Originally Posted by KC8QVO

I picked up my truck Saturday morning and made it back home last night - about 1300 miles in two days.

Heres a neat picture from yesterday morning. I was somewhere between Little Rock, AR and Memphis, TN where I camped for the night.



The truck ran fine. The first 1-200 miles was stop and go in Texas (topping out at 70-75mph between stops, the roads out there are crazy). Once I hit the highway up through Dallas it was a lot smoother of a drive.

I put blue painters tape on the front to prevent rock chips. It worked pretty well. I will detail this later. However, if you ever try it make sure you layer the tape (along the hood) rear to front, overlapping a little bit. If you go front to rear the tape catches the wind.

More later.

Originally Posted by KC8QVO

OK, a little bit of an update here.

The long bed is going to take some time to get used to. I used to drive a 2005 dually with a 2 car goose neck trailer for work, but I rarely ever drove it around without the trailer. Having such a long truck every day and backing in to parking spots isn't as easy as my short bed 250 was. I'll get used to it. Give it a week and I'll be good! The range from the bigger fuel tank is great though. I can just about drive all day on a tank.

A couple of quarks I am curious about:

1. I have the bounce at 45mph that lots of other owners have reported. It isn't bad but I do notice it. I'm not real irritated by it, but it isn't something I would consider "normal" on a new truck.

Good luck on this one. Ford doesn't seem to want to admit there is an issue, no matter how limited it is.

2. The accelerator acts pretty goofy. Going from a stop to accelerating takes some pressure on the petal. Then once I have it down a little ways the engine kicks in and sets you back in the seat. The shifting between 1-3 or 4 is also a little on the stiff side. I don't know if this is a function of being such a new vehicle or if it is characteristic of the newer ones in general. My 2010 never did this, then again it wasn't "drive by wire" either.

I agree...the throttle response at low speed or when nearly stopping and then starting again is funky to day the least.

3. The rear end seems a bit "loose". When I am cruising down the highway and hit a bump in a turn it seems to wobble a bit. Also, if I rock the steering wheel side to side while going straight the rear end feels like it is turning too. I don't know if this is just a figure of the long wheel base truck or if it is something else. Again, these aren't big complaints - just observations that I have felt.

Yep...I believe some have added some caster to improve the feel.

I am sitting at about 19mpg right now. Cruizing at 70-75mph on the highway will net about 17.5. I don't drive that fast here in Ohio. My daily route is 55mph on state routes, max, with a bit of stop and go side street driving. I picked up from 17.5 on my trip to 19 just today by slowing down. I think these trucks get the best mileage closer to 45mph Who drives that slow?

The new gauge display is awesome. It will take me some time to really get the hang of it, but it sure does a lot.

The navigation system seems like it is different than my 2010 had. The basic layout of the system is the same but the map screen looks a bit different. The dealer also talked about the "sync my ride" feature online? I didn't have anything like that, that I was aware of, on my other one. Apparently the website is down right now and I can't access the site.

Sync my ride on these trucks is a joke...hopefully they'll add something worthwhile soon. With the new trucks getting a different nav system I hope they don't leave us out in the cold.

Originally Posted by KC8QVO

OK, a little bit of an update here.

The long bed is going to take some time to get used to. I used to drive a 2005 dually with a 2 car goose neck trailer for work, but I rarely ever drove it around without the trailer. Having such a long truck every day and backing in to parking spots isn't as easy as my short bed 250 was. I'll get used to it. Give it a week and I'll be good! The range from the bigger fuel tank is great though. I can just about drive all day on a tank.

A couple of quarks I am curious about:

1. I have the bounce at 45mph that lots of other owners have reported. It isn't bad but I do notice it. I'm not real irritated by it, but it isn't something I would consider "normal" on a new truck.

Sorry to hear this. Hopefully things will improve a bit when you get some more miles on it.

2. The accelerator acts pretty goofy. Going from a stop to accelerating takes some pressure on the petal. Then once I have it down a little ways the engine kicks in and sets you back in the seat. The shifting between 1-3 or 4 is also a little on the stiff side. I don't know if this is a function of being such a new vehicle or if it is characteristic of the newer ones in general. My 2010 never did this, then again it wasn't "drive by wire" either.

I am seeing the same thing as well, usually when it is just starting to warm up. As for the shifting, for the first 1,000 miles, everything was okay. Since then, I started getting a rough 1/2, 2/3 shift and a clunky 4/5 shift. The lower gear shift goes away after the tranny temps goes above 140, but the 4/5 is always there.

3. The rear end seems a bit "loose". When I am cruising down the highway and hit a bump in a turn it seems to wobble a bit. Also, if I rock the steering wheel side to side while going straight the rear end feels like it is turning too. I don't know if this is just a figure of the long wheel base truck or if it is something else. Again, these aren't big complaints - just observations that I have felt.

For my truck (short bed), I will tend to hop a little over uneven highway roads when the truck is unloaded. Once I have any weight back there (over 100 lbs.), it is like it rides on rails. I do get a hop or better described as a sideways shift when I hit something when turning at low speeds.

I am sitting at about 19mpg right now. Cruizing at 70-75mph on the highway will net about 17.5. I don't drive that fast here in Ohio. My daily route is 55mph on state routes, max, with a bit of stop and go side street driving. I picked up from 17.5 on my trip to 19 just today by slowing down. I think these trucks get the best mileage closer to 45mph Who drives that slow?

I have been tracking my mileage pretty closely. With passenger loads only (all seats occupied), at 75 mph I will get 18.3, at 70 I get 18.5, at 65 I get 19.3 and at 55, I get 19.9. I agree at 45, it does seem to be over 20.

The new gauge display is awesome. It will take me some time to really get the hang of it, but it sure does a lot.

There are a lot of features in there. And some are hidden. I didn't know that there was a DTE calculator for normal driving and another for towing. I even read the manual! It is a lot to absorb, but it will come along...

The navigation system seems like it is different than my 2010 had. The basic layout of the system is the same but the map screen looks a bit different. The dealer also talked about the "sync my ride" feature online? I didn't have anything like that, that I was aware of, on my other one. Apparently the website is down right now and I can't access the site.

First, my verdict is out on the Nav. There is another thread floating around here that talks about the Nav and some of things that are a bit different on it over a unit like a Garmin. You will want to register on www.syncmyride.com and check it out. I agree with Bigg that the Sync package on this truck is watered down over what a full Sync installation is like on the other Fords. The nav was designed to pick up most of the Sync functions. I never really liked Sync, even in it's full function form. But things like the the Vehicle Health Report is nice.

Another side note - I was passing through KY and had my second fill up along I-65. While I was in line at the register I ran in to a gentlemen that builds the super duties. I didn't have a chance to sit and talk with him much but that was a neat addition to my trek. I wonder if he put mine together?

Originally Posted by KC8QVO

2. The accelerator acts pretty goofy. Going from a stop to accelerating takes some pressure on the petal. Then once I have it down a little ways the engine kicks in and sets you back in the seat.