I'm going to go ahead and start plotting my attack on purchasing a 2005 and I'm interested in hearing what you all have to say...

In short, without me scrolling through every thread that exists here, what are the consistant problems that you all are experiencing?

 

Sorry, cant help you, so far my truck has been flawless (knock on wood). I have loved every minute in it. Best truck I have owned.

 

RockPick...I can't contribute much because it appears that I received a nearly faultless XLT Screw, but just one piece of advice. As you review either the forum or responses to your inquiry, try to sort out PROBLEMS (and there appear to be a few), CHARACTERISTICS (not flaws/defects, e.g. 'bed shake'), and PREFERENCES (e.g. location of some ****). The '04 is a great vehicle and Ford is to be commended. It's also likely that many issues will be addressed in the '05, both to improve the truck and maintain pace with the competition.

 

4500 miles and not a single problem. Truly a great truck.

 

RockPick,
I'm not sure by the time you order an 05 that there will be any problems left to fix on these trucks. I think those of us that have had some minor problems early on, i.e., rear end shutter, temp. gauge, distorted glass, etc. have had, or will have them fixed. My SC 4x4 was built the first week of Sept. I cannot complain about the vehicle one bit. I love the ride and new style. While I purchased mine on the "A" Plan, I'm starting to see some good discounts on these trucks...at least in the Dallas area. Consider getting a 2004 unless you can't find the model/color/options you are looking for when they start the change over.

 

If things go as planned I should be getting a new '05 sometime in September. I drove another '04 the other day and like how much bigger the reg cab feels than my Lightning (but I'm keeping the L . One thing is for sure though, they need to change the cheesy looking LCD readout on the dash for '05 before I'll buy one. It has got to go.

 

same here.....not 1 problem yet with mine either..

 

There have been some guys having problems, but I'm not one of them. I've had mine since early October, but only have 1,100 miles on it. So far, I'd say they hit a home run with the new model.

 

Rock Pick , you won't be Happy with nothing less tha the New King Ranch...go for it late fall

 

Thats not entirely true. If you want a King Ranch F150 that is great and wonderful. But there are a lot of people (including myself) that would disagree, because we bought another variant of the F150 and each of us loves his or her truck. So buy what you want as long as its a 2004 F150 new body style. You will love the one you get.

 

I've put almost 13k miles on my 04 4x4 Lariat Screw, which I drove off the lot out of dealer stock on 4 October. I love the truck.

I've had a few minor problems with it. Distorted windshield, rear glass area rattle, high-freq vibration in steering wheel at highway speeds. The vibration still exists despite five balancings of the wheels, and an alignment. The rattle comes and goes, and was not fixed by replacing the rear glass assy. The windshield was replaced, and the new one is much better than the original.

My outside temp display often has no connection with reality, ie I can be driving on a 55-dgree day while it will be displaying 26.

My bed shakes, which I can visually see by looking at it in the outside rearview, but this is of no concern to me.

In every category that matters, the truck is superb. It makes plenty of power, the entire driveline is just about perfect for a truck. It is extremely nimble around town considering how huge it is. Still, parking is a problem, and even after 13k miles I'm still not getting it properly lined up or centered between the parking lines. Someday I'll get used to it, I suppose.

So, even tho the truck hasn't been perfect, the imperfections have been extremely minor, and have not really distracted me from the overall sensation of this being a superior vehicle.

 

I have not had any of the problems that some of our members have been reporting in the forums. I have a 04 scab that was built in July of 03. I purchased the truck in Dec and it has a little over 3K on it. I don't have the power rear window but I thought
I had the dreaded rattle. It ended up being the plastic covers on the child seat supports on the top of the rear seat. I removed the plastic supports. The rattle is gone. I guess it doesn't matter when it was built as much as random chance of something being wrong with a mass prdoduced assembly line product. Some will have problems some will not. Been lucky so far and feel for the guys who have had problems.
Just remember when you read the forum it is human nature to be more vocal when you have a complaint than when you are just satisfied or happy.

sonnyxlt

 

No problems with my truck, but I am having a problem:

There aren't a lot of '04 150s around here. I keep getting followed by other trucks with the drivers just staring open-mouthed at my truck! And I keep getting approached by people in parking lots asking me how I like it!

I am not used to all this attention!

 

RP, problems corrected so far:

1. Inaccurate outside temp display, reflashed PCM.

2. Shudder when taking off from an idle in drive condition, new transmission installed.

3. EATC contol head would time out from recirc to fresh air mode, replaced with updated control head.

Ongoing issues:

1. Idle in drive (hot) vibration. It is a very low frequency vibration which makes it all the more annoying. It tends to really get shaking badly after sitting there for a couple of minutes with out moving. Dealership has "investigated" 3 times with no resolution. Tech hotline has been no help in resolving. They know of the issue but can't help until they get more occurences. (Crock of ****)

2. Power steering pump moan/whine. Dealer says it is normal, tech hotline says aware of issue, no resoulution yet. They are waiting on an updated part supposedly released for job 2 trucks.

3. Rotten egg stink. This has been ongoing but has gotten better after the third PCM flash.

I have to agree with most of the other posters, this truck is bar none the best F 150 I have ever owned. The issues that I am having I believe were just new model glitches. Ford has way to much to lose by not attending to these issues and many other small issues that are well documented here on this forum. Personally if I had it to do over I would have waited until job 2 or the 05MY trucks. I may trade up to the King Ranch, we'll see!

 

RP,

Glad to hear that your are considering joining the team. We could use a guy like you.

As far as consistant problems, my Lariat has just two obvious ones.

One bulb in my gauge pod (oil/voltmeter) hasn't lit since I was at 900 miles and I'm at 5200 now. Before 900, it was lit intermittently.

The Recirc function on my EATC turns itself off after one minute.

My truck has been free of any major rattles, vibrations, shudders or bed flexing that many have reported. I have a few small nitpicky issues that aren't even worth mentioning.

There are some things I'd like to see changed for '05. Here are a few in no particular order...............

*Find a new windshield vendor. Most of the trucks I've seen have some level of distortion. Mine's not bad, but it's not good either.

*Offer some more imaginative wheels. My 18" Lariat wheels make me yawn every time I look at them. Not ugly, just boring.

*Address the slow response of the Electronic Throttle Control.
It's my biggest complaint about the truck. I really have to leadfoot it to get it going.

*A 5 speed Auto and optional AWD (Like Chevy's AutoTrac) would be huge. If they added these two things for '05, I would run down and trade in my '04.

*Make these trucks ride just a little more level from the factory. I've had no compliants with my 6 previous F-150s. This one needs to be lifted in the front. 1/2 of a Daystar kit, coming soon. I've had the kit for two months now, but haven't found the energy yet.

Although my truck has a few minor annoyances, It's by far the nicest truck I've ever been in. It's absolutely awesome in the towing and highway ride departments. Around town, the potholes(and we have lots) don't hurt as much as they did in my '01 Off Road 4x4. Also, so much quieter then any previous truck Ford has built.

I doubt, and would be truly surprised, if Ford makes any major changes for '05. They didn't make that many on the '97-'03's. But, I've been wrong before!