First I must vent.......

Please remind yourself as I'm ranting that I'm a repeat F150 buyer (5 in a row now, going on 6) and have never owned another brand of truck. I think this would qualify me as Ford loyal. But I have some things to get off my chest before actually pulling the trigger, so to speak. All of this has been said before, so forgive me. The upside of these trucks are plenty, but I'm going with a rant here...

Please feel free to agree with OR trash me, but here goes.

I have driven several trucks before deciding to go with a Black Lariat SCab 4x4 w/ tan int. Picture Brewmasters truck, but with the tan interior. Anyhow, all the trucks were either Lariat 4x4's or FX4's. All heavy vehicles I realize and I have never had delusions of sports car grandeur. But these trucks were quite slow and I'm as forgiving as other about the obvious delay in throttle tip-in. I stopped at an intersection on one of my test drives, stabbed the throttle quickly to the floor and released it. Absolutely nothing happened other than the tach needle flinching every so slightly. Many have said that they have gotten used to it or don't notice it(!). I say it stinks. A wire can carry a signal plenty faster than that! Once under way (finally!), I keep waiting for those 300 ponies to make an appearance. Hasn't happened in any of the trucks I tested. Quiet - yes....Smooth - very....refined - you bet. But what ever happened to fun? I don't like to go here, but other truck makers manage to get livelier performance out of rigs with similar power ratings and weight.

I think I'm just dissappointed that Ford won't build more driving excitement into their trucks. I'm tired of being outrun by Chevies, Dodges and, soon, Nissans(?).

I can tolerate the cheap plastic stuff inside, as my 2001 Lariat is full of 'em - and I like it a bunch! Every brand of truck has 'em.

For the first time ever, I'm actually considering buying aftermarket wheels. The Lariat wheels just seem boring to me and Ford won't let us have the FX4 wheels, which are a little more interesting IMO.

OK, I feel better now. Thanks for listening.



I'll call and place my order now..........

 

I agree! I drove a GMC suburban which is as heavy or more with the 5.3 and it is so much more powerful. The seat of the pants feel is nice, but it sucks in the Ford. I hope I get used to it.

 

No trash talk back to you here.

I like the Trcuk and I am NOT a Ford guy! But I can't even argue the fact that it is the best truck out there. The question is what do you want/use the truck for? If you want speed, add a few mod's.

To me, at 35 years old I need it all. The outward looks are very sleek and masculine and my wife said the interior of the Lariat is nicer than her 2002 4Runner. To boot the truck flat pulls. I tow a big boat for fun and a heavy 24' enclosed trailer at times too. Further, I have a family, one kid 8 and one on the way. the Supercab Lariat I ordered pleases everone in my family and our needs. Lastly I will add that as you drive down the road look for older trucks. Quality means you see more Ford's. That is why I ordered this Truck.

My 2 cents, Good Luck.

 

skiultr, Thanks for putting me at ease on the towing thing. I do tow frequently. Specifically, a 21' Ranger bass boat. I fish many tournaments and I'm all over the place with this boat. I haven't had doubts about this, but it is an unknown for me until I tow with it.

My needs are these. I'm a Home Improvement Contractor and haul my tools are around town with an occasional load of lumber or drywall. All of my F150's have done this well and I suspect that the '04 will too.

I'm also am into music and I'm addicted to XM radio. I opted not to upgrade to system to the Audiophile. I'll just end up pulling the whole thing in favor of aftermarket. I currently have a JL Audio Stealthbox sub in my center console. It sounds good and doesn't take up any of the rear seat area that I use for stuff, but rarely passengers. Not sure what I'll use for a sub in the '04 or where I'm gonna put it. I'm sure I'll come up with something. Maybe a 10" Bazooka in the passenger side rear. Any suggestions from you aftermarket freaks?

 

"I think I'm just dissappointed that Ford won't build more driving excitement into their trucks. I'm tired of being outrun by Chevies, Dodges and, soon, Nissans(?). "


What about the Lightning??? Nobody matches it's performance- yet.

I don' t get all of the whining about the truck not being fast enough. It's a truck. If I wanted to go fast, I'd buy the Lightning. (actually I hop in my supercharged Mustang GT)

Every legitimate posted 1/4 mile time I've seen on the stock Chevy, Dodge, and Ford is within a second of each other. There are so many variables that go into time slips that you really can't even compare vehicles times unless you get the exact cab, box size and comparable engine offered to match up on the drag strip together on the same day at the same time.

I haven't driven or rode in an 04 yet, but it from those that have driven the 04- it's very quiet and the transmission is smooth. Is the difference that the Dodge and Chevy are just louder and shift harsher which makes you think it's faster? I see a number of people putting on new exhaust systems to make the vehicle sound louder/meaner, but it usually only has a .1 to .3, if any, effect on the 1/4 mile times.

 

Toyota Sucks hit it right on the money!!



I guess you've never heard of a Lightning!!




-- I know what you meant, I just had to make a little correction to that statement!

 

Keep in mind the engine needs about 10k miles before you get optimum performance. Maybe these motors are just really tight?

 

If that's true, then they built way too much lag into the system. Maybe a chip will help?

 

Come on guys, of course I've heard of the Lightning. If an L came in an ext. cab with available AWD, I'd be all over it! As it stands, the L is not a practical vehicle for me. And a full second difference in the 1/4 is huge - maybe 7-8 truck lengths. That's called "getting your doors blown off" around here. I haven't actually drag raced anyone in years and don't have any plans to, I just want more responsiveness from my 300 Hp, 14 MPG, $37K machine.

I just returned from a dealership (not the one I'm buying from) to poke around a little more before finalizing my order, which was placed today. I like it more and more each time I see it. None of my compaints are show stoppers. I'm just blowing off some steam.

Some of us just have more of a need for speed than others. Or at least the potential......

 

I too own a business, nearly 15 years, we do hearing testing for employees at Maufacturing locations. I regularly pull a 5X10X8h enclosed trailer taking sound booths to client locations. For really big jobs I use a converted 24' Flat top car hauler (@5200 lbs empty) - it too houses several heavy booths. Before I purchased, I arranged to take a demo to my big trailer and pull it on the hwy and around town. The result: No problem at all. I fugured if it could handle the big guy, the smaller ones would be easy.

Good luck.

 

Also, isnt' this a "learning" transmission? I believe it takes some time for the tranny to learn how the driver uses the vehicle, then ajusts itself accordingly. Or maybe the was the previous Gen that was this way.