road turtle
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Posts posted by road turtle
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I'd bet money it was a financial decision to go with 2.5" over 3". Somebody determined that very few customers "need" 3" receiver and it's lower cost too. Supplier capacity issues could also play into the decision.
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Just wait when the reality of off the development money pouring into electric vehicles back fires. With very few exceptions, company cutting top line revenue do not increase profit margins. In fact the usual ends up happening. Ford has pushed up the price of trucks so high, it's a struggle for most to even buy a new vehicle. Look at the sudden and substantial increase in Lightening pricing. once you get past early adopters, that market will fall drop like a rock. A good portion of SD market is to construction workers. As the housing market is collapsing, so will construction jobs.
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On 11/19/2022 at 9:00 PM, IUEC135ELEVATOR said:
When I use to travel across the US and around Canada for work (servicing and reparing buck hoists) I use to sleep in my truck for several hours quite often as I would not have the time to stay in a hotel while trying to get to a broken down unit. After the unit was fixed then I would get a hotel to clean up and rest before long drive back to NC. Then I drove 5000ish miles a month.
I HAD a need for good seats back then that would lay back. But now other than a random 15min doze off while wife is in store or something I never lay them back...
Don't see this being a big selling feature for the average Joe.
Or am I missing something?
Friend sleeps in his suburban while traveling the country. Interesting note, he has a luggage rack with LED flood lights on all 4 sides. In a rest area, somebody woke him up banging on the window. He flipped the switch, and daylight. Guy literally took off running. I'd love to set that up on my SD, but don't want additional height.
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Sorry for the late update!
Magnet was a most excellent idea, and my first attempt at finding the key, except it didn't work.
I emailed the mfg, and their suggestion was loosen all the bolts and slide the whole mechanism rearward and remove the front cover piece. BUT, after loosening all the bolts, I had to move a LOT of stuff in front of the hitch. After all the bolts were loose, and I had to move crap out of the way, what should I see, but my key! It never went into the canister!
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On 11/20/2022 at 7:32 PM, akirby said:
If I save $10k by never buying an extended warranty and have to make a $5k repair - who’s ahead?It is gambling and the odds are not in your favor. But just like Vegas sometimes you win. But in the long run it’s almost always cheaper to pay for your own repairs if possible,
I decided for the first time in my life to add an extended warranty, along with maintenance contract. Looking at the cost of oil changes on the 6.7L, the maintenance contract was almost a wash, and it gained me extra coverage on the warranty too.
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On 11/20/2022 at 4:04 PM, rottekatz1 said:
Hemi tic caused me to get rid of Ram.
An oil formulator believes he discovered the cause of the Hemi "tic". He believed the valves were not rotating and would get "stuck". By adding {I don't recall the additive) to the oil, it would prevent the tic. I actually started running T6 in the SRT Challenger. Oil analysis is showing good results.
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Hitch on the front is another option
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On 11/23/2022 at 11:07 AM, River Wild said:
At peak times during salmon season, you need to be on your "A" game as there are hundreds of boats launching and/or recovering. If you have to rely on the knob to back up, you're not ready. Most of our facilities are old and small for todays bigger trucks and boats and the sheer numbers. It can be a total Charlie Foxtrot at times. You don't have time to think about it, you just do. 4 or 5 rigs at a time, backing down the ramp in the dark mirror to mirror sometimes. Fun? Not really but it's what it is if you want to fill the freezer. I have yet to see anyone use the feature in a situation like this... Maybe I should try it on our 150 and play with it and see how it works if I take the time to set it up as I believe it needs some stickers and calibration to make it go.
I will completely disagree with this. If a person learns and practices on the "knob", they will be as competent as you are on the steering wheel.
As an employee I trialed the system while it was still in development. I hated it, and actually backed a trailer through an S Course not using the system... but I have decades of experience backing up trailers. I've seen people do an awesome job with the knob. I tried to show my wife how to use the knob, but it was clear, she was learning better without my "help". She has a ways to go to get proficient, but it works for her.
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On 11/22/2022 at 9:43 PM, akirby said:
Why do people believe random people on the internet over actual facts?
It's not like we can trust dealerships either. I couldn't get Ford regional sales manager to admit what happened on my order. The stunt they pulled was bad enough, but the fact I couldn't get a straight answer told me volumes.
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On 11/16/2022 at 10:51 AM, akirby said:
Sigh. It has nothing to do with punishing or rewarding dealers. This is strictly about allocations.We're going to have to agree to disagree. Allocations is 100% about punishing or rewarding dealers. Limiting A dealer like Grangers allocations is punishing the dealer making money on volume. Not limiting allocations on dealers adding bonus money to MSRP is rewarding those dealers.
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On 11/15/2022 at 7:25 AM, akirby said:
As a consumer your view is screw it give me the best deal and I don’t care about dealers but Ford simply can’t do that.
On the other hand, some dealers love to put bonus dollars on consumer purchases. I just talked to a guy this weekend, his son bought a hellcat at $140k. Don't know MSRP on his vehicle, but I'd bet it was under 100k. Can't have it both ways, OEM's can not support this behavior while punishing dealers going after volume.
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Member here showed the final drive ration comparison between 6pd of yesterday with 4.3 to today's 10spd ratio with 3.31. I have the 6.7 with 3.31 and have not gone wanted for a 4.3 while towing.
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On 10/31/2022 at 6:01 AM, George C said:
Has anyone actually set up their back up assist?
I don’t know of anyone who uses that feature..I've talked to a few people who use it. As an employee, I trialed it a few years ago and hated it... but I have decades of experience backing up trailers. I tried to show my wife how to use it, and was failing miserably. She's figuring it out on her own.
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On 11/8/2022 at 6:02 AM, HeavyAssault said:
I'd say the online program isn't set up correctly.
What is in the order guide? I found that to be accurate.
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On 11/8/2022 at 6:38 PM, IUEC135ELEVATOR said:
Ahhh..so it is an electronic issue. I was assuming turtle was playing Mario cart hitting potholes/rumble strips and trying to Tokyo drift his f350 and the tailgate flopped open from flexing. Ummm yeah
It popped open on a very rough road. No damage to trailer, but I did lose some stuff out of the bed. Was not happy to get to my first overnight stop and not have my anderson buckets for the rear jack. Luckily I also had some blocks in the pass through. My rear jacks are set to high, and even slightly out of level, I run out of stroke.
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On 11/8/2022 at 7:32 PM, IUEC135ELEVATOR said:
They are for mpg..
If you run your truck from NC to CA weekly with a 30' gooseneck then the .25, .30(or whatever may be)mpg extra you get from the larger valance would pay off after 300,000 miles. ( yeah I know most would use 4x2)
Mpg is not a concern of mine.
Towing a 13'5" high 5th wheel, underbody aero is not a big concern of mine, nor anybody else towing big trailers
The difference between losing 10mpg and 9.75 mpg is meaningless, even in 300k miles.
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On 11/12/2022 at 3:02 PM, HeavyAssault said:
That was sort of solved with the receiver hitch sleeves that would come with the trucks. I know my 2015 has a 2.5" receiver and the 2" sleeve. Ford did the same with the 3" receivers, if I recall those have a 2.5" and 2" sleeve.
It's not good for people moving from the 2017+ trucks that have a 3" hitch. ??
I bought a sleeve for 3"-->2.5"-->2"
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2 hours ago, akirby said:
It’s a problem if you’re a dealer with 50 allocations and Granger has 500. Dealers want their fair share of allocations.Are you for capitalism or socialism?
If Granger can sell 500, then let them sell 500. Support the successful dealers, let let the ones doing bonus markups and not selling qty fail. Yes it sucks, but Ford should not be propping up the dealers who are incapable of selling.
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Set key on top of a mostly open cover, realized I needed to open it a bit more, an a whole bunch of bad words came out of my mouth as I watched it slide down the opening
Any suggestions on the easiest way to get my key back? Looking at the installation manual, I'm thinking loosen the rails, slide it rearward and take off the front/top cover.
Open to any and all suggestions except don't put the key on top of the cover while opening it
I got that one covered!
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Salary Employee.
Long time coming, but it was the right time for me to go. A most interesting career around some most interesting projects.
Some of the highlights
Started Jan '99 as contract
Worked on the development of 2002 Thunderbird complete vehicle, developed a successful process for tracking engineering progression.
Worked on Ford 500, setting up a project support team for the CNE. Saw one person go from FCG directly to LL6. She was all about face time, and no substance. Luckily she didn't last.
Short stint on minivan again for CNE
2005 Mustang, was there for the BATTLE over independent rear suspension, interim PMT lead as a contract engineer.
Worked for CNE on Flex/MLT - side note, CNE was on my extremely short list of high quality manager types.
Laid off in Jan '09 as contract, in the last wave to hit in that era.
Went back to school, picked up Masters in project management and MBA.
Starting back as contract Jan '11
Don't recall the 1st project, it never got off 1st base
Went into transmission working on superduty transmission, it was short term project
Went on to body project management on large body stamping dies. Worked for one of the most flamboyant chief engineers in my entire career. Watched him throw reams of paper up in the air during a director level meeting.
Jan '13, hired into transmission on superduty as project engineer.
Moved to Hybrid transmissions, and kind of found a niche that was good for Ford and myself.
While up to my eyeballs in project management on hybrid transmissions, given a special project to manage that IMO was the pinnacle of my career. I did the electric rear drive proof of concept attached to a hybrid vehicle.. Essentially given 2 months to do a forecasted 6 month long project. Not only was project finished on time, was actually finished a week or two early. It was so successful, mgt decided to skip an entire phase (or two) of prototypes. I received an award from Lincoln director of engineering for that project. Had a panic just before mgt drive, and we had to do an emergency shipment back to allen park from MI UP. It arrived and before I could even get down to allen park, the very minor issue was repaired and back on the truck to UP. Literally it was a 45 minute repair.
Finished up on HF55 and BEV managing prototype builds.
It was a lot of fun, and stressful. My supv said in a recent review, I have no idea what you do, I know things are getting done, and nobody is complaining, so I guess you're doing ok
Basically, give me a goal, give me the resources and help when I ask for it, other than that, just let me manage the projects. Most supervisors were good with that. The one I struggled with the most... well, he wasn't a fan favorite, even at the director level. Long list of industry credentials, and performance awards. Three awards stood out, one mentioned above, second was VP of engineering for navigating through covid shutdowns and not missing one single delivery to program, and lastly was from a LL6 for solving a problem that had them stymied.
I worked with some incredibly talented and highly intelligent people. Without their direct and indirect support, I wouldn't have been 1/10 as successful. Finished up working for a great LL6 and LL4 (who should be a LL2), and the LL2
Already on to my next life stage, dragging a 5th wheel around the country.
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This has not been a good day for a whole bunch of reasons.
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Went through some pretty rough roads heading west I44 --> I40. Decided to I49 to avoid toll road, AND see something other than white line fever. That was not a good decision as somewhere along the less than sooth roads, tail gate popped open. Lost some relatively minor stuff, maybe total $200, and I'm not seeing any damage to the 5th wheel, but it was kind of icing on this messed up day.
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2022 SD, anybody had this happen before? -
After coming unglued on my dealer for NOT doing the TSB the first time around, they finally did it last week. Their excuse, we couldn't duplicate the issue. OF COURSE NOT, it's intermittent, mostly happens in tow haul mode and more frequently while towing a 5th wheel. Just do the GD reprogramming and stop playing games.
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Deep Breath
It got reprogrammed and transmission in general seems to be a bit smoother in shifting. Because it was intermittent, it will be hard to tell if it was fixed. Pretty disconcerting to coming up to a traffic light towing a big 5th wheel and feel the transmission slam into 1st gear. I suspect it had to do with clutch timing, prior set of clutches were not disengaged before the next set engaged, but that's only a guess on my part.
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2 hours ago, EastMark said:
So how does someone qualify for one of those dealer promo discounts ?
It's magic
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On 10/10/2022 at 8:37 AM, PurdueGuy said:
Sorry. I wasn’t clear. I meant different bed sizes of either 250 or 350. Really anything they have on the lot, since the answer is often “we have 1.”
Long bed will have a slightly smoother ride over the equivalent short bed. IRC long bed had a slightly improved payload, but haven't looked at the published data in awhile.
2022 Super Duty Orders & Discussion
in F-Series SuperDuty Forum
Posted
I had over a couple of decades at Ford in salaried positions and had a pretty deep contact list. Even I couldn't get my truck moved off of the train's destination lot. Dealer called me and said your truck arrived, and then told me the story the delivery driver told him. Apparently the driver was given a stack of vehicles to load and deliver... couldn't find a single one. They gave him another stack, couldn't find any of those. Mine was in his third stack, and he only find 2 or 3 in the stack and they told him to just take those. I'm thinking this is a combination of first in last out inventory management, with a mix of anarchy thrown in for good measure. I often wonder on some of these that can't be found how many were stolen for parts.