No rush for this, just wondering out loud

[Randy-IA]

We have an 02 Dodge 2500 that we put slightly oversized tires on which put the speedometer off by about 2.5 mph according to my two GPS units used.

I have a 04 Exp 4-wheel drive that I'm wondering how the addition of over oversized tires bothers all the computers. The truck has advancetrak(sp) which I assume also includes that infuriating traction control system.

As a side rant...
As a person that is still used to using the foot feed to control the vehicle, my blood pressure rises when that dad-burned traction management system shuts off engine power and applies the brakes when I need the tire speed the most! Pressing the delicate little button to shut it off shows that it turns off but nothing changes. So stuck I get on wet grass in the hay field. And that's in straight 4H.

Anyway, this question is about the speed sensors not my rant on the traction control. How is the engine management systems reprogrammed for larger tires and can it be done without sending half a weeks wages home with a dealer mechanic?

 

[OverlandExpy]

Bumping this post, planning on putting big ol' tires on my '04 eventually and would like to know a cheap method too. Anyone know if you can do it via one of those scanner tools? Was considering buying one of those "universal" ones that works on multiple brands, but not sure it'll be worth the expense

 

[Randy-IA]

All I can say about a scanner tool is that I have an Actron Autoscanner Plus CP9680. Not sophisticated enough to work inside the computers other than to read and erase codes. It has graphing and codes for many makes and such but no reprogramming capabilities. The most expensive Autoscanner they make in a handheld is nearly $400 but it only includes more foreign vehicle tests and still no programming abilities from what I can tell.

It seems that a laptop style analyzer will be required. I don't have a laptop so that's out of my area of knowledge. That's not to say their aren't other companies that make hand helds that won't do reprogramming however.

I think the cheapest way is to buy a tuning kit or chip. I haven't looked at them myself for this truck; with 230K on the meter I don't think it has much life left in it so it's not worth risking adding more stress with more horsepower which I would likely do.

 

[David E]

Hi Randy,
As of my last checkup I can tell that FORScan is a viable option to changing tire sizes as long as you have the right mod information.
You can always get a Chinese versions of FORD VCM adapter (there are many). Many had reported success with those using IDS. VXDIAG has a software version of it (VCXNANO)
All that said these two solutions can be highly risky if you don't know what you doing and possibly brick your module. There are dedicated forums where many have prior experience and are happy to help.
FORScan would run you around $50 with a really good adapter.
VCX NANO will run around $100 and long delivery date.
Good Luck

 

[Randy-IA]

Hi Randy,
As of my last checkup I can tell that FORScan is a viable option to changing tire sizes as long as you have the right mod information.
You can always get a Chinese versions of FORD VCM adapter (there are many). Many had reported success with those using IDS. VXDIAG has a software version of it (VCXNANO)
All that said these two solutions can be highly risky if you don't know what you doing and possibly brick your module. There are dedicated forums where many have prior experience and are happy to help.
FORScan would run you around $50 with a really good adapter.
VCX NANO will run around $100 and long delivery date.
Good Luck

Just wondering if you spoke standard American English?

The only part I understood was - "Good Luck". Hahahaha

I certainly am not computer savvy enough to risk intrusion into my trucks ECM's. I'd pay the higher price for a preprogrammed unit or 'chip' if it came right down to it.

Regardless, at least this brings up options that others may be interested in that have more interest in changing the pre-programmed tire sizes and much more. Thanks!

 

[David E]

Hey Randy.
Sorry about the confusion. In order to change the tire size properly there is a need for the right software (FORScan, IDS) and the right Hardware (VCXNANO, OBD R/W capable), one that is able to communicate back and forward with the ability to modify some data on the vehicle Modules. With Advancetrac its quite a must since the system is so embedded in many parts of the car and this data is relevant in the way it calculates the response when emergency happens.
I dont believe nor I have yet to see any product on the marked that is a plug and play "chip" since one have to modify data in the relevant modules.
If any -- a good way to go at it with no messing around is to find a dealership and pay the time it takes them to reprogram the right modules to the right tire size. With the dealership level computer that should not take more than an hourly rate. I hope that helps.
Good luck (and i hope you understood more than that this time.)

Unfortunately it seems like the Expy community is not as big as others (the f-150 especially) on mods and tweaks in that level so information is hard to find.

 

[Randy-IA]

Teaching a grumpy old dog like me new tricks isn't easy!

 

[Broncoholic]

As a side rant...
As a person that is still used to using the foot feed to control the vehicle, my blood pressure rises when that dad-burned traction management system shuts off engine power and applies the brakes when I need the tire speed the most! Pressing the delicate little button to shut it off shows that it turns off but nothing changes. So stuck I get on wet grass in the hay field. And that's in straight 4H.

Years ago I read in the manual that you have to hold the button for 5 or 10 seconds to fully deactivate all features of the traction control. Pushing the button only deactivates part of it, and I can't remember which part.

Anyway, this question is about the speed sensors not my rant on the traction control. How is the engine management systems reprogrammed for larger tires and can it be done without sending half a weeks wages home with a dealer mechanic?

For my 03, I bought a used Hypertech 42000 Max Energy off ebay in 2019 for $160 to correct my speedo for 315/70R17's and added the tune for premium gas since that's what I run. I don't notice a difference in performance, but I didn't expect to either. I'm just happy to have my speedo and miles correct and maybe get a little something from the premium gas.

 

[Randy-IA]

Years ago I read in the manual that you have to hold the button for 5 or 10 seconds to fully deactivate all features of the traction control. Pushing the button only deactivates part of it, and I can't remember which part.

I read that too, it didn't seem to work, but the truck is 16 years old or older. I know I don't work the way I did 16 years ago....

 

[Broncoholic]

I read that too, it didn't seem to work, but the truck is 16 years old or older. I know I don't work the way I did 16 years ago....

Interesting. It made a difference on mine (years ago). I'll have to take her offroad and try it again.

I'll say this, with the lift and tires, when the roads are wet, it wants to slip the inside tire easily in turns and traction control kicks in limiting power. Not a good feeling when you're turning across oncoming traffic. I started switching to AWD now; instead of limiting power, it kicks in the front end drive and pulls through the turn. I've actually gone wide open throttle, full power, 4-wheel drift understeer through a wet turn. It wasn't until I got too sideways and had to steer back that traction control kicked in. Long story long, you can use AWD to avoid the power reduced traction control (in my experience).

 

[Randy-IA]

I might try that.

Totally agree with the turning across traffic part and losing power...who would think that's a good thing? Engineers sometimes don't really think things 'as through' as they think they do.

Yesterday I went around the loop in my drive and before I got to it I switched off the traction control. Nailed it around the bend and Iwas able to maintain a good 'drift' all the way around by feathering the foot feed. No loss of power in two wheel drive in snow. I could feel the traction control working very slightly though, but not enough to cause problems.

We're getting more snow right now so tomorrow I'll do some 'spearamintin'. I live 2 miles off paved roads so playing on the gravel roads doesn't upset the people who aren't really here anyway. Only thing I have to worry about is the unexpected happening with the traction control system; there are really deep ditch's along the roads out here (6' +) for snow storage. If the system kicks in or out at a time when I need control on my own it might be a long walk home to get the tractor. On a good day I can walk about 100 yards so wish me luck!

 

[Jose A Herrera]

Look for a programmer device that let's you modify those settings or go to a tuner. I'm running mine on 35 tires and 20 x 10 wheels speedometer is a lil off but I'm OK with it. Plus not sure what the previous owner did but the AdvanceTrac is off and stays off. That might be something you might wanna look in to. Mine also came with a button to turn it off/on but not sure what they did that it is always off. Here's a pic of my 04 xlt lifted with a leveling kit only. The rest all tire gain. 35s all- terrain

 

[Jose A Herrera]

It does drift nice on wet roads, lucky I have some experience on that but not on this one just worried I don't flip it someday since it's so high

 

[Randy-IA]

Thanks everyone for all the advice. But this old gal has too many miles to do anything drastic to it. Both front body mounts are rusted pretty bad, 230,000 on meter, a quart of oil every 1500 miles, ,,,,it's just not worth it. Besides, I'm too old to play like that anymore. Not because i don't want to too, but because I can't.

On the other hand I have Dodge 2500 tall boy that has already got a good bit of height, solid axles, 4 wheel disks, and a grumpy nasty 360 gas eater. It too has a lot of problems but it goes where I point it more often than not. No traction control other than a factory limited slip. It works good too. It's a pain driving it on icy roads but i was busting 4 foot drifts a couple years ago in a blizzard. At least up until I got within about a mile of my acreage when I could not see anything but a wall of blowing snow. It turned out to be a drift taller than the hood on my truck. Sudden stop but stayed out of the ditch. About an hour later snow choked out the engine by filling the fender wells with packed in snow.

That truck has some good insulation in it or something. But I also had plenty of blankets, water, and food and was ready to camp out. I called the county engineers office after the sun came up to let them give the maintainer operators a heads up if they decided to come through with a drift buster. I was getting cozy under a wool blanket and was just about asleep (I work late nights so I got stuck at around 4 am). About 8 am the blizzard was still in full swing. I was just falling asleep when I was rudely woke up by someone pounding on my drivers window and trying to open the door. It was the county engineer himself. He brought his own pickup to get me and give me a ride to my place just down the road but by an alternate route.

Later in the day when the blizzard finally fizzled out the neighbor who's place I was near showed up at my house with his 9foot 3PH snowblower on his tractor. I loaded a fresh battery and some tools and we pulled it out from under a pile of snow. This is what I found.



It was like ice. It was near 10 degrees to and the wind was still blowing. But I got under it and dug out the packed in snow, put the fresh battery in, and she fired right up. Overall it was pretty fun.