SixGun

I've had three White Ford trucks with the same problem, but what I found out was that it not rail dust, it's brake dust! It's a by-product of the cheap metal brake pads that come with the truck. You don't see them (spots)on darker models. The reason I know it is not rail dust is because my truck was never on a train. The best thing you can do when you buy a brand new truck is to change the pads as soon as you can. If you can't do that, then you need to wash your truck regularly and keep the dust to a minimum. As stated before, you will have to buff the truck with a clay compound, or you can do it by hand if you're a strong willed person. Gil

Did you know that the U-joints in a 2004 F150 cannot be replaced? Check it out. You have to replace the whole driveshaft. I had a U-joint fail on the rear end of my driveshaft and the dealer could not figure out how to replace the U-joint. After 4 different U-joints to include a Ford part they decided it was impossible to do. Oh, they didn't have a press in the shop, can you believe it? They dropped my driveshaft on the floor twice. They finally replaced it the driveshaft with one off of a new 2007. They had my truck for a week. Apparently my driveshaft U-joints pucks were secured by some kind of pressed in clips from the factory. When you look at it you'll see what I'm talking about. If you’re familiar with changing U-joints it'll jump right out at you. The new 2007 drive shaft had clips like you'd find on any U-joint since you were a kid, not what were on my original. I guess it was some cost saving Idea someone from management came up with. I can't see how a drive shaft replacement could save money over a U-joint replacement. Any thoughts?

Anyone that has a serious vibration should have it checked out. However, before you get to far into suspension and new tires, try having your tires trued. Tire truing was very common years ago and there are still two alignment shops here in Clarksville, TN that do it. It's about $7.50 -$10.00 per tire. For those of you who have never heard of this, they spin the tire on the vehicle and shave the tire with a device similar to a lathe. When they're complete the tires are perfectly round and balanced. The manufacturing process of car tires has risen to a level of quality that in most cases would never require truing. However, large tires still can suffer in manufacturing and be slightly out of round. That in combination with flat spotting in a cold morning can make for a bouncy ride. If you suffer from uneven wear patterns due to poor alignment and failure to rotate, this process can also help you. Once a wear pattern is established there is nothing you can do to change it short of truing. Once you've trued the cupped tire it's new all over (minus tread wear.) If you have large oversized tires from lifting your truck this is almost essential! I guarantee you’ll love it when you get it back!

I was going off the brochoure on the Ford website on available colors. I'd still like to see a black interior on a Lariat before I buy one. I still don't like the headlights on the lower bezel though. Maybe some aftermarket SEMA folks will jump on it soon. The chevy colorado has them and it looks awful. Outside of that I love this truck!

I love the new truck. The engine noise has really been dampened out of the cockpit. Lots of power. However, when it got up to operating temperature it started smoking out of the back. When I got back to the stealer and turned it in I opened the door and smoke was bellowing out from underneath it. It may have been some oil on an exhaust pipe or something but if someone was going there to purchase that truck they would have lost the sale. When I stepped on the fuel and let off I heard some kind of thumping under the hood in the lower exhaust or transmission area, weird. The interior is awesome as usual, very roomy and the seats are very comfortable. I don't like that the seat heaters have only one setting...off and burn your butt. I'm not ready to buy until they have a solid black or grey interior. I have a black interior on my 2004 F150 and I love it. I had a grey interior on my 2001 SuperDuty, loved it too. Tan I can't live with, I know they have a black/grey in FX4 but not Lariat and that's what I want. I also don't know what that smoke was all about but I will be looking here to see if anyone else sees it.

Does anyone know when Ford plans to unleash to new SuperDuty ads? If it takes any longer they may as well buy some Super Bowl time and do it there. Just curious, but I can't find anything on it. I drove by my local dealer here in Clarksville, TN and they still had not received any trucks. It's still pretty amazing at the number of potential buyers that don't know that a new model is coming! Does it have anything to do with the inventories of the 2007's? I didn't think about that until I drove by the Ford lot and saw that the dealer just aquired about 15 new 2007's.

I'm considering getting a slide-in truck camper and have decided that the GVWR of a F350 will just not do it. Couple of questions; 1. Are the F450/550 made on the same line as the 250/350? 2. Can a truck bed be purchased from Ford to go on a F450/550? 3. About how much would a bed cost? I know quite a few companies do the conversion but it can't be that difficult to do. Greg

That is one ugly front end. It looks just like the GM trucks. It looks like I better get an 07' before the change then wait for the grill change in 09' after low sales. The F650 looks better than that thing!