One Year Update
After ordering and waiting 100 days, the truck showed up and thoughts of my 2000 F-350 7.3 quickly dimmed after a few weeks with the new truck.
I ordered almost all of the options and left off the adaptive cruise which I am not missing. Hardly use the regular cruise. Use the truck to pull a fifth wheel, haul ATVs and haul water a few times a week.
The truck settles about 1 or 2 inches with 2500 pounds of water in the box. The attachment points in the truck work great if you need to switch the use of the truck quickly. My Andersen hitch works great in the bed with no issues. There is a mat in the box on top of the spray in liner to keep the water tank in place. My tonno cover is the Extang Express. The cover is thicker that most I have checked and the best part is the clamps sit inside the rail and do not stick out like the other brands. Worth checking out IMO.
The tires are perfect for my use. Very long stone driveway and they do not pick up many rocks and throw them. Great on the roads and even worked ok in the snow last winter.
Added rear LED light hooked to switch 6 hot all the time so I can light campsite or ATV loading with truck off. Also added the three factory LED lights under the tailgate.
My dealer, Friendly
in Geneva NY added the DPF% gauge when they did the transmission line update. It is a interesting data point when traveling. I do not notice a drop in MPG during regen. Went in for my first service and they did great. Always did my own service with the 7.3 but decided to go to the dealer with this truck. With a $10 coupon they did oil, 15-40 Motorcraft oil and filter, rotated the tires and torqued them to 165 pound feet and filled the DEF fluid along with brake check. It was $94. I thought that was fair. Engine still sounds just like it did with the factory oil. I am at around 15 MPG average and have been keeping track using the Fuelly on line app.
I am a extremely picky when dealing with trucks and I have not found anything wrong with this truck. The audio sync 3 system is great, seats are comfortable even with my bad back, and the truck is just fun to drive. The 48 gal fuel tank means hardly any fueling with the camper attached
There is no comparison to the 7.3. This truck is very quick for being 8000 pounds. The exhaust brake and tow haul work so well it is hard to believe when driving in the mountains. Hardly use the brakes, even when there is no trailer attached. There are so many features I am not hitting many of them like the ladder in the tailgate. Pulling a camper is so easy with this truck.
Bottom line is I think this is a great truck and am very glad I purchased it.
Also I would like to thank the Forum and members for all of the info over the past year and a half. This forum made it possible to show up at the dealer last year with all the code numbers and prices for my truck order. The dealer had to dig to find the info I had from the site. I am still working with the dealer to get new door stickers that were incorrect during Aug 16 builds.
Sorry for the ramble, hope this helps the guys getting ready to purchase
I ordered my truck in May 2016 and received October 4, 2016. The truck is approaching 15,000 miles on it now and has been used to tow last fall (tractors and mowing equipment weighing 10k+) and through the winter (snowmobiles) and so far all this year (mowing and landscaping equipment again). I did not follow the 1,000 mile break-in advice but rather starting towing the day after I drove it home with about 30 miles on it.
Problems:
-Driver's PowerScope mirror failed to fold on one of the few times I used it. Dealer replaced under warranty.
-Fake wood media bin sliding door would not stay open from day I took delivery. Dealer replaced under warranty.
-Transmission cooler lines leaked a very tiny amount (coated with oil but no drips). Dealer replaced bracket to solve problem as part of the recall campaign.
-3 out of 4 valve stems on the forged aluminum rims of my dually leaked air. One leaked 20 psi per night; others were slow leaks. Leaks were due to corrosion forming where steel valve stem touched aluminum rim, causing the seal to leak. Tire shop repaired the worst leaker ($25) and dealer replaced one valve stem (the other is still on backorder and I'm still having to pump it up every couple of weeks after it loses 20psi). The inner steel wheels have never leaked.
-Dealer has performed the first two oil changes. In both cases, the oil filter leaked. Not sure if it is a dealer problem or if the filters themselves were prone to leak.
Lifetime fuel economy: 13.7mpg for 1st 10,000 miles and currently at 13.3mpg for almost half of the next 10k miles. (Trip 2 mpg resets itself after 10k on these new trucks). I have the 3.55 axle instead of the more common 4.10 on the dually. Best mpg on a trip is 21.1mpg for a 300 mile trip, empty with just me in the cab on mostly 55mph roads.
Favorite features: The LED headlights and panoramic sunroof. These new headlights are satisfyingly bright, the auto high-beam control works well, overall having all exterior lighting rendered in LED is very modern and bright. As for the sunroof, some folks report leaks or other problems...but mine has never leaked. I actually open it frequently but it really brightens up the inside of the cabin and makes it feel larger and more airy. The shade seems to block out the heat just fine, but I live in NH where it does not get as hot as, say, Texas. Driving around at night is spectacular.
Things about the truck that I really like:
-The limited slip rear-end works much better than I expected. All my previous trucks have had the selectable locker, which I would have preferred, but this is not available on the dually. However, the limited slip is automatic and seems to work pretty well.
-The interior is extremely quiet; even quieter than the previous generation which was a quiet truck. This makes for very relaxing long drives.
-The 48 gallon tank is awesome. If I was able to maintain my 21mpg best ever average, that would give me 1,000 miles of range.
-The gen-2 tailgate step works well and completely hides away.
-The exterior courtesy lighting is excellent. The tailgate spotlight makes hooking up a trailer at night effortless. The twin puddle lamps under each mirror are very bright and light the entire running board area. The fact that you can switch on the roof-level and cargo box level LED lights from in the bed is great.
-The power is very good.
Complaints or improvements:
-The seats are OK, but simply not as comfortable to me as the previous generation. The old seats had a longer seat base and were wider and thicker. As a tall fellow (6'5") these seats are merely OK.
-The audio system cannot be turned above half-way (15) on a bass-heavy song without experiencing soft-clipping. The previous generation had a better sounding stereo.
-The Ford spray-in bed liner seems to wear very well but is much more slippery than a premium quality liner such as a Line-X.
-Fuel and DEF consumption seem to be higher with this version of the 6.7L.
-The remote electric tailgate release can be accidentally opened too easily and result in damage to the tailgate. I've had the plastic tailgate trim damaged twice from the tailgate opening when the remote is in my pocket.
-The *rear* heated seats are much more effective than the front heated seats. The cooled seats are all but useless.
Overall, though, this is my favorite truck ever. It seems the power actually increased after 10k miles. Ford has done a good job making the interior seem convincingly luxurious with many luxury features such as illuminated front and rear reading lamp switches, the 8" instrument cluster screen, the classy ambient lighting, and features like front and rear heated seats, heated wheel, etc.









