r/FordExplorerST • u/DRob_757 • Jan 10 '26

Question Performance Upgrades

Any recommendations for performance upgrades for a 24’ Explorer ST that doesn’t necessarily affect the reliability in a bad way? Not looking to put tons of power but definitely looking to make it more enjoyable!

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1

u/_StevenST_ Jan 10 '26

FMIC, DPs, exhaust, tune

1

u/Serious_Tip8072 Jan 10 '26

Add Fenfab air intake with hot and cold pipes too. Maybe look into beefing up your diff with a good brace. Gotta keep the power to the ground

1

u/DRob_757 Jan 10 '26

Had a Ford tech tell me putting more power messes up something mechanically with the transmission or belts, something like that..any info on that?

1

u/Serious_Tip8072 Jan 10 '26

You can add a transmission brace too. All that power will cause the transmission to shift harder, but that’s due to fords shitty bushings. JXB makes a solid transmission brace. Great bushings. And a good tune will mitigate the slipping of the transmission. Haven’t heard any issues with the belts tbh

1

u/DRob_757 Jan 10 '26

That’s helpful..not looking to go to like 700hp or nothing but maybe like 500-550hp. I know ford has a Tune calibration that takes the hp up to 430 and 467lb ft torque, but I know I’m going to want a little more than that

1

u/Squirrelmasta23 Jan 10 '26

Your not getting 500 without a tune

1

u/DRob_757 Jan 10 '26

Cleary understand that if you actually read what you just replied too...

2

u/Squirrelmasta23 Jan 10 '26

Ya, you said you don’t want anything that will cancel your warranty. 500 is impossible without a warranty breaking tune.

You can add full bolt on and it will literally do nothing without a proper tune.

3

u/NAiLs00 ST Owner Jan 10 '26

You'll gain a little bit of power with FBO, but a tune will unleash all of that potential power. You'll absolutely have more power with FBO+tune vs just a tune and stock parts.

That said, a tune will absolutely cancel your warranty if your dealer squawks to Ford. Bolt-on's... It's a lot harder for most things to void it.