend $$$ making their truck run/perform better.

 

[BIG TIME BALLER]

You should definitely change your form name. Maybe small time hustler.

Big time ballers spend $$$ making their truck run/perform better.

Does yours perform better? How do you know? How much did you spend for that “better performance”?

Ballers have more more money available for other, perhaps more important things... homes, investments, as well as the same truck you have.

 

[TXRaptor]

It sounds like you have a well-thought out plan with reasonable choices. The Gearhead tunes are known for being reliable as they do not push the limits are far as some of the others. The rest of your choices are simply to make the truck run cooler, so I do not see any risk with them.

I am running the Motorcraft SP-542 Iridium plugs in mine. (Part# CYFS-092-YPT) They were gapped at .028 from the start, so nothing had to be changed.

 

[Badgertits]

Does yours perform better? How do you know? How much did you spend for that “better performance”?

Ballers have more more money available for other, perhaps more important things... homes, investments, as well as the same truck you have.

LOL - dude - firstoff why are you commenting on this thread when you have nothing of substance/use to add? And with that member name, & the ensuing comments about spending $$$ modding a truck, how could I not poke fun lol??

"Real ballers" have the investments & $$$ left to blow on mods to their truck if they feel like it. I haven't pulled the trigger on these performance mods, but when I do I'm plenty sure they will result in better performance & "HOW WOULD I KNOW?" Well for starters I'm also sure the truck will immediately pull harder, idle more smoothly, & shift more appropriately - I've had plenty of experience modding vehicles & getting them tuned so I have an idea what to expect, & if I need additional confirmation of the increased performance I'll strap it to the dyno & send ya pic of the graph, maybe you'll change your mind & go from small time hustler to big time baller & tune your truck too!! lol

Thanks for the financial advice.....but considering my wife & I already max out our 401k's, have $400k in equity on our house, a few brokerage/IRA accounts, 529 Ufund for my kid, own my vette, her MDX & our '19 Yama waverunner outright I think I'm fine to blow a couple grand on my Raptor to get a little more performance out of it. Oh, and in case you're curious I owe a whopping $5700 on it. I sold 1 of 2 rental properties 2 years ago...may offload the 2nd in next 6-12 months since I have another kid on the way, & guess what? I'm thinking of taking $10k outta those proceeds & finishing the build on the vette which will include an A&A blower & clutch among other things.....OH THE HORROR!!!!

*For the record, I do not in fact consider myself a baller.

 

[Badgertits]

It sounds like you have a well-thought out plan with reasonable choices. The Gearhead tunes are known for being reliable as they do not push the limits are far as some of the others. The rest of your choices are simply to make the truck run cooler, so I do not see any risk with them.

I am running the Motorcraft SP-542 Iridium plugs in mine. (Part# CYFS-092-YPT) They were gapped at .028 from the start, so nothing had to be changed.

Are you running those plugs on stock tune or something else?

 

[NORCAL SS]

This is beginning to sound alot like

 

[TXRaptor]

Are you running those plugs on stock tune or something else?

I do not have a stock tune. My performance mods are an MPT 93 PRX tune, FullRace IC, SPD TAs, FlowMaster FlowFX Muffler, 170 t-stat and the colder SP-542 plugs. I have a custom bumper and skid plate from Miller Offroad, so my front plate is long gone. I considered adding a high-flow air filter, but I have not picked one up to try.

I did not want to tout MPT as the only one good enough for our trucks, so I left it out of the discussion. The Gearhead tune was my second choice, but after all of the positive feedback for MPT on this forum, I felt they had slightly higher performance and were also a low-risk choice for our trucks. After a year with my build, I have been very happy with MPT and the rest of my choices.

I did my build with almost 2000 miles on the truck, but only because it took that long to get everything sorted out!

 

[Badgertits]

I do not have a stock tune. My performance mods are an MPT 93 PRX tune, FullRace IC, SPD TAs, FlowMaster FlowFX Muffler, 170 t-stat and the colder SP-542 plugs. I have a custom bumper and skid plate from Miller Offroad, so my front plate is long gone. I considered adding a high-flow air filter, but I have not picked one up to try.

I did not want to tout MPT as the only one good enough for our trucks, so I left it out of the discussion. The Gearhead tune was my second choice, but after all of the positive feedback for MPT on this forum, I felt they had slightly higher performance and were also a low-risk choice for our trucks. After a year with my build, I have been very happy with MPT and the rest of my choices.

I did my build with almost 2000 miles on the truck, but only because it took that long to get everything sorted out!

Thanks for the info. Yeah I was looking @ MPT as well - I like that they include trans tuning (honestly I wouldn't even consider a tune that didn't), & it def sounds like they're going to have a better tune for peak power/performance, but I'm not looking to push the limits of the stock turbos and/or have a DD that shifts rough etc. I'm purposely going w/ gearhead over mpt assuming it'll be a bit "tamer".