Looks nice Russ! I almost put one of these on my F150.

Tundras have been coming with these from the factory since '07.

 

Yeah my uncles 2014 GMC has it also, not a huge selling point for me but it is kinda cool. With the step in the gate its just a little heavier then a non step gate.

So i'll be packing up the truck tomorrow afternoon and taking of for Fairbanks, AK. It's a work/stay-cation type of trip. I'll make the drive up Thursday night..if i leave my house by 5:30pm i SHOULD make it there by Midnight or so. Up north they had some nasty freezing rain today so the highway could be a bit slick. I've never made this drive in the dark or in the winter so it will be a little different then i'm used to. I'll be making sales calls all Friday then heading out to the Chena Hotsprings resort about 60 miles out of Fairbanks and spending the weekend out there. Temps are supposed to be around 5-8F for High temps and -5 for Low temps.

I'm excited to get a 1,000 mile road trip under her belt!

Since i drove my Excursion today the F-150 sat outside, well it rained then froze up so she's thawing out in the garage now.

 

Enjoy the trip. A 1,000 miles in an F150 is easy!

 

$2.46 per gallon here in Round Rock, Texas

 

Alright, well she made it to Fairbanks and back without issue. Gave me great MPG and handled the ice/snow very well. Going up i got 16 MPG, running around FBX and out to Chena i got 14.6 and coming home i got 16.8 MPG...AND that was running in AWD and 4x4 High most of the 370 miles.

Headed out about 7 PM on Thursday night. Had the back loaded with things that could not freeze and the rest in the cab. 4 adults and all their crap and safety/arctic gear!




Stopped at Healy,AK for a pee break.



Made it to the Hotel at 1:30 AM and I had to be up at 7 AM the next morning. So we get out of the truck and it was 5F which was a pretty different contrast from the 32F in Anchorage. Anyhow up the next day to make sales calls for work.




First stop was my guy at the Ford dealer..then a bunch of other running around.



Had lunch at the hotel before making one last meeting out in North Pole, AK






Then we headed out to Chena Hot Springs Resort. After getting there i met up with the owner who is a family friend and he invited us on a trip up a mountain in a track vehicle to watch the Northern lights...it was AMAZING! I've never seen the northern lights that clear or bright...dancing all across the sky and changing colors.









Saturday we headed back into Fairbanks for lunch..ate at a Mexican place we have here...not very adventurous i know...lol Damn speed limited though! need a tuner.






We then went back to the resort and spent most of the evening in the Hot Springs with the outside temp around -5F, its pretty amazing..your hair freezes really quick!!
Then Sunday we got up and stopped in Fairbanks for food then headed home.







Ran into a snow storm this side of Denali..the most snow i've seen all season.





Few Vids

 

double post

 

Looks like a good time. Nice pictures

 

I browsed through this thread and there is some great info and pictures! I too have an '11 F150 Limited with 26K miles. My first truck and I absolutely love driving it! Every single option is available on this truck. Although, I wish it had front sensors.

So far I have replaced the front grille with another Ford OEM one. The original grille was so chipped and the white pearl was peeling off. Funny thing is, there is not one scratch on any of the front of the truck other than the grille. Poorly painted part I guess. I'm afraid the new one will do the same thing eventually, but we will see. Windows are tinted and it has a spray in bed liner.

I also want to put a retrax bed cover on. There are a few models to choose from I think, any suggestions?

I'm also due for tires soon. This is a daily driver and in Oklahoma, it is driven in dry conditions 95% of the time, but I can't help but like the aggressive tire look. I was considering the Cooper Zeon LTZ or a basic street tire, Nitto 420S.

 

The Re-Trax bed cover looks nice. It wouldn't work for me because it takes up some bed space. I have the Bacflip cover.

 

I'm on the fence about Cooper Zeon's (which i have on another truck and LOVE) or Nitto all terrains or Hankook dynapro's. I wanted to move up to a 305/45 22 and the coopers only come in 305/40. Come spring i'll make the choice.

It looks as though Retrax has a few different models to offer now. Mine is the poly version and is going on 11 years old. It works awesome in all weather conditions. The canister does take a bit of bed space but not a ton. The versatility of it makes it the perfect fit for me. It can easily be removed if i need the extra space for whatever reason.

 

Finally got a little bit of real snow...not much only 2-4" but it gave me a chance to see how the F-150 handled in the slick. After turning the TC off i'm pretty happy with it. I can get it sideways without to much hassle from the RSC.

Hearing all the horror stories about blown rear windows when using the rear defroster i'm a bit gun shy to use it...it worked great though when i tried it for the first time today.

 

Looks like a nice trip. Where did you get your splash guards?

 

Man look at all that winter .....it's been in the 80's here in Phoenix. ....can't wait till we get some significant snow up in northern AZ we go up just for the heck of it

 

The splash guards are Husky brand and i bought directly from Husky as i'm a dealer for them through my work.

This isn't much of a winter wonderland for us, we should have MUCH more snow then this by now..25+ inches of snow pack by now is normal. This year has been really odd...

 

I like to idea of going to the snow much better than the snow coming to me. If I could only get my wife to move some place warm. As a stop gap solution we'll be spending 4 weeks in a warmer place this winter.