Well, loyality means nothing, I drove a 06 F-150 XLT, and I'm going to drive the Hemi ram and Titan, the 06 GM/Chevy truck's don't how much apeal but I'm going to drive them as well, in the end, the cheapest price for what I want will win out.

I like the looks of the 07 GMC and I may hold out for one to test drive. I'm so tempted to buy a beater what ever for now, the 87 Ram is at the wrecker now.

 

Remember the hemi in the ram isn't really a hemi, it's a semi-hemi. That's the hype you should be concerned about.

 

Well the deal is the FX4 is supposed to ride like that. It's suspension is much stiffer than other models. That is by design. I you end up off road a lot like I do you want stiff, especially when it’s a towing vehicle. I own a '05 FX4 and I hear ya on the stiffness on the road and even washboard dirt roads. However I'm glad as hell I have it when I'm 5+ miles from a road and there is 18" of snow on the ground on our ****ty road to our hunting cabin. The stiffness is exactly what I want and if you don’t like it don’t get a FX.

The highway ride on the other hand is flat out awesome. It's like driving a car with a view.

The 5.4 is a bit choked. You'll learn anyone around here soon moves onto exhaust/intake combos to help open it up. I simply have a k&n air filter and a Evolution tuner. The Evo tuner is the best money you will ever spend on this truck. It truly wakes it up and takes it to a completely higher level of performance. The Evo=Mandatory IMHO.

If I were you and I loved Dodge...I'd go right back there and get another one. Dodge makes great trucks as well. In fact I think their trucks are better for the off roader.

Regardless of anything and everything I love my FX4!

 

I drove chevy z71 off road, dodge ram hemi ( black night rider trim package ) and the ford, - 150/1500 size - all before I bought the F150. ( just can't bring myself to consider a nissan or toyota ) Had an 04, 05 and now an 06. This ones a keeper. Yes, the fords are complete performance slugs compared to the others but my buddies at work each have the chevy and dodge and I definately like my ford better, each time I ride with them - so do they since the tuner. You'll have to dump about a $grand in intake/tuner and exhaust to dominate or keep up in the performance of the others ( as long as they stay stock ) but in the end, you'll have the nicer truck.. IMO.. Drive them all and buy what you like. The 06's seem to have a lot of the annoying quality issues resolved finally - knocking on wood here.

 

I've had nothing but Fords my whole life so I will be up front and admit that I am biased. I've had this F150 one year this month and have put on almost 14,000 miles and have only had it to the dealer once. The A pillar trim was warped and they had to order/install a replacement. That my friend is the ONLY problem I've had with it. Yes, it is a little underpowered but the ridequality/frame stiffness is rock solid. I recently towed a 25ft RV trailer from Phoenix to San Diego last month. The temp was well over 100 and I'm guessing the trailer weighed nearly 7,000 lbs. The truck's temp gauge never moved! I had enough power when I needed it and the truck averaged nearly 8 mpg.
The F150 has an awesome interior and the sole reason I chose the FX4 was the flow-thru console and floor shifter. I am a stickler about rattles and this truck has NONE. The seats are comfortable, the tires don't make noise, and the layout is driver-friendly. I also drove a Lariat and did not appreciate the ride quality difference. I added and K&N drop in filter and the Edge programmer. For the average joe this is all that is needed to pep it up.

FWIW we had a 2002 Expedition which only went to the dealer once for a bad AWD switch. We had over 50K miles on that truck and it still ran like new.

It's your decision and the best thing to do is go to Enterprise and rent an F150 for a day or two and see how it fits your lifestyle. Perhaps the Dodge is the better choice but at least you can say you explored all of your options.

Good luck and thanks for lurking! he he he

 

I think they did talk about the powertrain in the "Driveline" section

They talked about the larger ring and pinion system in the F150, the greater oil capacity, the larger coolant system, they even get into a comparison of the F150s fan shroud and how all that leads to the highest towing capacity of any 1/2 ton truck.

I think the point of the video is that there are big differences in how trucks are designed and built.

 

My issues so far:

1. A/C sucks, been repaired twice.

2. Roadway vibration that ford calls a "tire wobble". They will not replace the tires. Showed me a TSB saying this is normal.

3. Rough idle and vehicle will sometimes skip at highways speeds. No problem found

4. Insturment cluster died and had to be replaced.

5. Way too heavy for a half ton. I have the 5.4 and the truck is a dog.

6. Dash rattle near the drivers side a-pillar. Dealer cannot find.

7. I get consistant 11-13 mpg. My old Z-71 Chevy 5.3 liter with the 3.73 got 15-17 mpg.

8. The Ford corporate radio sucks, horrible controls.

What I do like.

1. Quiet

2. Feels solid

3. Easy to drive for a large vehicle

4. cheap, got a good deal.

Overall I am not impressed. Ford dealer made the statement, "Ford puts em' together and lets us get it precise". Dealer was referencing to the quality control issues I have with this truck. I think the best buy for a light duty pickup is the current tundra. Those can be had cheap and the crew cab has a full 6 ft bed. I drove one and really liked it. Plus I still think it will do better then the ford in resale.

Oh, and I have 5000 miles on this truck. They will get this back when the lease is up. Hopefully the problems are over.

I am not trying to **** people off. I think the f-150 can be a good vehicle, but I am not impressed.

Let the flames begin!!!

 

The best advice I can give you is to buy a 100K/5 year warranty from an A++ company like Warranty Direct, no matter what you buy. Obviously, you're going to get biased opinions here but I've owned ford, chevy, dodge, toyota, and a nissan (which was a pathfinder). I like the looks of the ford best, and the structural quality, but I've had more problems with my 05 Screw than all the rest combined.

 

Also, anything that has 2 spark plugs per cylinder means the combustion chamber is poorly engineered, hence the Hemi's crappy mileage. It's the little things that count.

 

I dont know if we have any room to talk about other engines having poorly engineering spark plugs and combustion chambers...

 

I agree, and you don't have to 'think' it will do better than ford, they do. I took the wife to the Toyota dealership last night to show her a 4 door 4x4 Tundra they just got the day before that was my color-dark red. They already sold it and the 2 other Tundras they just got, and mpg is that of the F150. Resale is very high. They sold 105 vehicles last weekend. Toyota isn't hurting at all.

Neither am I but we will. This is a Ford site! Sometimes bias will over-ride what is obvious in the current market. I just picked up my truck from a different dealer, yet again, an hour ago. 2 other dealers could not duplicate the problem I've been having lately, so they didn't do anything. I took it to a dealer in a different city Thursday afternoon, and thank God for the folks on this site making recommendations as to what the sound may have been. I printed those up and took them to this dealer and he fixed it.

My truck would not even go into 4 wheel drive as of this past week. They replaced a solenoid, checked the vaccuum system, etc. The guy who worked on it has a good reputation as being one of the better transmission guys in our area. He said that he's had to do this on quite a number of trucks so far. He stated that moisture gets into a vent and prevents the vaccuum system from working properly. The noise I've been hearing was indeed the truck trying to engage in 4x4 on its own. I asked if it was a real common problem and were there any other problems he's noticed. He related to me that ever since they've had the new body style in 2004, they've had a bunch of issues, especially drive train. He also said, "I don't like them at all, they are not the quality the older body style was."

He said he has to bleed out the system and reroute it to put the vent where moisture is less likely to get in. Works fine now but this is really getting to be bull****. I've clocked quite a few hours and miles trying to get 'the little things' working.

Whoever wrote somewhere here that "Ford just puts them together, we have to make them precise" (dealer), I believe it.

 

i have 16k on my 05' screw lariat 4x4, and to this date really enjoy the truck. no issues w/ the truck except several weeks ago i had a couple of no 1st starts. i believe it was fuel related. the 5.4l is a little anemic in the power dept. but once it gets rolling does quite well. they say a tuner will wake the 5.4 up. the f-150 is in know doubt the most quiet, smooth,best built, and durable truck (1/2tn.) out there. i have owned the 3/4tn ram (03') w/ the cummins and the only thing good on that truck was the powertrain.enjoy your shopping, but hey 0/72 is ticking down if you are considering financing...

 

LOVE MY TRUCK end of story

 

I've complained about the lack of power and pi$$ poor gas mileage for a while. I like everything else. There are a few small things that the loaded GM's have which I think is idiotic I don't have on my KR, but I think I'll make it.

I'll temper the poor gas mileage comments with the fact that this truck is heavy. I already knew it was fairly heavy but I got to see it first-hand yesterday. I was driving to work and had to lay on the brakes going 65mph to avoid a moron who stopped abruptly in front of me. I had only had my foot on the brake (depressed completely) for a second or so and I got tagged in the back by a lady in a brand new 06 Nissan Altima.

Needless to say, her Altima had to be towed. What amazed me was the fact that when she hit me it really wasn't that bad to me for how fast she was still going. I had a hitch in the receiver and the front of her car was destroyed. She had air bag deployment and a bruise on her shoulder from the seatbelt so she obviously hit with some force. But the truck just shrugged it off. I guess I'll just have to get my bumper replaced b/c the lower quarter is scratched all up where I buckled her hood 1/3 way back to the windshield.

I have a outlook on the situation now. I'll take the poor gas mileage and the heavy weight with the extra strength and safety it provides.

 

Well, so what, best built, best selling, thats Ford hype you bought into. now I'm not knocking the Ford F-150, I drove a 06 quad cab Ram Long horn adition, and The seat fabric was taken right of the F-150, maybe Ford and dodge use the same fabric company, as For performance, the Hemi will walk all over any F-150, I'm not crazy abought MDS and the 3V cylinder head on the 5.4 and variable valve timming on the Ford scare me, the Hemi is a simple design of the show room floor that will lay a spanking to the Ford.

One observation with the Hemi is that the air intake is huge, way bigger than the Ford. The dodge rode verry well and was quiet, The Ram felt more like a big truck were as the F-150 felt like driving a car.

For comfort, I found the Ram bigger and more responsive performnace wise, The F-150 felt smaller and getting in aznd out of the F-150 was more restrictive due to the smaller doors on the F-150.

Is the Ram better, I don't know and I checked out the truth abought trucks web site and to me. it's all sales and marketing, and at 345 cubic in, the Ram is living in the glory of the 426 hemi, it can be debated as to who is marketing thier trucks better.

I don't like the white instermintaion on the Ram and the SLT version has the the flue coumputer and compass up and over the rear view mirrior, the XLT has it inside a dumb sqaure box with a black led read out.

My brothier's 03 super cab Ford XLT is way nicer than the 06 F-150.

Dodge has a five speed automatic behind the 5.7 and ford has a four speed behind the 5.4, if Ford had a engine = to the 5.7, Ford would have the best truck on the road.

all this comparison betwean the Ford and the Ram is not really a pratical expierance, I want a reg cab truck with some frills and dodge and the Ford dealer I went to had none on thier lots, and I want a good old stick shift...