Frank,
As you mentioned warranty, my biases are based on my corporate leadership role at an automotive OEM. I am an engineer focused on outcomes/business—and am not a mechanic, but consult with the extremely bright members on my team quite often unfortunately.
ETHICS: I believe it is dishonest at best to swap back to stock evidence of tuning/transmission shift point alterations/bigger tires. Why? Because we readily catch folks who try to swap back to OEM and pretend nothing was changed/modified.
1. It creates a tremendous perception of stark dishonesty (similar to folks who have legitimate back injuries/pain, yet have to fight to get care due the perception of those who scam the system). The easier wrong is far worse than the harder right. I can only speak from my experience—we catch the swap backs—and the urban myth that a lawsuit wins is sorely misrepresented.
2. You bought a used truck that had 37” vs OEM tire sizes. That does change gearing and puts significantly increased pressure on internals—especially if in conjunction with tuning for power, and of course—rough use and shoddy maintenance. NOTE: I have larger tires on my Jeep, but regeared the diff to get as close to ideal as possible. That said, if my transmission blows—that is not on my warranty.
3. Technology to catch mods, use patterns, etc., is improving faster than one may realize—as the OEMs will save money (and more readily identify improvements). The ability to catch liars has improved significantly—which I can see when I look at year over year, and past roles. If someone didn’t think an aftermarket mod could have caused damage—why did they swap back to stock, or why didn’t they go after the aftermarket parts company?
4. Interesting enough—when I have spoken with multiple large dealerships (new & CPO) and parts manufacturers, enough have said they are more likely to give someone help/a break—if they don’t try to game the system. I have seen it enough to consider it a fact.
5. One of my far sharper team colleagues led a seminar on the aftermarket (and I love the aftermarket). There are tremendous aftermarket companies with great warranties, infrastructure, and reputation for not trying to push the customer off onto an OEM for problems. There are also aftermarket companies that I wouldn’t urinate on if they were on fire.
NOTE: A decent number of outstanding aftermarket companies become preferred/sole vendors for OEMs which is a tremendous financial/reputation incentive for them to have good business practices. Some of the brightest engineers at my company came from the aftermarket—and have skill sets that are world class.
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That said, now time to fix your transmission.
I agree with
@FordTechOne as he is spot on—with a few additional thoughts—in general (not all inclusive by any means).
1. Cost Factor & Duration: Your wallet, your use of the vehicle, how long do you plan to keep, stock vs. modded, importance of warranty, etc. If I were going back to stock tire size and wanted to keep the truck for many years/miles—the cost of new is amortized over time (if it is affordable to you).
2. Competence of technician: repair/rebuild shop is only as good as the expertise of the lowest denominator—the guy who rebuilds your transmission. I have seen the difference between excellent and poor. The extreme examples of shoddy stick out, but again—that is my bias as I cringe when I see shoddy (worn parts reused which accelerate wear on new components/poor assembly).
3. Consistency/Warranty: If the transmission is heavily damaged, I’d go with new or factory remanufactured if possible. The warranty may be better in some cases. Going back to stock is important.
4. Mods: If you want the big tires/lift, tuning, etc., I’d go with rebuilt as that is least expensive and say damn the torpedos in terms of warranty. PLEASE NOTE: I have no knowledge when it comes to regearing front & rear diffs on a Raptor. Someone else may know better.
5. Warranty on transmission: Whether new, remanufactured, rebuilt—you ought receive a warranty of some sort. Read it with a fine toothed comb, and if it isn’t clear—get written clarification (in the event things go south). The downside of some fly by night operations—is they fly by night and have 5 different owners in 3 years (yes I have seen that and far worse).
Overall, you have to be honest with yourself. You make the payments—not me, nor anyone on this forum. Wishing you the best of success!
