looking to get a tune

the truck in question is my buddy's 2000 2wd 2.5l automatic with an edge rear end. it is a street truck and while i know its not going to go fast without forced induction or a v8 (while they would be nice) for the time being i would like to see if i can get a little more oomph out of it with a tune and im wondering if there are any reputable tuners for the ranger out there who can tune the ranger by reading datalogs in combination with a SCT Xcalibrator2 or Xcalibrator3 and wideband A/F gauge as an analog input. for the tune it would be nice to up the trans fluid PSI, if thats even possible in a ranger, to make firmer shifts. a raised or completely turned off speed governor would be wonderful. and the ability to raise or lower the shifting rpms depending on where i figure out that its best to shift. all of these things are possible with a ford focus, which i have and have tuned by this method with very much success. i dont know hardly anything about the ranger which is why im asking so many questions. im planning on surprising him with it by quite literally stealing his truck for a day and bringing it back done.

just out of pure curiosity what are the gears in an edge rear end and in a stock 2000 2wd rear end? are the edges 4.10's? it seems like its geared a little lower since we did that. it might be my imagination (wouldnt be the first time) but im just curious. also are there any decent cold air intakes available for this engine. ive had trouble finding any for the 2.5L. are there any headers available for it that are any good? and what size exhaust is best to run on the 2.5L N/A? are there cams available for it? if there are then what would be the most aggressive cam we could put in and use on a daily driven basis on a stock head. meaning stock springs, valves, and port and not have to worry about wearing out the valvetrain prematurely. also wondering about minispools to basically make it a locking rear end. are these a good idea? if not then what would be a better idea? are the stock injectors 19lb/hr?

okay i know thats a shit ton of questions but im curious about all of them. as fun, reliable, and useful as his truck has been im pretty likely to lay hands on one myself and when i do there is no way in hell it will stay stock for more than a week if even that long.

so we have all these guys extensively modifying their trucks but running on the stock tune that is more than likely making their trucks run dangerously lean instead of getting them tuned? ive found this forum extremely helpful the few times ive been on it. i cant believe im getting left in the dark on this one.

thanks for all the help, i guess ill have the guy who tuned my focus do the tuning on the ranger even though he may or may not know his way around the ranger very well. either that or im just going to have to find another ranger forum...

i refuse to accept that the ranger station is going to let me down. surely somebody here can point me in the right direction?

Ok as for a tune you can use any of the SCTs their the shit... Your gears depends on wat all the donor had in it if i was to guess i would say 355 but that is just a guess check the tag and use the tech library... Your injectors are not 19lb that is the upgrade for that truck which with more fuel you need more air so i would suggest porting the upper and lower intake mani and a CAI... on the cold air you can order one from AEM or another dealer or just find a cheap one off ebay and buy a K&N filter... The tuner you choose should calibrate for your injector upgrade and CAI.... The injectors you can get out of just about any mustang 4.6 and they will work any more questions shoot.

right right, i knew i could use the SCT devices for a tune but do you have any preferred tuners for the 2.5? by tuners i mean people who view the datalogs and use that to make a tune.
the rear end came out of a 2004 edge if that helps at all. ill check the library.
AEM does not make an intake for the 2.5L, only for the 4.0L as does every other intake manufacturer. to my knowledge K&N is the only company that makes a CAI for the 2.5L and there are no cheap ebay brand intakes for the 2.5L. i just found out K&N has intakes for it this morning.
the injectors were grey tops and they said 19 on them if i remember correctly. they were the same in the old motor with a bad head we pulled out and in the new motor we put in. are those not 19lb injectors? we figured since they were both the same and to our knowledge they had never been changed that those were the stock size injectors. what is the stock injector size then?
are there any headers available for the 2.5L that are any good?
and what size exhaust is best to run on the 2.5L N/A?
are there cams available for it? if there are then what would be the most aggressive cam we could put in and use on a daily driven basis on a stock head. meaning stock springs, valves, and port and not have to worry about wearing out the valvetrain prematurely.
also wondering about minispools to basically make it a locking rear end. are these a good idea? if not then what would be a better idea?

With a mini spool you would wear tires if you do alot of cornering not goo for DD... the cam I do not know really dont mess with 2.5s that much but as far as how big a 488 lift is wat ive heard stock everything will hold... As for a tuner check out Jess over on Turbo ford he pretty much knows his stuff and can write you tunes... the 19 pound injectors to my knowledge are yellow so this i would call the dealer and they can tell you... The CAI i would piece one together which isnt hard to do... On your exhaust i would go any bigger than 2 1/2 as that seems to be everyones preference... On the rear end you will need to know the motor size and stuff like that to figure it out if you dont have the tag on the rear... The 2.5 should have a factory header on it cause it stock exhaust mani is the upgrade to the 2.3 cast ones...

Hey man, what the hell you doing in a Ranger forum? ....reads siggy......Ah nevermind lol. I have never seen anyone here post about tuning, even with a blower.

Turborangerforum is where the tuning happens and jess is pretty good at wat he does... And he is a SCT dealer

mini274 said:

With a mini spool you would wear tires if you do alot of cornering not goo for DD... the cam I do not know really dont mess with 2.5s that much but as far as how big a 488 lift is wat ive heard stock everything will hold... As for a tuner check out Jess over on Turbo ford he pretty much knows his stuff and can write you tunes... the 19 pound injectors to my knowledge are yellow so this i would call the dealer and they can tell you... The CAI i would piece one together which isnt hard to do... On your exhaust i would go any bigger than 2 1/2 as that seems to be everyones preference... On the rear end you will need to know the motor size and stuff like that to figure it out if you dont have the tag on the rear... The 2.5 should have a factory header on it cause it stock exhaust mani is the upgrade to the 2.3 cast ones...

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thanks a ton for that info. already tried to piece together a CAI and it is falling apart. wanted to get one more or less in one piece so we wont have to fool with it anymore. what are some good limited slips for a daily driver?

disciplerocks said:

Hey man, what the hell you doing in a Ranger forum? ....reads siggy......Ah nevermind lol. I have never seen anyone here post about tuning, even with a blower.

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hey! ive been found out i guess lol

mini274 said:

Turborangerforum is where the tuning happens and jess is pretty good at wat he does... And he is a SCT dealer

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thanks a ton. this is what i wanted to know more than anything else. i would still like to find a cam for it.

with all the tuning these guys are steering you in the right direction. jess on turborangerforums is very experienced. For the rear end just look at the tags on the axles and figure out what gearing each axle is...

as for a good limited slip.... the setup in the newer fx4 rangers seems to be the best. probably shoulda tried to figure some of these questions out before buying a new axle.

Also i don't know why you're going to spend so much money on such an unerpowered motor. without forced induction you're just wasting money on this motor. go for a turbo or a 4.0 swap if you want to see any major gains. otherwise look at spending a whole lot of money to get much juice out of a 2.3/2.5. either way... have fun!

If its an 8.8 just make sure their a 28 spline axle (which it should be coming out of a ranger) but other than that your good on every 8.8 out their and your best bet would be to find a used one and rebuild it cause new ones are pricey as thats wat im looking for for my 150... when rebuilding ive heard of people putting 9 clutches on each side instead of the factory 8 says it makes a lot better grab and they dont wear out as quick...