Bought a new truck. 2017 F250 review.

Buliwyf

Viking with a Hammer
http://www.donleyfordshelby.net/new...0e0ae741edf8d84c948b0c.htm?searchDepth=32:132

Hopefully that pic shows up. I got a quote for rust repair on my 2008, which also needs a brake master cylinder, mirrors, taillights, front bumper repainted again, and a few other odds and ends. Sadly the body repair quote was insanely high from 2 different body shops. Rust never sleeps. So I traded it in, the repair #'s didn't add up very well, and when the rust returns, the truck will be pretty much worthless. With the 2018's out, a decent tuck is under $39,000.

F250 XL, CC, shortbed this time, FX4, 3.73 with the E locker.

The good:
+CC is huge. Back seat is like being in a limo. Some might consider the extended cab instead, the CC might actually be too big.
+Way cheaper than a Suburban if you need to seat 5 adults and a kid. 4 adults and 2 kids is more realistic though.
+Steering is much MUCH improved. Smaller wheel as well. It's like driving a little 2015 Nissan Titan, even though it's obvious still a big truck.
+Engine is twice as peppy as my 5.4 ever was. Very nice, but I knew that going in. My work truck has a 6.2L and it's a beast.
+They went back to the old 2008 turn signal stalk!!! I've been complaining about the 2015 stalk and giant steering wheel for a while, Ford listened!
+Oversized lights, windows, and mirrors make the truck look smaller than it is. A neat trick, I wonder who's idea that was?
+Ride isn't bad, but stiff. Might be the snow plow package? If I level it, I'll pick out a softer front spring.
+Finally a telescopic steering adjustment!
+Rubber floors
+Skid plates actually look tough, I'll take a closer look in the morn.
+The tailgate locks when you lock the doors.
+The 250 transmission does feel more lively than the 350 trans. A little more light footed and eager to shift up or down.
+Ride height seems high for a 250.
+Hill decent assist.


The bad:
-3.73 gear. This one was priced right with features I wanted. I suppose I'll regear it if I ever go larger than a 36" tire. But I'll likely stick to a 285 or 295. I'll give the 3.73 gears a chance. If I regear, I'll put a Truetrac in the front diff. Truck feels fine, but with bigger tires I'll bet it'll need more gear.

-Any wider tires are going to need flares. I think I'll add Bushwacker Extra wide Flares.
http://www.stage3motorsports.com/BW...nd-a-Fender-Extra-Wide-Fender-Flares-4pc.html

-It's a major PITA to climb in and out of. A step rail or the auto retracting steps are in my future. Ford even offers a retracting step. Hopefully it's not too much $$$.
-The tailgate is locked if you forget to unlock the doors before hopping out.
-The overhead light button is fun to find in the dark
-Not even a plastic bed liner. I'll have to use furniture blankets to keep from tearing up the paint in the bed until I can Monstaliner the bed in the spiring.
-Why don't steel wheels ever come in black?
-Rancho shocks. Seem to work well enough. But will be toast before 40k miles are on the truck. Getting some Bilstein 5100's.
-Headlights are a bit bright (hardly a complaint, but GM and Ford are getting a bit carried away). Be careful when you weigh the truck down. They'll be aimed high and blind/melt oncoming traffic.
-It's painful wheeling a truck with no scratches. Maybe I'll wrap the bottom half of the truck?
-Ford VVT is still noisy.

In other news. A gas Lariat is as expensive as a diesel XL. Regular cabs were only $2000 less than CC's.
 
Last edited:

Regcabguy

Oil eater.
Sage Carli bought a Superduty in order to enhance the stock handling with his components.
He offers a leveling kit.
I've ridden in a full tilt King 2.5 pintop setup on a 6.2 F-250. Incredible offroad manners.
I was grabbing the handle and had a hand on the ceiling when the owner took me on a mini offroad course. Nothing. Fully in control.
Nice truck. It should give you great service.
 

IPA

Observer
Congrats!

I really want a new Ford. Cannot find one on a lot anywhere with the combination of options I want. XL, 6.2, rubber floors, cloth seats, manual transfer case, 4.3 gears, in some color other than white, out the door for less than $40k.

Doesn't seem like too much to ask for but I can not find it on a lot anywhere.
 

Buliwyf

Viking with a Hammer
Congrats!

I really want a new Ford. Cannot find one on a lot anywhere with the combination of options I want. XL, 6.2, rubber floors, cloth seats, manual transfer case, 4.3 gears, in some color other than white, out the door for less than $40k.

Doesn't seem like too much to ask for but I can not find it on a lot anywhere.

Yeah, the XL's usually have vinyl seats. But they're actually kinda nice. I always use a Wet Okole seat cover anyways so I didn't care. You have to add an interior package to get the cloth XLT seats. Which usually ends up bumpin the truck up to an XLT which has the extra chrome we don't want. I love the XL black plastic grill.

I keep seeing these:
http://www.donleyfordshelby.net/new...a0e0ae8385ef22423b4eff0.htm?searchDepth=10:20
But they're all 3.73 and ESOF.

And when the dealer adds the E locker, you get bumped to Electronic transfer case and 3.73 gears almost every time. Which is why I'm giving those options a chance for the 1st time in my life. At least it still has auto/manual hubs which I may switch over to just manual Warn hubs, although I've never broken a stock Ford hub in anything but a dinged up olde off road truck IIRC. It might be because the E locker turns on and off at certain speeds in 4H or 2WD. But the manual case has a switch telling the ECM what position it's in, so i don't get that. Maybe the ESOF is more popular than I thought?

The rubber floors are a nice touch.

I'll have to run the VIN on my 2015 work truck. If it's 3.73, then I'm stylin. Because that truck gets along great at 10,000 to 11,000 pounds. But it's an XLT, or an XL with too much chrome.

I'm definitely leaning towards the Carli 2" kits when these tires wear out. Carli is pricey, but so is a new truck. I'll be adding Firestone bags and Daystar cups as well. It'll be a while, just bought a house as well and am moving currently so cash is tight. The Carli kits come with nice front springs as well. If I wanted to keep my plow springs for a heavy winch, the 2" BDS kit works nice as well.
 
Last edited:

IPA

Observer
Yeah, the XL's usually have vinyl seats. But they're actually kinda nice. I always use a Wet Okole seat cover anyways so I didn't care. You have to add an interior package to get the cloth XLT seats.

I have often wondered if some good quality seat covers would make the vinyl seats more comfortable.
 

Buliwyf

Viking with a Hammer
I have often wondered if some good quality seat covers would make the vinyl seats more comfortable.

Yes, absolutely.

But, Wet Okole covers are serious $$$ and get warm in the summer. Which is odd that they're bad in the summer, then I remembered, they're made in Hawaii where everyone is naked. It's not terrible, but if you have a long trip in a suit, in the summer, your AC will be freezing your arms and legs because of the warm seat. Spring, Fall, Winter, they're the best seat covers out there. They stay tight and look great.

Avoid black, it fades. Grey and tan also fade, but aren't noticeable. I prefer the standards, not the piped. The pipes might be hard to get perfectly straight every time you take the cover off/on.

And the WO seatcovers are NOT waterproof. We'll the covers are, they're basically wet suits, but water goes right through them. You have to take the covers off if you have leather underneath and they get soaked. Vinyl and Cloth, don't worry about it as much. Machine washable as well.

Pro tip: When the left side of the driverside seat gets floppy from sliding in/out of the truck, you can sew/glue in some padding to the bottom of the cover to fix that.
 
Last edited:

freedomrider

Ordinary average guy
I have often wondered if some good quality seat covers would make the vinyl seats more comfortable.

I used to have a zero frills F150 with a vinyl bench seat. I bought a no-name cloth seat cover and it worked great. I'm not a fan of my skin welding onto vinyl on a hot summer day. :) The vinyl looked brand new when I sold the truck.
 

Buliwyf

Viking with a Hammer
A few other things I noticed today:
-I should get some bent wire type chain hooks for trailer chains. Any random trailer I may rent might have thick cast hooks, those won't fit the new hitch holes.

-be careful with pintle ball hitches and pintle mounts. Mine is the hardcore Buyers max height adjustment, with a 4" drop adjustment, on a 14" solid shank. That hitch was only 1/4" from knocking a dent in my tailgate when I lowered it. $6000 tailgate? I made sure to remove the hitch so I could load bikes today, any gate flex could have been a problem.

Pm1012, best hitch out there:
https://www.buyersproducts.com/product/pintle-hook-mount-138

https://www.buyersproducts.com/product/8-ton-combination-hitch-131



-Mine didn't come with a built in trailer brake. LOL, that should be standard on all Superduties. Oh well, I'll have to add one.

+Way better ride than my 2015 F350 work truck. Much smoother, especially the rear.

+BDS offers kit with a little 1" spacer for the front spring and Fox shocks. I don't think this truck needs a 2" leveling kit for the 295/70r17's I'm going to run. The truck is much taller than my previous F250. I'm actually going to add Westin HDX drop steps:
http://www.stage3motorsports.com/WN-56-13945-2017-F250-F350-Crew-Cab-Westin-HDX-Drop-Steps.html

+OEM F150 side steps fit, and don't hang down like F350 side steps. And they're black. Take offs should be available somewhere for $85. But the ones I've found were almost as expensive as the nice Wesstin HDX's.

-Ford must be really confident in the Al body. There are no rear wheelwell liners. I'll get a pair of aftermarket ones from stage3.

+I got to use 4wd today, but didn't get to test the locker. Worked as advertised. The ESOF is a bit quiet. I'm avoiding dirt roads until I get some fenders. Haven't had a chance to try the downhill assist either.
 
Last edited:

fordracing19

Observer
I thought my electric locking tailgate had me covered until I came out of a store after 20 min in Dallas yesterday and Platinum F250 tailgate was GONE!
 

Buliwyf

Viking with a Hammer
From what I read the locks don't even slow them down.

I looked into it. They're removing the panels on inside of the tail gate or going through the hole for the steps and such.

Line-x type bed liners slow them down a little. The hose clamp can slow them down a little. Putting a washer on the cable bolts so they can no longer be quick released, and then filling the torx bolt head with epoxy helps a bit. I wouldn't steal a gate that all 3 of those problems.

I wonder if anyone ever tried welding a little bead on the socket the tailgate slides into? I'll bet that it's still steel. My 2008 Tailgate rusted there. It was impossible to steal without a giant plastic dead blow hammer and a ton of noise for a half hour.

I don't even need to remove my tailgate ever. Even the gooseneck and 5'er guys leave them on now.
 

Forum statistics

Threads
185,534
Messages
2,875,615
Members
224,922
Latest member
Randy Towles
Top