Going to pick up the new ride in the next couple days! F150 King Ranch Eco with just about everything possible on it. What's the bug shield of choice with these new fords? I know they don't really serve much good for keep bugs off the windshield i'm just looking for front hood protection and the ease of cleaning behind it! What to also install mud flaps and was wondering Husky or Weathertech?
Thanks and appreciate the help!

 

went shopping for these 1st week of ownership too. Had a chrome one on my '06 and it was well contoured and looked good, but on the 2011 they all stuck out and looked "added on". Talked myself out of it... white truck looks better without and shield doesn't really do anything for bugs anyway. Good luck.

 

Hood protection? I think no bug shield would serve best in that case. I saw a lot of paint damage from bug shields: clips rubbing and stuff collecting underneath.
What purpose do they really serve, I never owned one, but only hear bad reports and see bad evidence.
I don't know, but hood protection and easy of cleaning are not the strong points of these things from what I have seen & heard.

 

A bug sheild will definately prevent stone chips.

 

In my experience with bug shields it's always been a tradeoff. They may prevent a few chips but they usually rub the paint of the edges of the hood in a few spots. I always had bug shields on my old trucks but on my 06 and 11 I went without. I don't care for how they look on new trucks so I'll risk a few chips. I don't have any yet.

 

Mine came with one as well as the window vents on all four doors. I agree that they are about worthless for keeping bugs off the windshield. I recently took a 250 mile round trip and my windshield was riddled with bugs by the time I got back to the house. Down here, in the summertime the window vents do come in handy. I'm not high on the way they look, but unless you have remote start in the summer to cool it down, they will allow venting of the hot air on 100+ degree days and if it does happen to rain, you don't have to worry about getting rainwater in the cab. The difference can be 10-15 degrees inside on a hot day. My truck is white for a reason. I've driven white vehicles for 25 years because of where I live, in the south where you can fry eggs on concrete in the summer.

It's too late to take the bug shield off. If there is damage, the damage is already done. I do know that on my last four vehicles without, by the time I traded them off the front of the hoods on all of them were pit-marked from running the highways and backroads. More than a bug shield, I'd be looking for a bumper guard for the front end. That's my next addition when I find one I like. I'm not sure if it will be a full grill guard or more like a brush guard. The down side to them would be fitting the darn thing into the garage once installed. The Screw is snug enough without.

Maybe I need to clean out the garage???

 

You have many hot 100+ deg F days with rain?
Here, if it rains, it will be cool. Just saying ....