Upgrading rear differential??

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17limited

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I have a 17 Limited 2wd with 315 gears, no limited slip. If I were to change to 373 with a locker or LS differential, could Ford simply program the truck to recognize the change or would I have to go with a tuner and void the warranty? I pull a couple different boats in the Ozark mountains and so far havent had any issues with the 4500 lb boat but havent yet hooked up to the 8k lb boat.

Truck is stock down to paper air filter, 29k miles
 

ExplorerTom

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4wd? If so you’d need to also do the front.

But yes, should be a simple matter of someone (maybe a dealership would do it) reprogramming it.
 

Dr0idattack

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I'm curious if this is possible. I have a 2013 with the tow package but it doesn't have the towing rear-end (I guess Ford did that for awhile in Expeditions). It tows ok but I'd like it to have more grunt with a trailer.
 

HawkX66

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Yes, it's an easy reprogram. You can even do it yourself with Forscan. Like mentioned earlier, if you have 4wd you'll need to do both front and rear. You can't just do the rear.
 

Plati

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This has come up before. The general consensus seemed to be "buy it that way to begin with instead of changing". Unless you are a **** bang mechanic who can make this change in 45 minutes.

If there is such a thing as general consensus on a Forum.
 

HawkX66

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Nothing wrong with changing gears. Guys do it all the time for one reason or another. It is not the type of thing the average DIYer does though. You need to know how to set backlash, preload and have a few special tools.
 
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17limited

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I wouldnt swap the gear set out myself but have a local shop that has changed a dozen or so sets out for me in mustangs over the years . Very competent guys but I'm wanting to know all the details needed to do it right besides just the mechanical part. Not trying to void any warranty going with a custom tune just yet
 

HawkX66

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I wouldnt swap the gear set out myself but have a local shop that has changed a dozen or so sets out for me in mustangs over the years . Very competent guys but I'm wanting to know all the details needed to do it right besides just the mechanical part. Not trying to void any warranty going with a custom tune just yet
No tune necessary. It's an easy setting change using Forscan.
 

Cyclone

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My 2015 XLT has an open diff. I was hoping to add a E-Locker. I called my brother who is a Ford Parts Mgr. He told me that there are a ton of parts involved in the E-Locker and to pretty much forget that idea. He did say that going to a Limited Slip diff was pretty straight forward.

I brought this up to my Mechanic buddy who pretty much said that replacing the diff isn't that easy and its going to cost even if it wasn't changing out to a LS.
 
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