I'm a few weeks short of a year. STX Regular cab.

Problems that had to go to the dealer;

Ticking sound from fan blower.They replaced it.

End of dealer repairs.

Problems that I fixed myself;
Staining on the seats.
Fix; got tired of steam cleaning, put in factory leather for 105 bucks, plus 125 to recover the center seat.
brake dust. Learned to take my foot off before I was at the stop sign, learned about the freewheeling of the TC.

Also added Kleen Wheels, more for fun. cost about 38 bucks.
0 brake dust.

end of actual problems.


Driving;
It handles better than any truck I have ever driven, bar none.
Good on bumps, (we have some of the worst roads in the state).
Great on corners. Wow.
No viberation, no shimmy, one hand driving 20 to 120. (That’s MPH)
Brakes;
Good. Anti-lock works great. Saved an idiot who pulled in front of me. Lesser truck and he would have qualified for the Darwin award.

Tires;
Mine came with the Michelin. Great tires.
For cosmetic reasons I replaced them with the BF Goodrich Long trails. I just replaced them at 6000 miles on the tires, (road hazard) and all three sets of tires performed excellent. I push my tires very hard, on twisty mountain roads, in high temperatures. They are good. Thankfully I never tried the Hand on k...s

Carpet;
It's fine, but too light a color. Shows any lint, debris, etc. Not a big deal.

Mats are kinda cheap. Might spend 40 bucks and replace them by 20k miles.

Load carrying;
Never had more than 500 lbs in the bed. It doesn't seem to get any lower...

4.6 engine. Runs well, but I have modded it a touch, but admit it wasn't needed, just fun.

My wife loves the back doors. I seldom use them, but she says it makes it easier to put things in the back. Women don't like lifting and tossing in the back as much as men.
She can also handle the tail gate. Other trucks it's way to heavy for her to put up.

After a year, I still love driving it, and my wife drives whenever she can, we actually argue over who gets to drive... On the other cars we argue over who has to drive.

Can't complain.
Chris

 

Where and how much on them seats Thumper?

 

They are kind of pricey but here is their website..

Sparco USA

Sparco Seats on Ebay

Another good racing seat company is Recaro..

Recaro Seats

Recaro Seats on Ebay

 

Interesting.

I had an 03 FX4 with captains chairs. I still miss that truck. It was a lease that I turned in to buy on 04 FX4 (new style SCrew).

The interior in the new vehicle LOOKS better, but the old one is still more comfortable. I'm not quite sure what it is, but I think the bottoms of the seats are longer.

The 04 rides alot better. Eerie, really. Super quiet, but it's too cramped on the inside.

-Fatz

 

I'm surprised at some of the comments here.. I absolutely love my seats! I've never had a truck that I could drive for so long without having to get out and stretch. I find there to be more legroom than any other regular cab I've ever sat in (I'm 6'5). I recently drove 13 hours each way to visit family and the only time I got out of the truck was to get gas.. And if I had found full serve, I wouldn't have bothered, I didn't need to stretch. All my previous vehicles (GM's) I've never been that comfortable on long trips.

 

you don't find the arm rest's on the door to low? My knee hits the arm rest all the time...my right arm can't rest the window ledge unless the window is open...my lower right leg has to bend at my knee to reach the gas p. I can't wear a hard hat inside my truck..( okay silly ) Every thing else in my truck is excellant...I maybe a qurk of nature but my truck is not the most comfortible ride I have owned, I use it for work, but for play..once I get a digital C. I will post some pics. and I'm only a wee guy at 6ft 4 240 lbs..

 

Im gonna have to agree with some of you. I traded my 2002 F-150 XLT with 3.55's and the 4.6 for this 2004 Lariat 5.4 with the 3.73's and It was a bad mistake. I enjoyed the 02 more even though it had 103,xxx+ miles on it when I traded it. It never had a problem. This truck howls at 50, clunks and vibrates on accel., the brakes give random ABS pulses (cured with a restart), and other things like the hood shaking at 70+, and Ive taken it for all these probs, and none ever got fixed correctly.

 

I understand, I really enjoyed my 93 Lightning. Never had any real problems with it and it was reliable as hell. The engine was only rated at 275 I believe, but that was during a time when you actually got all the horses you paid for. Now, they claim horses you will never seem to see without a tuner. I also have a vibration at idle that is about to DRIVE ME CRAZY. The dealer pretends it doesnt exist. Id take my 93 L back in a heart beat.

 

So far I like my truck '05 XLT Reg Cab...but the seats absolutely suck!!!! Ford might as well have used plywood to make them, because that's what it feels like you're sitting on.

 

Hey maybe it was just my fault for buying a first year vehicle , just because I saw that it was loaded.....I should have driven a few of em.

 

I have a 04 SCREW LARIAT Built 9/04 The only problem i had with this truck was with the HAVC system It was looked at the dealer and they could not find any problem I traded in a 98 SUPERCAB with a 4.6 with 40000 miles on it and never had a problem with it

 

I do find the arm rest to be a little low as to interfere with my knee but I can always find a position for my left leg where it won't bother me. I do find it at a comfortable height to use as an arm rest.. I find the window sill a bit too high to use as an arm rest when its open, and as you say its not wide enough to use anyways with the window up.

I do have to bend my right knee for the gas pedal but I can't remember ever driving a vehicle where I didn't have to. I find I have a lot of foot room so there are lots of different positions to keep my legs from cramping on a long drive.