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You guys do realize I've spent 33 years working in dealerships right? lol.
Gritz, here's the reality of it... If you installed that lift kit and Henry Ford himself (assuming he was actually alive) said it wouldn't void your warranty, and then you came into my dealership and I determined that the lift kit caused added stress to the frame and broke it, guess what? You're buying a frame.
The reverse is also true. We've had cars towed in with obvious engine modifications and a broken rear diff. Guess what, even the factory rep said to go ahead and give the guy a free brand new diff because the engine mods did not cause the failure.
So you know who has 90% of the say in these situations? The service manager. Yep, one guy can either warranty that blown engine that had aftermarket tuning or he can say no way, you're SOL. So 90% of this comes down to common sense or a judgement call. If you put a Procharger on your E450 and blow the pistons out of it, chances are Ford isn't going to replace them for free. If you have a transmission problem in your otherwise stock RV and you have a 5 Star tune in it (ASSUMING they even check), chances are you're going to be taken care of. Again the flipside is if you walk in demanding a free transmission be installed that afternoon, chances are they'll tell you to jump in a lake.
Perfect example... You say you called "Ford" and "verified" that the lift kit wouldn't void your warranty. If you called back 10 minutes later and talked to a different person I'm betting they'd say no way, it WOULD void your warranty. You realize that right? That call would be laughed at during the point of you actually needing repairs because the lift kit caused damage. (BTW, lift kits are one of THE WORST mods done to vehicles! Not only does it completely screw up the suspension operation, lifespan and design, 9 out of 10 times it makes the vehicle WAY more dangerous. Fact.)
And tuning or modding vehicles being a "fad"? lol. It's a multi-billion dollar "fad" that literally drives innovations in the auto industry. Look at how much money is currently being invested in tuning the new ZR1 Corvette. There's also a thread about a 1000 ft/lb torque Dodge truck in this forum. Do you know who did the stress testing for the engine calibrations in vehicles like that? Guys like me. Hundreds of thousands of guys like me pushing their engines to the limits so engine designers know exactly what works and what doesn't. Diesel engine tuners and owners have been driving trucks with over 1000 ft/lbs of torque for well over a decade now.
Engine calibration modifications are the single biggest change you can make on a vehicle. Change a few values in a few tables and you can literally double the power of an engine. I know because I've taken 2.0L engines that put out 260/260 stock and with no internal engine changes have dependably raised that output to over 500/500. I have hundreds of these little 2.0L engines driving around the country dependably putting down 350 to 500 hp to the wheels. That's the equivalent of one of these V10's putting out about 1700hp! (2.0L @ 500hp = 250/liter - 6.8L x 250 = 1700)
We're A LONG WAY from trying to get 1700hp out of these engines. lol. If all you did was to change ONE item in the V10 tune, PE Delay, do you know what the result would be on possible dependability? It would INCREASE dramatically. Yes, tuning an engine away from stock parameters can not only improve efficiency, but make the engine last LONGER. That's not exactly a "fad".
All that being said, I agree that it's perfectly fine for somebody to decide they don't want to do something like this. It's a risk. Life is full of risks. For me, it basically depends on how you live your life in general actually. My wife and I bought our first RV when we were 23 years old and had only been married for 2 years. We didn't even own a house at the time. Was it a risk and maybe a stupid thing to do? Some would have said so. We had that little Tioga Class C for almost 25 years, put about 150k miles on it and took almost 200 separate trips in it. Our kids went from newborns riding in their car seats strapped to the floor between the two front seats to driving it themselves. It was one of the most amazing "risks" we took in our lives. Life is a risk. Don't waste the possible experiences you'd miss out on by being too "safe".
Sermon over. lol. Sorry!
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