Ford Procal Performance Tune Installed!

[Lion77]

Yah but you're forgetting WHERE the mass is. The mass of the wheels has a lot less inertia than the tires due to the radius being much smaller. Think about putting a weight on the end of a rope and swinging it around in a circle. It's easy to do the same weight with a short rope, its hard if the rope is long (larger diameter).

Most of the weight in the tire is in the tread, not the carcass / sidewall, which is one of two reasons why going to 35's takes a big performance hit on handling, braking and acceleration. The weight is the furthest out from the center of the axle / hub. The wheel's mass (barrel) is much further in. 3lbs per wheel is not likely to be noticeable, but yes, 11~12lbs per a wheel is noticeable.

I could certainly tell the difference between the 11lbs per wheel I shed from the OE bead locks by going to the 705's and wouldn't go back, but it wasn't as earth shattering as some people are thinking, more like a subtle but noticeable improvement.

It's worth maybe 1 or 2 tenths of a second in the quarter mile even with that much weight reduction, so I really don't think you could tell the difference between my 705's and say the OE alloys, 25.2 vs. 29lbs per wheel. There's a point of diminishing returns. If you have bead locks and want to maintain bead-lock-like function, moving to Methods makes sense, you get a weight reduction as a bonus, but aside from that, if I had OE alloys, probably would not have bothered unless I still had wanted the bead grip (which in my case I did, but a lot of people don't care about that).

12 pounds total isn't much. 44 lbs total is noticeable but not earth shattering and the Pro Cal makes a far bigger difference than lightweight wheels did (I upgraded piecewise, so I did the Pro Cal first at 5k miles, then ran that all last year no other mods, then got the 705's in late Jan this year, so I had a lot of time with each stage of upgrades). I'm not saying they aren't worth it, but if I had to choose one or the other, Pro Cal hands down gives you far more bang for buck!

You're getting a healthy 1/2 second off your quarter mile from a Pro Cal and must better shift mapping and throttle mapping.

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[MarcR]

So I hate to beat a dead horse, and seems like there hasn't been really a conclusive answer as it's going back and forth, but does/will the ProCal tune create warranty issues in the future or create warranty issue if deemed at fault or still too soon to say as no one may have come across this issue yet?

I'm for installing, but holding back as I just don't want to be in a messy situation if I do install it as I also do have the ESP premium care.

 

[donkey]

So I hate to beat a dead horse, and seems like there hasn't been really a conclusive answer as it's going back and forth, but does/will the ProCal tune create warranty issues in the future or create warranty issue if deemed at fault or still too soon to say as no one may have come across this issue yet?

I'm for installing, but holding back as I just don't want to be in a messy situation if I do install it as I also do have the ESP premium care.

I have 7yr/125k. Just installed the tune. Worth it if you’re getting all your work done at the dealer.

 

[25PlatTrem350]

For me the whole point of going with the Ford Performance ProCal tune AND having it installed at the dealer was so there was no issue with the factory warranty. I did something similar on a 14 Tacoma I used to have. Bought the TRD Supercharger kit and had the dealer install it to keep the full factory warranty.

 

[landiscarrier]

The Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act. Read it and understand it. I’ve been using outside tuning in 2 Focus ST’s, 19 Ranger 2.3 and now my 25 RR I have not had many warranty claims but the ones I did I never had the dealership question the tune in the vehicle.

 

[donkey]

The Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act. Read it and understand it. I’ve been using outside tuning in 2 Focus ST’s, 19 Ranger 2.3 and now my 25 RR I have not had many warranty claims but the ones I did I never had the dealership question the tune in the vehicle.

Hmmmm “Yeah we found the issue for your piston that shot out the side of the block to be related to the aftermarket tune you had on.”

How are you gonna disprove that one lol

 

[landiscarrier]

If that happened and that’s extremely unlikely, something was pushing the engine way outsides its limits.

I’ve tuned 2 Focus ST’s, a Ranger 2.3 and now the RR and have never had a warranty issue, not that I’ve had many, not being covered by warranty. All were tuned early on in mileage. My 19 Ranger had the transmission completely rebuilt under the Ford Extended Warranty with 114,000 miles in it and the tune loaded.
Just work with a reputable, professional tuner that makes safe reliable power.

 

[Aonarch]

The Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act. Read it and understand it. I’ve been using outside tuning in 2 Focus ST’s, 19 Ranger 2.3 and now my 25 RR I have not had many warranty claims but the ones I did I never had the dealership question the tune in the vehicle.

MM is one of the most misunderstood laws on the internet.

The short is, MM covers parts like an OE replacement alternator or tie rod from a third party, say Moog, not aftermarket performance parts that change the original design or specifications.

 

[landiscarrier]

MM is one of the most misunderstood laws on the internet.

The short is, MM covers parts like an OE replacement alternator or tie rod from a third party, say Moog, not aftermarket performance parts that change the original design or specifications.

Actually what it states concerning that is stated below. I’ve had warranty claims paid in full with a performance tune in my vehicle without issue.

• Aftermarket Parts Protection:Using aftermarket, refurbished, or specialized parts does not automatically void a warranty; the manufacturer must demonstrate that the part caused the failure for a claim to be denied.

 

[Tankertruck]

Has anyone installed the Ford Tune on their 2026 yet?

EDIT: I did mine today, no issues..

 

[MarcR]

I think time will tell(?) as there's a smaller sample size with people with the RR procal tune and any big warranty claims since it's all relatively still new and no one has any big issues yet.

 

[Lion77]

Just some additional food for thought on the Pro Cal and the 10R60, but I made this point before about torque limiting during torque lock engagement. The ECU calibrators can limit torque significantly during the lock-up phase, so the torque lock only needs to manage "holding capacity" vs transitioning capacity (where you're fighting the rotational mass AND the applied torque).

It's kind of like the concept of a manual with rev matching and it's not new, I suspect this has been common for the last decade or so ever since drive by wire became standard (although it could be done on older cable throttle systems to a degree with engine timing, but that was much more limited).

Gears Magazine - Shift Anatomy: The GM 10-Speed

The link is to an article on GM's 10-speed, but if you scroll down, there's the section of interest (which proves the point about the Pro Cal and the 10R60, how the powertrain engineers at Ford could easily torque limit the tuned 3.0L to the same values as stock, just apply more power after converted lock-up):

So, in the GM 10-speed example, the powertrain engineers were adjusting throttle electronically regardless of pedal position to sync the speed between the crankshaft and the torque converter input for the next gear ratio (increase or decrease RPM depending on up or down shift), kind of like rev matching.

The point isn't that Ford does it exactly like this with a Pro Cal tuned RR, but rather they could literally mimic the stock operating conditions on a Pro Cal tuned RR and only allow full timing / throttle after full converter lockup. There isn't going to be any more wear on the torque locks than on a stock truck and the slight increase in torque at WOT is negligible (at WOT, your shifting at redline, about 6kRPM, so the next gear the throttle is back on at about 5k RPM, where the 3.0L is only making about 420 lb-ft of torque even with the Pro Cal, or about 30% less than the 600 lb-ft of holding capacity aka 2/3 derated for high reliability).

What that really means is that the durability of a Pro Cal tuned RR is going to be so close to a stock RR that under the same driving conditions, it's not going to have a significant impact on the powertrain wear. What matters more is maintenance, allowing for full transmission and engine warm-up before WOT and finally driving conditions (aka, don't do stupid stuff like pulling other trucks or 5k RPM drag launches on pavement, all of which can damage even a stock powertrain).

So, feel free to go WOT on your Pro Cal tuned RR and enjoy it just as you would if it were stock! You can tow with it just like on a stock truck too. I use mine for a wide variety of things, family trips, occasional towing (maybe 3-5x a year), Baja in open fields, hooning around on back roads in sport mode with WOT pulls, touring, sometimes home depot runs and when there's a ton of snow on the ground my daily drive Mazda 3 can't handle, once it's warmed up, I'm not afraid to flog it if I feel like having fun, but I always wait until the trans temp hits at least 170F first as its the slowest to warm up, engine oil hits 180~200F range much quicker.

 

[rocsteady]

So just to be clear. If I buy the ProCal tune from TireRack but have it installed at the dealer, I'm as covered as I can be, warranty-wise?

 

[Lion77]

Also, regarding the Pro Cal, it's MUCH harder for dealerships to take the position that a Ford Performance factory High Output (HO) cal, aka the same division that literally developed the vehicle in the first place and has their badges plastered all over it, is the cause of the problem. It's a different story with a completely aftermarket company.

The warranty language is clear, any failure caused by the Pro Cal is covered under the FP supplemental warranty for 3yr / 36k miles, otherwise any failure NOT related to the Pro Cal is still under 3yr / 36k new vehicle warranty.

After that period, any failures NOT caused by the Pro Cal are STILL covered under the normal Power Train 5yr/ 60k warranty. The warranty language isn't there so much because they expect it to cause failures beyond that point, rather it's there as a catch all in case Ford Performance were to make a mistake that wasn't seen during testing and nearly all the vehicles with that cal. end up with major failures, because it's a post-production change.

Now with that being said, for warranty purposes, I have NO other power adder mods aside from the Pro Cal that was dealer installed and registered for warranty, not even an intercooler and it will stay that way until the 60k powertrain is up, then after that just an IC, rest is non-power train stuff like rock sliders, L-rack system in the bed etc. To each his own, that's just my take on balancing risk vs. reward.

The stock powertrain with just the Pro Cal is pretty darn good, good enough for me and I want both reliability and performance, but I'm not willing to really sacrifice reliability for performance to a meaningful degree. Sure, if I only got 150k out of the transmission vs. 200k, that's acceptable, but failure at 75k or 80k when it might have gone 150~200k otherwise? Nope. Based on all of my research, the Pro Cal was by far the most likely to achieve that balance even with the stock IC.

Case in point, when COBB did testing for IC's for the Bonco 2.7L, dropping the IC output temps from 150~160F down to ~110F range netted the 2.7L Bronco only about 6~7 hp at the wheels.... not much. Extrapolating, even 175F IC outlet temp is worth maybe 10hp. Seems like a big difference in temp, but the actual effect on power is very limited since the boost pressure can increase to compensate to achieve the target air density (to a degree).

Octane has a FAR bigger impact on knock than air temps. So yah, maybe I'll upgrade the IC after warranty, but not really a big deal in my opinion even if I never do. I did do a bit of ducting by closing up that bottom gap in front of the IC with some delrin sheets and push pins, that seemed to help better cooling in summer (faster cool-down off-throttle), and I've not gotten past 150F since, by the time I'm able to get back on throttle it's cooled back off.

Off-road, I never see high IC temps on-throttle because the terrain / suspension limits FAR MORE than on-road uses, maybe it will hit 130F when crawling along at low speed, but who cares, I'm using like 5% throttle lol. When towing, I never saw high IC temps either even going up-hill with a 4,100lb payload between trailer and luggage / passengers as it was only in mild boost and I only went WOT to get up to 60, so not long enough to heat up the IC.

 

[Lion77]

Here's a mark-up of Steeda's Pro Cal tuned RR dyno (real numbers after LEARN). There's ~1,200 drop between gears (20% ratio spacing), so the Pro Cal tuned 3.0L is making around 370 lb-ft at the wheels @ ~5k RPM when it starts in the next higher gear.

14% drive train loss in 2WD nets us about 421.8 lb-ft at the crank (what the 10R60 sees). So, at WOT, gear after gear (not including the effects of gear reduction which helps durability more in lower gears), even going into 7th gear (1:1), that's about 70% of its rated max input of 600 lb-ft.

Lets' also not get into the internet conspiracy theory about nm.....I'll defer to the F-350 Power Stroke 6.7L HO on Ford's website. The HO 6.7L is rated for 1,200 lb-ft, says right on their site. If the 10R140 were 140 * 10nm, that's about 1,032 lb-ft....see the issue? Clearly it's in lb-ft, IF it even means that (which I'm not entirely convinced it has anything to do with input torque anyway).

For now, lets assume the 10R60 is 60 * 10 lb-ft, so 600 lb-ft just for the sake of argument. That's with an expected severe service life of 200,000 miles (severe service is worst case) which previously was listed at 150,000 miles for most vehicles in the user manuals maintenance (now has increased a bit) so long as the input torque doesn't exceed that rating. So yah, it will hold pending there's no assembly / mfg. defect.

What's the point of all this? Durability and performance. The torque at WOT is barely any more than stock, RPM has an outsized effect on power (torque pulses per minute), so small torque increases at higher RPM matter WAY MORE in terms of making power than large increases at low RPM and that's where the 3.0L truly lives at, WOT, high RPM. The larger turbo's and higher flow induction system cater to making power rather than low end torque like the 2.3L or 2.7L, which are more work / daily driver-oriented designs. The 3.0L is about performance and durability under sustained high RPM.

The 10R60 transmission isn't going to see much of a difference between the Pro Cal and stock cal since the output torque is within ~25 to ~30 lb-ft of each other in the power band and that's not even counting all the torque limiting and RPM sync that goes on between shifts. I really do not see a reason other than not maintaining your vehicle or using fuel below 91 RON that you would have any meaningful effect on longevity between a stock cal and pro cal, at least with the 10R60.

Maybe the Pro Cal could shorten the life of the turbo's a bit as your running more boost, which pushes them further out of the efficiency window (higher heat), but there not a lot of added boost, only a couple PSI, most of the power is coming through more aggressive timing from the higher base octane threshold. If you run into issues, it probably would have occurred bone stock too.

Based on all of the study I have done on ECU calibrations, what makes them reliable vs. unreliable, safety margines etc. I do not see a significant enough of a difference between the Pro Cal and stock Cal to expect a significant degradation in service life pending maintenance and good driving habits during warm-up, all of which I apply to my daily drivers too.

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