GEN 2 Mods that require a tune

New to Raptors, I have a stock 2018.

I was looking at a CAI and IC upgrade. Will both of these play nice with the stock factory tune? Doing searches it appears that sometimes components should not be upgraded unless a tune is in place.

 

This is a very broad question.

what are your goals? More power? More reliability? Etc.

On a stock truck, the stock components work really well. Yes you can upgrade the intercooler and you’ll get less heat soak barreling through the dessert, but you certainly won’t notice a performance difference otherwise. Cold air intake? Do you just want more intake sound? It doesn’t increase horsepower on this platform on a stock truck and probably not even on a highly modified one. Do I have one? Yep. Looks and sounds cool.

do you want more power? Your options are a tune or a piggyback tuner box. The tune of course offering more power and transmission tuning.... With the caveat that you might nuke your factory warranty, if that matters to you. The tuner boxes are mostly removable and usually pass the warranty test.

will an intercooler and CAI offer some synergy with a tune? Sure. Necessary. No.

good luck with your mods. Lots of information on here, via the search button.

 

Currently I am stock tune on engine and trans. I added a Volant intake with the Donaldson filter. Intake systems usually don't do much but I added the Volant because the filter is a heavy duty one and Donaldson makes these filters for heavy equipment in dusty conditions. That's why I did it.

I also added a CV Fab intercooler not for more power but for less heat soak as I'm in Yuma, AZ and its pretty brutal out here with the heat.

That being said I plan on having my truck Goosetuned sometime next month possibly. With these two mods I'd imagine that could help in conjunction with his tune.

 

My understanding is that these trucks are not like subarus and you can mod without a tune. However, to get the most out of your mods you should get a tune. I personally recommend Goosetuned. I've had BCB and TunesPlus Inc. tunes, both companies tunes gave my truck issues. I have zero problems with the Goosetuned and the truck has never felt stronger.

 

the only thing worth doing is a tune

 

I have a 170 degree thermostat, turbo adapters, CAI, intercooler and MPT tune. The only mod that required a tune was the thermostat.

 

The CAI will probably throw codes w/o a tune & offer no performance gains, an upgraded IC - if - huge front mounted one - requires cutting up/modifying the truck & WIlLL automatically raise the “I’m
Modded red flag” to the dealer thus giving an excuse to void powertrain warranty claims- in which case, well if you’re gonna take that risk may as well get a tune too.

you can get an upgraded stock mount IC, there’s quite a few decent options like whipple/Wagner/CVF/Mishimoto- if I was going to replace mine I’d go w/ CVF personally. These typically require no mods to the vehicle & much less noticeable to a dealer....also tough to argue a replacement part that goes in same spot & performs same function is tough to blame for warranty reasons.

Personally I wouldn’t bother w/ an upgraded IC either unless I lived in a hot/humid climate (I live in New England) and/or was doing a lot of heavy towing/payloads or a lot of off-roading.

So that brings me to this piece of Advice- the ONLY performance mod you need is a Good tune. You’ll gain 70-100 whp/TQ, the truck will shift quicker & perform better in every situation. Make sure you get a good reputable tune from a company that’s not only familiar w/ tuning boosted engines but also transmission tuning which is BIG part of the gains given we have a 10 speed

gearhead, MPT, Livernois, Goosetune all recommended