Howdy to the FORD Team...........

I wish to make a few points:
1 - Most folks on this forum are BS & MS engineers or are in kind due to jobs, experience and self-study.

2 - Most folks on this forum are very Honest and Ethical people.

3 - The folks on this forum would rather hand machine a part rather than buy an "ok" part off the shelf.

With these statements in mind...........Understand, any answers short of what would be acceptable for a Ph.D dissertation in Engineering just is not going to be acceptable.

Straightforward, Honest and technically explicit answers are expected. As a matter of fact, we deserve no less! If you want to play lawyer and answer, "I can't answer that." Do so, at least that is honest.

Thank You for your attention.
Roy
USN (Retired)

 

I have a few questions...

1. Will the Super Duty ever have an appropriately sized Ecoboost V8 gas engine?

2. Will the Super Duty ever have a 4-link coil spring rear suspension like the RAM trucks?

3. Will the Super Duty ever be offered in the Excursion version?

Thanks!

 

First I want to say I have a 2011 and it has been a good outfit. With the exception that the truck has always felt a little lazy at the 50-80mph acceleration zone for passing, and struggled a bit. I would assume mostly due to the fact the current turbo is too small for elevation. I live at 6200ft and drive at higher elevation than that all the time. Also the main thing lacking has been a Exhaust Brake, which has been added now.

I drove a new '15 the other day and could instantly feel the improvement from the "new larger turbo". the lazy 50-80mph zone is gone, and the truck just felt more responsive and "dialed" for a lack of better term. Thanks You for that, I ended up ordering one.

#1 What is the Rated Braking HP for the exhaust brake?

#2 Will the exhaust brake "Hold" all the way to a stop or does it let go when a certain speed is reached? I do lots of towing down steep switch back roads most of which you can not go faster than 5-10 mph on with out risking running off the corner. I also spend a fair amount of time driving over Teton Pass, which is a very steep 2 lane HWY most of which is 10% grades.

#3 How well does the Exhaust Brake work at the lower speeds?

#4 Is the Exhaust Brake more functional in Tow/Haul mode, Manual or Auto? OR is the braking Force Equal in the 3 modes?

#5 How does it compare to the Ram and GM version?

#6 During the test drive I noticed the oil temp was consistently in the 200-205 degree range on the '15, where as my 2011 is almost always at 192 degrees. What was done to make the oil temp run higher?

#7 Why does the temp need to be that high in the first place?

#8 Would any detrimental effects come from adding a secondary cooler to bring the temps back down?

#9 Has the 45-50mph "hop" been addressed?
I have it on my '11. During the test drive I drove the '15 at that speed range for quite a while, did not notice it, but the '15 was a short bed and I ordered a long bed SRW.

#10 Was anything done to improve the high pressure fuel pump issues that several folks on here experienced?

Thank you guys for bringing the 15 out with the updates that "should help us at higher elevations. Looking forward to your answers as well as the new truck.

 

Oh also

#11 How much stronger, durable, is the new '15 turbo over the old 2011-2014 version.

I know there have been several failures with the old version. Have been told the new one is stronger but......

I also read that the "piston assemblies" where updated and made stronger.

#12 What is included in the term "piston assemblies"? Stronger rods, pistons, wrist pins, connecting rod bolts, what??

Again looking forward to your answers, David

 

Please read post #71.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/s...8&postcount=71

 

When using the sync hands free during a phone call on my 11 I don't think there is a way to hang up the phone from using the steering wheel controls. Only answer the phone. Kind of a pain having to reach for the nave screen to end the call or find my phone and hit the end button.

So on the '15 did Ford make a programming change to allow the answer button to also end the phone call?

Also did you keep the altitude, longitude and latitude on the nav screen in the info section as I have with my '11?

 

The bottom right button on the steering wheel with the phone symbol will disconnect a call. It's performance is inconsistent and if you hold the button too long, it will try to redial the last number that you called. There is definitely room for improvement!

 

The question quoted above (asked at the beginning of last week) was not answered or even acknowledged in the previous round of question answering.

Who better than the powertrain engineers to answer a question regarding the differences between turbo implementations on the 2015 F-450 Chassis Cab versus the 2015 F-450 pickup with any level of competence or accuracy? I suspect you folks already realize this, which is why you have advertised your temporary availability here, to answer these types of questions. When and if you side step them, then who do you expect us to turn to for accurate answers?

In your answers to other questions, you have often and repeatedly made reference to how you are "always listening to your customers." As a specific example, someone earlier asked if the "fully boxed (frame from competitive 3/4 and 1 ton pickups) is just a sales gimmick or are (there) scenarios where each (type of frame, open C channel and fully boxed) excels (excluding the upfitter argument made by Ford engineers over the year)." Your response was: "Our frames are designed to exceed the expectations of our customers." Really?

Are not WE "your customers"? Why do you then refer to us in third person? We are right here in front of you, resident inside your thread, exactly where you asked us to be. It is OK if you address us and our questions directly, unless your intent is to only refer to other customers besides us. And if you are, consider this: Any question or problem that your other customers may have with your products will no doubt at one point or another be searched on a computer, tablet, or smart phone... sometimes while stranded on the side of the road, sometimes while making a decision on a dealership lot. And for whatever reason, FTE is positioned very high in search engine optimization... so even if you don't consider us your real customers, your customers are still reading our experiences and expectations.

And our expectations can not help but be influenced by seeing multiple videos of Ford tailgates popping dents and bed to cab lines tweaked out of whack in Ford F-250/350 trucks, while competitive 2500/3500 trucks from both other brands scale across the same twist ditch apparatus with no damage. We wonder about that. So we ask you to help us look past that viral video marketing and consider the engineering principles. This was and still remains your opportunity, in this "Meet the Ford Engineering Team" context that you yourselves created, to step up to the plate and explain it to us. Instead, you deflect and demur with this line "Our frames are designed to exceed the expectations of our customers." What exactly are your customer's expectations? What if the cheese got moved? What if our expectations have now changed during the 15 years since the Super Duty was introduced? This would have been and yet remains a great opportunity for you to educate us about what expectations to have, from discussing ductility and modulus of elasticity, to advances in hydroforming that you may be poised to leverage in the near future. Anything seems better than your response, which is completely devoid of engagement with us, your customers.

In some of our posts that followed your last set of answers, I could sense an evaporation of enthusiasm for your participation. I felt the same disappointment. Even an FTE moderator chalked it up as "a tough crowd." I'm not so sure. I think we are softies. I think we are loyal Ford customers looking for any excuse or reason to continue to do business with your company. And your neutered answers aren't giving us one.

In part I can understand where you might be paralyzed from answering candidly by corporate constraints and the languishing of lawyers looming with letter by letter review overhead. But this paralysis borders upon paranoia when you think that some of us might be engineers "for the competition"... in a post that you subsequently edited, but not before I read it the first time, initially with the "rest assured, we know you are not", and subsequently with your deletion of the reference to competition altogether.

But really? Wouldn't it be easier for your competition to simply purchase one of your trucks and take it to their R&D facility? Much like Ford engineer Prabhaker Patil reportedly tooled around in and took apart the original Toyota Prius while developing the Escape Hybrid? As your customers, we don't have the resources to buy all the manufacturer's trucks just to check them out. We can only afford to buy what we need to use and rely upon.

That is why we initially seized upon your invitation to ask you questions. You got our attention by identifying yourselves as engineers, so it stands to reason that we would ask you a few engineering questions, and would likewise expect some engineering answers.

When I asked you if there was a minimum second unit body weight, or a payload weight, where the benefits of a frame dampener are cancelled / obviated, you answered with "The vehicle should always be maintained, operated and loaded per manufacturer specifications to ensure safety and intended performance." How is that answer helpful? How does that assist me in estimating expected ride vibration and harshness between an F-450 with a pickup bed with known empty bed weight and a dampener versus an F-450 chassis cab with no dampener and a second unit body weight which can vary substantially based on design and materials used and yet still meet within "manufacturer specifications"? Since nothing in the question intimated any intent to overload the chassis or deviate from factory recommendations, and in fact rather sought additional recommendations from you, the manufacturer, it is a puzzle why you wet blanketed the question with such a "Captain Obvious" obfuscation.

I expected more, only because you billed this Q&A as "a chance to ask the engineers", not a chance to have the sales brochure read aloud to us.

I think that is what a few other posters (ie your customers) picked up upon with their questions and your answers as well. If you say you are going to be here, then really be here, otherwise we feel tricked and manipulated, which brings about resentment and further alienation from your customers.

If you say you are always listening to your customers, then really listen and acknowledge what you heard. Some of us customers asked you about the rash of radiator failures in the '11 up Super Duties, and what you planned to do, if anything, about the radiator for the 2015 model. "No change", you said. Thanks for the honesty. Still, if you really "listened" to the customer, you would "hear" that this is a really big concern for us, even if it doesn't seem to be enough of a concern for you to make any changes to the current radiator. How do you then communicate that you really have heard our concern?

You might offer some more details as to how you arrived at the decision not to do anything, such as (hypothetically speaking) "we have reviewed warranty data on the 659,477 units with the 6.7 we have sold so far, and found among these only 369 radiator failures. We asked that a few of those radiators be sent back to us, and we determined that the root cause for the failure stemmed from beer bellied mechanics leaning over the engine compartment, which was a stress modality that our supplier's design didn't contemplate. We issued a broadcast service message recommending dealers acquire a top side creeper, Rotunda part number 55241." See? Even something made up, as I just now have, still conveys that the radiator concern the other posters articulated to you was at least contemplated and discussed by your company. Even if you said, "Gee, we had no idea our radiators were failing as much as you are just now telling us"... that would be much more convincing of your listening then some of the boiler plate "we're always listening" responses you have offered. By no means am I suggesting that you create fictional accounts of your actions or inaction... I am just trying to offer an example of how conveying a few specific details regarding your activities to address a concern might go a long way towards helping us believe that you actually ARE listening.

That all being said, thank you for answering the questions that you have answered thus far. As you enter into your last volley of answers this coming Friday, I hope that you consider some of these thoughts, which are intended to help you help us, as your customers, understand your products better.

For example, we don't get much understanding by your saying the F-450 crew cab dually pickup frame is different than the F-350 crew cab dually pickup frame, especially since in the past we have understood the wide frames between the cc duallys to be the same, with only other chassis component differences, such as brakes, axles, spring rates etc. But in your answer last week, you stated that the frames themselves (between the two dually pickups) are different. HOW, specifically, are the frames themselves different? (comparing wide frame to wide frame for the same drw 172" wb between 350 and 450). For $65,000 to $75,000, I'd like to know and appreciate some detail about what I'm paying for. I don't expect that kind of detail in a brochure, but I do expect the Ford chassis engineers to know.

Thanks for taking the time to listen to and answer our questions and concerns accordingly.

 

I 2nd, or 5th, 100th or whatever it is the disappointment with the "we always listen..." answers. A quick browse around the forum would have shown the level of expertise and fanaticism here and told you what to expect.

I'm not going to repeat all the mechanical questions that have been asked so far, but I am interested and still watching for real answers. I will, however, ask an aesthetics question(s) that should be an easy yes/no...

Do the 2015s still have SUPERDUTY plastered all over them? If so, will this ever be removed? I hate it. I know I bought a superduty and I am secure enough with myself to not need to remind everyone around me that I have a SUPER truck. There's your softball, hit it.

 

To the Ford Engineers:
we do appreciate the 'opportunity', but both sides need to go past opportunity to make it worthwhile...

I ask you to check the post count and join date on a few of these poster to see many have been here for a long time,
maybe some longer than you have been at Ford - they've 'been around the block'

So to not respond in kind IS troubling and indicative of the lawyer sitting over your shoulder syndrome that many have to work under...

that's too bad - as I just spent 15 minutes or so reading previous posts to see if my questions had already been asked...
you see, I've come to KNOW the sharp people in the forums... and know they think of the same things I would want to know...

oh, and because my planning is starting for my next purchase and guess where I'll go for my research ?
Back to other threads were real answers are posted....

I'll still ask my question - Does the Sync in the 15's work better than mine, is it a worthwhile option or should we delete on our order ?

 

... like it should, or is it a momentary contact switch like in the F-150?

Did any human interface experts look at the new momentary contact design and approve it? Did they think that not having fingertip feedback about the position of the stalk was OK?

 

If I understand correctly there have been improvements in the 6.7 Power Stroke resulting in a jump from 400hp to 440 and 850 lb/ft to 860, primarily to finer injector spray, correct? If this is true, then shouldn't the mileage improve slightly as well?

 

2015 Super Duty Engineers Q&A: Part 2 | Ford Trucks

Seriously? Are you guys honestly proud of those answers? Looking forward to tomorrow's round of answers.

 

Other than the 2" block I really love my f-250.
Any changes for us gasser's?
Thanks.

 

After working on my 6.0 truck again today I have a question.

Did you guys make up your mind if you are using metric or standard nuts and bolts yet? I had half of my tool box out just for a simple job. Is the 2015 also a mix of half standard and half (odd size) metric nuts and bolts, 1/10 torx, 1/8 hex, and 1/100 some odd thing no one has ever seen before?