Failures caused by:
(4) any part designated for "off-road only" that is not installed by the manufacturer, including, but not limited to, lift kits, oversized tires,
Not to threadjack but just because there are non OEM parts within the drive train, north or south of the problem, ONLY represents a data point to a vehicle inspection, NOT evidence. The problem here is that the analysis ended at “you have 37’s. F*ck you and your warranty”.
That’s not quite what is supposed to happen. All due respect to
@FordTechOne, I have some court room experience, unfortunately, in this regard and disagree with his assessment as it was typed. The presence of larger tires, while called out in the manual, is not cause for a warranty denial of ANY powertrain failure. Rather, it must be determined to a reasonable standard of confidence by a certified technician that the presence of the offending part:
1) is not coincidental to the failure
2) is causative or a leading contributing factor incident to the failure
3) there is not / are not OTHER contributing factors which may have led to the failure.
If ANY one of the above 3 points is missed, there is a legitimate legal claim of violation of the warranty terms of service. Even if the Tech declares the above 3 are true, you may well find an expert witness willing to dispute the claim. I was able to do this successfully, however the last tech to review my lemon law truck (not a Ford) did not agree or disagree with the corporate counsel. He was asked to find abuse and he wouldn’t say either way. My expert witness laid out a better case than the mfgr.
A good example would be 37’s and the cam phaser park failure. Is it really the position of anyone here that 37’s cause, contributed to or were even minimally involved in the ubiquitous cam phaser park issue? I mean, if 37’s are such a big deal, then clearly any truck with 37’s should have the entire powertrain warranty voided on the spot, rather than to conduct the cam phaser repair under warranty, AMIRIGHT?
Of course, that’s absurd. There was a known parts defect resulting in the failure. Even the presence of a tune on a truck pushing 550 rwhp - there is still a known parts defect on some early build trucks.
Here, the transmission failed, I would say catastrophically. In any drive train there is a weak link that acts as the fuse. What’s the evidence of other powertrain component damage? Where is the excessive wear on components? If the transmission was so compromised by 37’s, the u joints ought to be well and truly shagged.
Now, could there be additional drivetrain wear and stress induced by 37’s as opposed to the stock size tires? Yes. My point here is that it’s not a simplistic, binary issue that the presence of any aftermarket, non OEM part in the drive train isn’t an automatic ‘you have no warranty’ claim and anyone saying that is trying to F*ck you like a *****.
