AFM Disabler Question

[GN2018]

Thinking about getting a Range AFM disabler.  The question I have is, will it matter.  Will it help to keep the top of the engine from a catastrophic failure.  Or, is the equipment in the engine that allows for AFM, like the lifters, basically flawed and prone to failure due to being engineered to support AFM.

 

Along those lines, I’m also wondering if it would be prudent to have some of the engine components swapped out in order to prevent a catastrophic failure.  My thinking is that even though an equipment swap would be expensive, it would be less expensive than a catastrophic failure which would have collateral damage.

 

Or, should I just ride out my extended warranty (two more years) and trade in my truck?

[CamGTP]

I tuned mine out nearly 7 years ago, all of the parts are still in the engine and haven't been activated since. Sure the parts are still there but the likelyhood of a failure is way less because the system is turned off. I bet my truck could go another 7 years without much of a worry and I drive my truck kinda hard.

 

Doing a delete with hard parts and tuning is very expensive on the 2019+ trucks. The work is the same if you replaced the DoD parts or if you removed them and installed different parts. So that labor is going to be the same. The added cost of tuning kinda makes it not worth it. Buying a new used engine or new short block might even be cheaper to be honest with how high labor rates have gone at some places.

[Bikerjon]

On 9/13/2025 at 10:06 PM, GN2018 said:

Thinking about getting a Range AFM disabler.  The question I have is, will it matter.  Will it help to keep the top of the engine from a catastrophic failure.  Or, is the equipment in the engine that allows for AFM, like the lifters, basically flawed and prone to failure due to being engineered to support AFM.

 

Along those lines, I’m also wondering if it would be prudent to have some of the engine components swapped out in order to prevent a catastrophic failure.  My thinking is that even though an equipment swap would be expensive, it would be less expensive than a catastrophic failure which would have collateral damage.

 

Or, should I just ride out my extended warranty (two more years) and trade in my truck?

I have used the Range Technologies DFM disabler on 3 T1s. 2021 and 2023 with 5.3 and 2025 w/6.2. They all worked perfectly. There are some people who think if you have the collapsible lifters that they will fail regardless but i don't believe that. I have been a Master Technician for over 35 years. My advice to you is get the Range disabler and don't worry about the lifters. By the way this also disables auto stop/start which most people hate.

[BlueV8]

I’d be careful about treating any AFM/DFM disabler as a lifter-failure guarantee. It can change cylinder-deactivation behavior, but it is not a mechanical repair and it does not remove the collapsible lifters from the engine.

The other big thing is year/platform. A 2021 truck, a 2023 truck, and a 2025 truck should not automatically be grouped together for plug-in fitment. Exact year, engine, transmission, and refresh status matter.