2015 F-150 - First Drive Report

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calvins48
The other American truck companies really need to start catching up.

Chevrolet - "We've got a steel bed. That means you'll get less dents and cracks if you carelessly throw stuff in the back instead of being responsible and careful."

Dodge - "We have a really good on-board computer."

Ford - "We have everything people actually care about."
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Nisan & Toyota - Hey we have trucks too!!!!

Of course one thing they have in common is terrible designers. :yuck:
 
All I want is a decent looking truck that won't self destruct when the odo hits specific points, and none of them do it. Ford has a lot of toys, sure, but I'm not gonna use a back up camera 90% of the time, and the new 1/2 ton diesel option is nice but until I see numbers that are notably better than the gas engines it's all headlines. AND it makes me throw up looking at it whereas the supers only made me want to throw up. And there's the aluminum bits that I know nothing about how resilient they'll be, and living in a region where there WILL be hail damage at the minimum that's good to know, and it's still massive and bloated.

What sucks is that every other truck is about the same. Oversized, overpriced, overloaded with toys, made as cheap as possible (with RAM going beyond the line with glass transmissions), ugly as sin, and for me IRL everyone I work with drooling about them like the blind 🤬 they are.
 
L8 Apex
Whoops...I guess you can delete this if you want, mods, but I think something should be done with the title of the old thread if it's going to include discussion of the '18 model. Your call.
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It's just an upgrade to the '15 model, so old thread still applies.
 
BKGlover
All I want is a decent looking truck that won't self destruct when the odo hits specific points, and none of them do it. Ford has a lot of toys, sure, but I'm not gonna use a back up camera 90% of the time, and the new 1/2 ton diesel option is nice but until I see numbers that are notably better than the gas engines it's all headlines. AND it makes me throw up looking at it whereas the supers only made me want to throw up. And there's the aluminum bits that I know nothing about how resilient they'll be, and living in a region where there WILL be hail damage at the minimum that's good to know, and it's still massive and bloated.

What sucks is that every other truck is about the same. Oversized, overpriced, overloaded with toys, made as cheap as possible (with RAM going beyond the line with glass transmissions), ugly as sin, and for me IRL everyone I work with drooling about them like the blind 🤬 they are.
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My family has gone through a fair share of trucks, as well as all of our neighbors around. For the most part, we've all been Ram/Dodge fans when it comes to trucks, as their engines seem to be most reliable. My family started off buying trucks to haul campers and we went from a seventh gen F150, which my dad soon realized was way too light to do any sort of hauling, to a ninth gen F250, I believe it had the 5.8 at the time. He had really wanted the diesel option but that was a bit out of budget for him, so he had to settle. Never liked it, had too many issues, but did the job when it did work. After he had enough of the engine constantly having problems, and him having to work on it, we had gone looking again for a new truck, and also a new camper. We bought the fifth-wheel first, before the truck, so we knew what we needed in order to get it towed around.

My family never to my recollection, has had a FCA vehicle until we bought a '99 ram 2500, w/ the Cummins 5.9L. It is was more than able to tow the fifth wheel, as well as a 25 foot long wood trailer for various jobs we've used in the past 18 years. At the time a truck that pulled almost 9,000 pounds with that engine and get the gas mileage that it did was top of the line (where as the light duty trucks now pull more than 4-5,000 pounds that). I'll say personally I love this truck. As simple as the rainbow dotted interior is, it does what it needs to do. Whether that's pulling three to four tons of split wood for the fire, or gravel for our paths, or moving items from one house to the other, or even pulling the boats, it does it without issues. We've never had a problem with the engine, but a few with general maintenance and issues due to weight of the diesel engine on the front axle. My dad said when buying it back then that "this truck will last till I retire", something that probably wont happen for another 20 years. I've always thought that I'll be the one that buys the truck from him then. We've kept it in impeccable shape, and it only has 130k on the odo. Earlier last year we met a guy pulling his boat out of the lake with the exact same truck but with different paint, and had asked him how many miles on his. We couldn't believe it when he said 500,000 miles and then when he said he hadn't had a single issue with it. Although his showed some sign of rusting on the bottom, as well as a few dings, I just had a hard time wrapping it around my mind that the same truck has more than 350k more miles, and is still fine.

Two of our retired neighbors down here, have always been Dodge fans. No Ford, Chevy, or any other brand. One of them had the same second generation 1500 with the 5.7, which is now his grandson's, and the other neighbor had the third generation 1500, again with the 5.7. Now both own the exact same 2015 1500, both with the 5.7, and use it to tow their fifth-wheels as well. I've been in them a few times, and yeah, they're monsters. Insane amount of leather, huge screens, and massive windows. They've come a long way from the old plastic dashes and carpet seats, and so has the prices.

The once $32,000 2500 ram my dad has, in the same package today would cost over $65,000 from what I last recall. Trucks have gone from carrying more than just a toolbox and supplies in the back while towing trailers, to now the mini-vans of America, or grocery-getters. That's just the stigma I see with them, especially in cities. I always wonder why do people even need them leaving in places like that. But it's their money, let them blow it lol.

I'll probably always stay a Dodge/Ram fan for trucks, their other vehicles, not so much.. But I'm sure there are those who have similar stories about the other brands that are the same. The difference from a good truck to a total piece of crap I've found is how you take care of it. Either you treat it like we have, and when we go places people ask how many miles on ours because they're shocked to see it have literally no scrapes, bumps, dents, anything, or you can look at how many rusted buckets there are out there. I find with trucks you'll always have maintenance to do, they're big, and still heavy duty pieces of equipment. Treated right I've never seen one go bad for no apparent reason, but thrashed and thrown around... as well as modded, I've seen all to many.
 
Swagger897
My family has gone through a fair share of trucks, as well as all of our neighbors around. For the most part, we've all been Ram/Dodge fans when it comes to trucks, as their engines seem to be most reliable. My family started off buying trucks to haul campers and we went from a seventh gen F150, which my dad soon realized was way too light to do any sort of hauling, to a ninth gen F250, I believe it had the 5.8 at the time. He had really wanted the diesel option but that was a bit out of budget for him, so he had to settle. Never liked it, had too many issues, but did the job when it did work. After he had enough of the engine constantly having problems, and him having to work on it, we had gone looking again for a new truck, and also a new camper. We bought the fifth-wheel first, before the truck, so we knew what we needed in order to get it towed around.

My family never to my recollection, has had a FCA vehicle until we bought a '99 ram 2500, w/ the Cummins 5.9L. It is was more than able to tow the fifth wheel, as well as a 25 foot long wood trailer for various jobs we've used in the past 18 years. At the time a truck that pulled almost 9,000 pounds with that engine and get the gas mileage that it did was top of the line (where as the light duty trucks now pull more than 4-5,000 pounds that). I'll say personally I love this truck. As simple as the rainbow dotted interior is, it does what it needs to do. Whether that's pulling three to four tons of split wood for the fire, or gravel for our paths, or moving items from one house to the other, or even pulling the boats, it does it without issues. We've never had a problem with the engine, but a few with general maintenance and issues due to weight of the diesel engine on the front axle. My dad said when buying it back then that "this truck will last till I retire", something that probably wont happen for another 20 years. I've always thought that I'll be the one that buys the truck from him then. We've kept it in impeccable shape, and it only has 130k on the odo. Earlier last year we met a guy pulling his boat out of the lake with the exact same truck but with different paint, and had asked him how many miles on his. We couldn't believe it when he said 500,000 miles and then when he said he hadn't had a single issue with it. Although his showed some sign of rusting on the bottom, as well as a few dings, I just had a hard time wrapping it around my mind that the same truck has more than 350k more miles, and is still fine.

Two of our retired neighbors down here, have always been Dodge fans. No Ford, Chevy, or any other brand. One of them had the same second generation 1500 with the 5.7, which is now his grandson's, and the other neighbor had the third generation 1500, again with the 5.7. Now both own the exact same 2015 1500, both with the 5.7, and use it to tow their fifth-wheels as well. I've been in them a few times, and yeah, they're monsters. Insane amount of leather, huge screens, and massive windows. They've come a long way from the old plastic dashes and carpet seats, and so has the prices.

The once $32,000 2500 ram my dad has, in the same package today would cost over $65,000 from what I last recall. Trucks have gone from carrying more than just a toolbox and supplies in the back while towing trailers, to now the mini-vans of America, or grocery-getters. That's just the stigma I see with them, especially in cities. I always wonder why do people even need them leaving in places like that. But it's their money, let them blow it lol.

I'll probably always stay a Dodge/Ram fan for trucks, their other vehicles, not so much.. But I'm sure there are those who have similar stories about the other brands that are the same. The difference from a good truck to a total piece of crap I've found is how you take care of it. Either you treat it like we have, and when we go places people ask how many miles on ours because they're shocked to see it have literally no scrapes, bumps, dents, anything, or you can look at how many rusted buckets there are out there. I find with trucks you'll always have maintenance to do, they're big, and still heavy duty pieces of equipment. Treated right I've never seen one go bad for no apparent reason, but thrashed and thrown around... as well as modded, I've seen all to many.
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Ram engines may be strong, but around here (Semi-Rural North Texas) even brand-new trucks are broken on the side of the road, more times than not it's either a transmission failure outright or, and here's where someone at FCA needs to get slapped until their eyes swap sockets, it's because someone bumped the gear selector and shifted into reverse...usually going 55+. My step-dad's last employer had it's entire fleet of Rams, minus a couple, in the shop for transmission issues. Don't get me wrong, people love them, but I don't trust them in the slightest.

Similar story though, I drive a 1997 F-250 with a 7.3 Turbo Power Stroke. Aside from actually rolling the thing or setting it on fire, it's been through hell. My step-dad drove it and used it, and I've been driving it since 2006 and while I don't romp on it like...pretty much everyone here does, it's toughed out cold, hail, tornado winds, my uncle (never again), etc. It's been down a number of times, but he keeps getting back up and going thousands more miles before something else goes. He leaks almost every fluid, had a length of rebar go through the cab, one small accident, MY UNCLE (calm...calm...), but he's done everything my family's asked him to do. He's only got 270,000 miles (a guy at work with a '96 has over 400k but has had less go wrong) and he is kinda needy, but he's a tank, my tank, and he does enjoy a run on the b-roads. I really, really don't want to replace him, but it's getting expensive to keep him on the road at-strength.
 
BKGlover
Ram engines may be strong, but around here (Semi-Rural North Texas) even brand-new trucks are broken on the side of the road, more times than not it's either a transmission failure outright or, and here's where someone at FCA needs to get slapped until their eyes swap sockets, it's because someone bumped the gear selector and shifted into reverse...usually going 55+. My step-dad's last employer had it's entire fleet of Rams, minus a couple, in the shop for transmission issues. Don't get me wrong, people love them, but I don't trust them in the slightest.

Similar story though, I drive a 1997 F-250 with a 7.3 Turbo Power Stroke. Aside from actually rolling the thing or setting it on fire, it's been through hell. My step-dad drove it and used it, and I've been driving it since 2006 and while I don't romp on it like...pretty much everyone here does, it's toughed out cold, hail, tornado winds, my uncle (never again), etc. It's been down a number of times, but he keeps getting back up and going thousands more miles before something else goes. He leaks almost every fluid, had a length of rebar go through the cab, one small accident, MY UNCLE (calm...calm...), but he's done everything my family's asked him to do. He's only got 270,000 miles (a guy at work with a '96 has over 400k but has had less go wrong) and he is kinda needy, but he's a tank, my tank, and he does enjoy a run on the b-roads. I really, really don't want to replace him, but it's getting expensive to keep him on the road at-strength.
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Are these trucks with tranny issues diesels or do they have gasoline engines? I don't have a ton of experience with gasoline trucks (though I know plenty of people with newer 1500 Rams that have decent mileage on them with no issues) but the diesels have very stout transmissions. If they are having issues because people are putting them in reverse at 55+ mph that isn't a "glass transmission," that is the fault of the driver and having plenty of seat time in a truck with one of those gear selectors, I don't see how it is an easy thing to do.

My truck has right at 400K miles on her, but she has had a pretty easy life. I've had it for 10 years and the only things I've had to do have been a water pump, starter, alternator and a couple voltage regulators. Not too bad for 10 years and 220K miles.
 
Parker
Are these trucks with tranny issues diesels or do they have gasoline engines? I don't have a ton of experience with gasoline trucks (though I know plenty of people with newer 1500 Rams that have decent mileage on them with no issues) but the diesels have very stout transmissions. If they are having issues because people are putting them in reverse at 55+ mph that isn't a "glass transmission," that is the fault of the driver and having plenty of seat time in a truck with one of those gear selectors, I don't see how it is an easy thing to do.

My truck has right at 400K miles on her, but she has had a pretty easy life. I've had it for 10 years and the only things I've had to do have been a water pump, starter, alternator and a couple voltage regulators. Not too bad for 10 years and 220K miles.
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It's been a combination. My step-dad was actually driving 70 on the interstate when he bumped it, but never said if that one broke, but in conversation I've had leans more toward the gas 1500s, likely due to sheer volume, and I'm hearing about constant issues with the clutch, transmissions, and transfer case, and it's been all fuels, all sizes, and auto and manual.

The key here is that I don't know how a majority of these people drive, so they could be running them like they're trying to uproot a redwood and I wouldn't know.

Cheers for your truck. :cheers:
 
I was tempted to go try out the 2.7 EB, then I remembered how the salesmen were last time, and I found the lack of even one Fiesta ST at this big time dealership a little disturbing.

Not that I need a truck anyway, my '05 Silverado is doing great, and everything that can possibly go wrong has easy fixes. If I need anything stronger Dad's '07 Ram 2500 Cummins 6 speed is always available for a favor or two...
 
Diesel specs:

The turbocharged 3.0-liter V6 makes 250 horsepower at 3,250 rpm and 440 pound-feet of torque at 1,750 rpm. Ford hasn't released official fuel economy numbers yet, but it's aiming for 30 mpg on the highway, which will be 4 mpg better than the next most efficient F-150, the one with the turbocharged 2.7-liter V6. The engine meets emissions requirements for all 50 states, and it uses a urea-injection system. It will also be mated to Ford's 10-speed automatic transmission with a beefier torque converter. According to Ford, the diesel F-150 will have a payload capacity of 2,020 pounds and a tow rating of 11,400 pounds.
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https://www.autoblog.com/2018/01/08/ford-f150-diesel-hp-torque-towing-payload/
 
I haven't seen too many of the Ram 1500 Diesels... I doubt I'll see much more around here but with a Ford badge. The 1/4 ton diesel market just doesn't make sense to me, especially with how Ford is releasing it in such a limited fashion compared to Ram.

I'll be interested to see a 50k mile write-up on it by real-word use though, and see if Ford is fudging estimate numbers....again.
 
IMG_6110.JPG
Just saw this pass me on the freeway.
Shelby F-150. Is this a real performance model? Has a deep front spoiler. Looked cool.
 

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