Well it's been way too long since have posted to this thread.
I am now closing in on the first anniversary of this truck (12/23/12).
Overall I am still happy with my purchase. I have had few problems
and nothing major as yet (knock on wood) and I will be taking it in
for 15000 mile service soon.
In another thread recently I wrote about the tailgate salso
I aslo mentioned how I would like to see running boards the rwheel wellheelwheel wellheelwell as a factory option. If they are available
on other makes I don't know but I think it would be nice to have them
on my Ford.
I have yet to see any real progress in makingin-dashf the indash display
for the driver or being able to use the nav screen to display useful information
about vehicle conditions or monitoring performance.
Ford is working on developing apps for the platform, but I think all they need to do is
develop an app that would port video from your smartphone to the nav screen and
combined with audio routed to the sound system in the vehicle you could then run
any app on your smartphone. safety features could be built in to prevent their use
when the vehicle is in motion, etc.
but being able to display the Torque android app on the nav screen would be nice.
Being able to have Google Maps display on my nav screen with satellite imagery
in place of the NavTec maps would be nice.
Of the four 12v power points in the cab none are configured or can be reconfigured
to be switched on/off with the ignition. It would be nice to have one that worked this way.
I use a docking station for my smartphone and as soon as I plug the phonturnsit turns on BT (if off),
tunrs off WiFi (if on), turns on GPS (if off), sets volumes to a level predetermined by me, and limits
the apps that can be accessed while moving so no texting, etc. To be able to leave this docking station
plugged in when I get out of the truck and have it power back up when I start the truck would be nice.
There is a power point in the center console which would be a good choice. On crew cabs and super cabs
there is a power point for the rear passengers, this might be a good choice too because if you had kids with
something plugged in back there it would be turned off with the vehicle so no worries about a drained battery.
The OIC (operators information center) in underutilized in my opinion. There is a whole blank screen that you
can't add anything to. My guess is this is for future but will the future ever come?
My MPG is still holding up. Overall since mile 1 I am at 18.2. This includes about 1600 miles towing various loads,
but nothing really heavy. I think my heaviest load was ~10K including the trailer weight which was the dump trailer
with 3 ton of of 3/4" stone. My other trailers when loaded have been under 9k. When not pulling a trailer I average
18 highwaysback and forth to work. There are no hiways for me to/from work, its all county roads and about 5 miles on
a state highway with a 50 mph speed limit, the back roads are mostly 45 or 50 mph. In my ~20 one way trip I hit a
couple traffic lights and half dozen stop signs, so I never get to make a leg that is more than a couple miles without
stopping except for that 5 miles on the state road.
As far as shakes and rattles I have not had any so far. No accessory has failed or malfunctioned and I have almost
all of them on this rig.
I got a TPS low pressure warning this summer but that was because the dork at the dealer never adjusted the tire
pressure when the rotated the tires on the last service visit.
What would I do different if I had it to do over?
Even though I do not want an even longer truck I would probably get a crew cab. That would add about 20 inches overall
to the length of the truck with the same bed length. I have no trouble driving a vehicle that long, I drove many a straight
truck working for a lumber yard and other places years ago. so that's not the issue. The extended cab or super cab whatever
you want to call it has little leg room for rear passengers unless they are under 12 years old. Now iaccommodate year I have only
had to use the read seat once to accomodate a third passenger so its not really an issue for me as I have other vehicles to
choose if its more than two people on the trip. I end up using the rear more for storage of gear. It would be nice if there was
an option or third party solution that woucompartmentalizedve that rear seat and turn the whole area into a compartmentized
storage space that you could lock up and kedisappointedut of sight. I wouldn't need a bed box then.
I also am disapointed that in my truck (remember extended cab not crew cab) there is no light in the ceiling or anywhere in
the rear. The only lights are those in the overhead up from by the mirror and they put zero light in the back so if its dark
and you are looking for something back there you better have a flashlight with you because those high back bucket seats block
almost all the light from up front. There are many aftermarket solution to this but I shouldn't need one. With a $58k list price
I should have a light in the back.
The drivers seat belt retractor could use a little more tension as it does not retract fully and leaves the belt hanging. Actually
the placement and orientation of the upper seat belt bracket or guide could be better. The angle seems a little off so when the
belt retracts it always tries to feed back in at an angle which causes it to fold over on itself and then jam. Easy to clear by pulling
on the belt and releasing but again something I should not have to do.
I don't know its just my truck but the side windows do not make contact with the outside weather seal at the bottom of the wiand.
So when there is some condensation or frost on the outside of the window and I try to remove it by cycling the windoww down and
back up nothing happens because the seal does not squeege the window so to speak. I think on every other vehicle I have owned I
have been able to do this. I don't see anything wrong or mispositioned with the seal but it does not contact the window.
So I also wonder what is happening when it rains? Is water running down inside my door in stead of being shed by the seal? If there
is no contact between the window and the seal I would think that water must be getting in there. This could create maIt'sproblems
with the electric windows, door locks, and corrosion of the door itself. ITs something I intend to bring up when I am at the dealers
next but I doubt I will get a solution or acceptable answer to the problem.
Now after having written all this you probably think I am whining about little things that don't really matter. but I am just trying
to point out things I think could be better. Its little things like this that make the overall owner expierence good or bad.
Some of them are design issues and some are build quality issues, but in the end they all contribute to the owners impression
which relates directly to repeat purchases.
And if some of the text in this post is mangled up, blame the forum auto-save function which is a PITA when writing a long post. I think
the only way to avoide the problem is to author in another program like word then cut and paste over here. I wish I had the option
to turn that 'feature' off in my profile.
I am tired of going back and fixing them so you'll have ot live with the mess created by the software.
