I'm going to order a F150 but I want to wait as long as possible so that some of the known issues can be corrected at the assembly line. How can I know when they're corrected there?

Also, will they wait to do the corrections on the 2005's or immediately?

Please try not to speculate but if anyone has direct knowledge it would be appreciated. You can also send me a private message if you want to remain anonymous.

 

I am one that has had to have a buy back from Ford on an Expedition. I ordered an F150 in Jan and I am still waiting. I get butterflies to the point where I almost call and cancel my order.

The thing to remember, and has been pointed out is that the vast number of these trucks don't have issues. The steering wheel nibble was because of a steering gear box, the parts been corrected. The shudder was from Clutch pack issues, they have a fix, so it should be updated on the line. The vibration stuff, just request you test drive the vehicle for a few days before you sign on the dotted line to make sure it doesn't have any of the issues noted. If it does, walk away from it. Most likely, it won't.

They crank out 1100 crew cabs a day from the KC plant alone, if everyone of them had all these issues, they would most certainly stop production until it was corrected as they did with the DVD system when they discovered problems. Just restarted producing them this week with DVD, orders held since December.

If you want one, order it, just check it out good with the knowledge you have learned from this forum.

 

Mine was built March 10 (description in signature). I have ZERO problems, but with only 850 miles. No vibrations, no nibbles, no rear end hopping on sharp slow turns or whatever the problem was, no limp home mode, no windshield distortion, NOTHING. It's absolutely perfect and a great joy to drive. (knock on wood...hoping it doesn't fall to pieces tomorrow ) I got a little worried too, but I thought to myself..."Screw this...I'm not going to let other people's problems ruin my fun. I'm ordering it and if there's a problem, it will be fixed" That's easy for me to say if I have no problems, but good grief...how long are people supposed to wait for something they want because a small fraction out of several thousand trucks have problems? Order it and don't worry about it. I worry about other people scaring others into doing or not doing something unecessarily. Don't assume you're going to have a piece of sh** before you even own it just because others claims theirs is.

 

Ok, confidence beginning to build........

One thing lariatf150, do you have a vibration dampening kit built into your frame that you can see?

 

I'll have to look under there. If I recall, it's a goofy looking metal box or something?...on the driver's side?

And by the way, I do feel for those that DO have problems and can't get them fixed. That would frustrate me to no end.

 

Yes, it supposed to be installed on the rear frame on the driver's side. It's a metal box with a rubber coated ball in it or something like that.

 

Ok, I'll try to remember to look for that after work. Will let you know.

 

But are all the trucks getting that vibration damper box. or just certain ones made in a certain period ?

In all the testing they did with this truck, surely they didn't start the production line with a bunch of vibrating trucks ?

 

I too feel for the ones that have trucks with issues, it really ****es you off to pay 30-40k for a truck and not have it right.

Just stating that that probably isn't the norm but an exception. I had one of those 03 Expedition exceptions, but they bought it back and I came out great.

 

I looked up and down the frame rails on each side in the rear half of the truck. There's nothing like that on my truck

 

I'm glad you got a good one. Thanks for looking.

 

Most of those problems, like the vibration dampener, etc. are taken care of through service bulletins (TSB's, SSM's, etc) after the owner experiences the problem. This is done at the dealer level while under warranty, and not necessarily on the assembly line. If the problem happens after your warranty has expired, it is likely you will have to pay for the fix.

The best thing would be to hear from someone actually working at the plant, or on any assembly line "fixes". Then we would know exactly what is being done about the problems.

 

From a Kansas City assembly plant worker:

"Known problems are fixed immedietly on the line. We have engineers, suppliers, etc there all the time to get things fixed properly."

It's much easier to fix it before it gets to you (assuming it's something easily detectable before it leaves the plant), rather than giving you the truck and then having you take it back to the dealer upset about it.

 

I have a few friends that work in the KC and Norfolk plants and they said that most of the problems that they encountered during startup of the new truck have been fixed. They are concentrating on fixing little items now. One of the guys said that the launch of this new truck is much better than the launch of the old one back in 96.

Thank God for progress.

 

If you go to a TSB source such as ALLDATA, you'll find TSB's that carry over to new year models. For example on my other Ford there is a problem with an oil leak at the turbocharger. The TSB exists from 1999 to 2003. My dealer just got a couple of new Screws in that were built 3 weeks ago. I saw no vibration dampener installed on them. Also, what Ford considers a "fix" on the assembly line" isn't always a real "fix". The plagued 6.0 PSD is a prime example.