With all the postings here and elsewhere about the vibration problems in the drivetrain, it is not at all surprising that the F150 took a major hit from CR. They did make specific reference to F150 drivetrain problems in the text of the article, and I'm sure this is what they were referring to. I think the real question is whether Ford will resolve this one major problem in an otherwise excellent vehicle.

 

You ever wonder who owns CR ?

 

And the next question is who regulates them. Who's to stop them from trashing one manuf??

People think because they don't take advertizing dollars that automaticly makes them honest.. Well thats crap..

The bottom line is the buck....

Now if one magazine only took money from one manuf to advertise then I would say you couldn't trust them. The reverse is true. All mags want as much advertizing dollars as they can get from as many manuf's as they can get. The almighty buck keeps them honest. If one mag continually trashed one manuf's product how long do you think they would keep advertising with them? If they didn't try to run honest tests their advertising dollars would dry up faster than a drop of water on hot pavement..

J.D. Powers, CR and PowerBoat test reports all fall into this special honest group because they don't take avertising dollars...yeah right..

 

Imagine hooking a chain up from the back of your F150 to a Titan and each pulling the other.Who is going forward?I say bring it on!FORD ALL THE WAY!

 

Wonder how many serious truck buyers actually rely on that piece of garbage.

 

I think some of the mixed reviews has to do with which f150 they tested. I know the XLT I had rode like a dream but my Fx4 rides rough. Im sure the Lariets ride very very good. Also, some of our F150's have some major glitches while others have wonderful troublefree ones.

 

I think that you receive better feedback, from a greater cross-section of users, on here than you do in one magazine that reviewed one truck.

 

The only difference between driving/ride of XLT and Lariat is the what the steering wheel material feels like.That is all I can tell.Some of the Lariat's with Good Year AT/S's LT tires actually have more of a firm ride than XLT's.Just my opinion.Good luck!

 

All Consumer Reports has to do is do a simple search on the web for "F150 vibration problems" or have some significant percentage of their respondents identify vibration problems not fixed for 2004 trucks.

It's obvious to anybody who does a little searching that Ford dropped the ball, and dropped it BIG TIME with the driveline problems. Those kinds of things simply should not happen, period, end of story. I can see a little paint flaking off, or maybe some small wiring problems here and there.

But driveshafts, differentials, and ring gears have been around for a VERY long time. Pretty basic stuff really. Align stuff right, machine it right, mount it right, and it won't vibrate. How much more basic can it get?

Since Consumer Reports doesn't receive advertising dollars from the manufacturers, what would their "political motivation" be exactly?

 

My FX4 rides like a dream and I have not really had any issues to speak of.

 

The same can be said for any other vehicle.Look on their forums and you'll find problems. Using a forum for their research would be a pretty inaccurate( and lazy ) way to obtain data, many, many people w/o problems DON'T visit forums. Practically every part of the vehicle has been around for a VERY long time.Example: Subaru WRX. Do a search on manual transmission problems. The manual trans.: as basic as it gets, yet a LOT of problems w/ them.Plus Subaru has not been honaring their warranty on them.

 

Well that makes sense. The FX4 does have different spring rates, as well as stiffer shocks. Thats the reason why I bought my FX4, and not an XLT.

 

The FX4's ride quality good. However I like a smoother ride because I ride a lot of off road and country roads. That is my preference only. I think the FX4 rides better then a lot of trucks on the roads today. I think I just forgot to elaborate on what I posted. It definately handles much better then the XLT I had.

 

Why Consumer Reports dislikes the 2004 Ford F-150 is not understandable. Like someone mentioned earlier, they give it all these "solid red excellent checkmarks", and then end it by not recommending the truck ? I have a 2004 Lariat, and just plain love the truck. It's the best riding truck I have ever sat in. A while back, I bought a vacum cleaner that CR said was a " best buy". I had to take that flimsy , worthless thing to the repair shop three times the first six months we owned it. My wife hated it...we threw it out with the trash!! Just who are these people that roadtest their cars? What are their qualifacations to judge a vehicle? Most of them probably wouldn't know a clutch pack from a six pack !! In conclusion, I've decided that CR is doing us all a big favor. If everyone found out what a fine truck Ford was making, the price would be sure to climb. Thank You CR...keep up the good work!!!!!

 

I heard on the radio as I came home today that Consumer Reports has just released their latest reliability ratings for cars. The rated the Hyundai Sonata at the most reliable vehicle and the Lincoln the least reliable. They also said the most reliable car line was made by Subaru. Somehow, that doesn't make me want to put a Hyundai on my shopping list (I guess that may be because old stupid me bought a Lincoln to go with my F150 and Escape).