2020 Trail Boss new owner help

[TWyatt]

So my wife found a 2020 Trail Boss 5.3 and decided "we" should buy it without me knowing it, and is driving it home today. It was the father's of a friend of hers that she visited over the weekend out of state, and she's driving it back today. It's the 5.3, and has about 37,000 miles on it. I currently own a 2008 Z71 5.3 with 195k miles on it and have had zero issues with it, and it has been an excellent vehicle. I did put the Range AFM disabler in it though at 50k because of the known issues.
I know absolutely zero about the newer trucks, and was wondering what you guys could share that I might need or want to know. The first thing I did when I found out she "we" were buying it was go looking for a way to disable the AFM/DFM whatever it's called now, and it looks like the only real option is the Pulsar LT. I searched on here and read quite a bit last night, and it looked like there were mixed reviews, some issues, and didn't see much about it in the past year or so on here. Do you guys recommend it? Are there other options to disable it without a full delete? Do I even need to disable it?
Any other tips, suggestions, recommendations, etc that I might want to know about? Coming from an '08 it's going to be quite a change, and probably take me a week just to figure out how to use all of the dashboard features and buttons.
Thanks in advance for any helpful input

 

[Gangly]

One thing it has that your 2008 might not have is the AUTO function in 4WD. Other than that, the TB is a Z71 with 2" longer shocks and slightly longer CV's.

Hopefully you love your wife A LOT, I'd be searching for a new one if "we" ever bought a truck in that manner, lol.

 

[TWyatt]

Lol, it wasn't completely unknown to me, and she said she'd keep it if I didn't want it.
I need to know what I need to know about it. Namely the AFM/DFM situation. Do I need to sell this truck and run, is there a way to delete the AFM? You guys own them, what are your thoughts since owning them, and would you buy one again?

 

[Gangly]

No need to sell the truck and run. Less than 1% of the trucks had the issues and even then, 99% of them experience the issues within the first 5k miles. Having 35K miles, a bad lifter would have presented itself by this point, so drive with a smile and enjoy your truck.

There are many people who will tell you how well they maintain their vehicles, only to let their vehicles go thousands of miles past the oil service intervals, rarely changing oil filters, and generally cutting every corner possible. What I would do however, is an immediate oil change and start using a high quality oil and filter. Less than ideal service intervals have proven to be an issue with AFM/DFM systems so make sure you do your oil services in a timely manner. You never know how dedicated owners are with their vehicle service, regardless of what they say, so its better to be safe and swap out any fluids that should have already been services unless the prior owner has records of the services.

Also, if you are able/capable, climb under the vehicle and check for leaks, seeping greased fittings, etc. There shouldn't be any with only 35k miles, but you never know and you are right on the edge of full warranty so you might as well take a look and see if you find anything that the manufacturer needs to fix.

As far as DFM deactivation is concerned, the Range Pulsar product will work perfectly fine and should also allow you to deactivate your Auto Start/Stop function as well, but I could be mistaken on that.

 

[TWyatt]

Thank you! The truck still is under warranty for a little while longer, so I will definitely keep a close eye on everything. Oil change is #1 on the list of things to do. Do you recommend synthetic? I put Mobil 1 in my '08 every 3k miles ever since the first oil change off the lot. Every 3k might have been overkill, but zero issues with that truck.
The Pulsar looks like it addresses every single issue I'd have with the truck, I just keep reading mixed reviews on it, glitches, etc., but those were all from the only real thread on here I could find, which was in 2021. I wasn't sure if people were still happy with them, and Range has them on backorder, which made me wonder if it was from glitches, or they just happen to be on backorder.
My wife has checked in a couple times this morning as she's driving it home and said the Duratracs are loud as crap, but otherwise she's loving it. Are those tires notoriously loud, or is she just use to driving a car and not use to it

 

[scotman623]

I have the Pulsar on my 2020 TB and have had great luck with it!! Even adjusted for my larger size 35 inch tires.. yes those stock Duratracs are very loud as they wear, they actually drove me insane after about 30,000 miles on them.. I rotated them at every 5000 miles too…

 

[TWyatt]

LOL, good to know. They're apparently driving my wife crazy too. I thought she was being a little sarcastic but I could hear them over the phone.
Good to know about the Pulsar! Are any other changes recommended when installing the Pulsar?
Anyone know what the biggest tires are that I can fit under this truck as it comes from the factory without any rubbing?
I see a lot of mods on this site as I surf around, just trying to decipher what is "necessary" and what isn't.
Is the catch can necessary, did anyone change the oil pump to a standard pump vs high volume pump?
Sorry for all the questions, and I appreciate all the responses. Just trying to research whatever I can, the truck will be here in about 5hrs. and I'm excited to check it out.

 

[Gangly]

Mine Duratracs got so loud that I removed them with life still left on them. Synthetic oil is a must in my opinion, but a quality filter is just as important.