2015 Ford F-150 Reader Questions Answered

In response to the slew of questions I received about the 2015 Ford F-150, I put together this video to try to address many of them.

There were additional questions raised by Randy, here is my response to them:

Q. Check the frame and frame components closely for both cracked welds and excessive rust.

I didn’t see any issues with the truck. I will say, modern trucks seem to exhibit surface rust faster than older trucks. I asked Toyota Chief Engineer Mike Sweers about that issue a few years back and he said it was do to EPA restrictions on the chemicals they can use to prevent rust.

Q. Drive on very rough roads at various speeds 40-60mph; have someone watch and film; do the tops of the front bumpers make contact with the plastic around the base of the headlights? Do any of the body panels pop loose around the head lights?

Unfortunately, this just wasn’t feasible for me to test. See: one-person shop.

Q. Test crash avoidance system is various lighting conditions, bright sunlight, shadows, over passes, passing large trucks? Test this with and without cruise control.

Ok, this question was a little nuts. LOL. I’m not really interested in testing the crash avoidance systems.

Q. Test EPAs under as many driving conditions as possible.

This was an interesting question and I’ll have more when I do my write up. Let’s just say, I had a really difficult time getting the EPA numbers in both the F-150 and the Ram EcoDiesel.

Q. Check and test door fitment (all doors) with particular attention to the plastic inserts at the base (joining) of the C Pillar and the Rocker Panel. Is water, mud, snow, ice able to enter behind those plastic inserts? Do the plastic inserts fit correctly with the Rocker Panel, the C Pillar, and the Back Door Panel?

I didn’t see any issues here.

Q. Test AM radio operation

What is this the 1960s? Should I check the CB as well?? LOL. I checked and it worked fine for me.

Q. Do an infotainment system overall test – much like Ram’s.

I did an infotainment system test. A few things from this:

First, I made a video only to learn I didn’t operate the system quite correctly. Turns out there is a “change state” command I wasn’t aware of which allows you to redirect the navigation.

Second, all 2016 Ford F-150 trucks will get a new Sync 3 system which, I’m told, offers a vastly improved interface similar to the Ram’s. Without a doubt, the older system in the 2015 Ford F-150 is not ideal.

Q. If this truck has LED tail lights; set running lights and observe at dusk looking directly towards the back center of the truck. Are the lights visible is all lighting conditions? 100, 200, and 300 feet away?

Where do you get these questions? 🙂 I didn’t notice any issues, but I, honestly, didn’t spend a lot of time looking into this question.

Q. Inspect the roof seams closely. Any buckles, waves, or voids, with the possibility of future water leaks?

No problem with the roof seams. Check the video.

Q. Is the truck you are testing a custom QC built Ford? Or just a dealer inventory truck?

This is an interesting question and one I can’t really answer. I’ve heard the stories of manufactures building press vehicles by hand. I think there is a bit of truth in this, however, not what you would imagine though. Many manufactures put out pre-production models to test for problems, send out for reviews and conduct media events with.

For example, all of the Toyota Tacoma’s trucks we drove in Seattle were pre-production models. This means they were all built by hand and not in a factory since the San Antonio plant is just now getting setup to build them.

With that said, I would imagine the 2015 Ford F-150 I drove was factory built since the build date was 3/15.