Mjolnir
FRF Addict
andypick said:Background: I live on the wet side of Washington state where our trails are gnarly and tight due to large trees & steep mountains. This is my 5th full size Ford. Ordered a silver screw with all everything but graphics/interior. This is long, but may help some waiting & debating.
Impressions:
1) Ordering process was very slow and I spent wasted time stressing about when the truck was going to come. I had limited insight around the whole build/transportation process which could be improved. Thanks to the guys at SVT who answered the phone and gave me some peace of mind. Did not meet expectations.
2) First thoughts upon arrival. WOW, this does look tough in person. Sounds sweet and feels solid. Everything looks a bit bigger. Met & exceeded my expectations.
3) First drive. Wide, powerful, get out of my way! Truck feels like driving a giant quad around. I noticed slight rattling due to the stiff suspension without weight in the truck. Once the shocks squat with speed or weight, truck smooth’s out. Surprisingly, this takes high speed corners such as onramps even better than my Expedition with 20inch rims. Power feels endless under normal driving.
4) Interior. Great and fits me well at 6'4". Seats are easily more comfortable than my King Ranch leather.. However the material looks just ok. Overall SYNC system hooked right up to my Windows phone and just works great. No issues. Sounds system is good in my mind. I have some background in high end audio and the stock system is generally pretty good. Too bad my rear heated seats were just a manufacturing mistake as this would be a great feature. Steering wheel is as good as it gets in my mind. I have large hands and it fits great... having this as the primary touch point to such a truck was a good match. Using the new garage door switch was somewhat difficult to program against my old Stanley openers.. my modern grg door opener was cake. Overall the interior exceeded my expectations.
5) Off-road. Well since most of the roads are snowed in here, I can only review how the truck drives in snow/wet conditions. We had a solid foot of snow and have a lot of hills here that can be tough to get around in. I explored the many 4x4 configurations and this truck just rocks. I did add 4 sand bags in the back (220lbs,) but have been running tires at the stock 44lbs. No problems at all getting around and I pulled a number of cars out of ditches. I can't wait for some open roads to really put the truck through its paces. Overall this truck way exceeds what you could ever need for normal around town in all conditions driving. I'm just starting play with manual shifting and know I will likely get a ticket soon for drifting turns
6) Upgrades/Add-ons. I added the Rigid dually set for the front. Wiring was simple, but bring along a friend with small hands. One of my duallys leaked water and burned out after just a week. They are going to warrantee it. I still can't decide how to treat the bed, so I just dropped a heavy weight rubber mat in which works well for now. I also ordered the loaded up Leer canopy but don't have it installed yet. I tossed the antenna and added a 14inch steel one so it doesn't hit my garage. This was an AutoZone special and it works great. Dropped in Sylvania gold headlight bulbs and silver backup bulbs for a little more viz. As for dealership treatments, I ended up getting a really good deal so I went with the cilojet paint treatment, undercoat (also covered rear wheel wells), and interior. I like the fact they coated the rear silver painted wheel wells. The Cilojet stuff has a great sales pitch. I normally toss the Ford batteries and upgrade, however there is a slight issue with this. The truck requires a minimum of 750cc with 140 minute reserve and is type 65. While it’s easy to find a battery with more ccs, it’s been impossible to find one with more reserve. In fact all the ones I’ve found have less reserve and this worries me with all the electronic **** this truck has. There is nothing worse than being a long way from home and a dead battery. I swapped my old un-used chains for a larger set which I probably won’t ever use, but being a big skier type I like to have them just in case of “lake ice”. Other accessories purchased so far… warn tow strap, Gerber pack shovel, warn d-rings, Viair 450 compressor, Viair gauge/deflator, and a Kimber stainless 1911 model .45 called the “Raptor”
7) Gripes. Coolant leakage in beginning. Seems to have gone away after I removed extra coolant. Bogus rear heated seat switches. Short wires inside dash for aux switches. Difficult programming for old style garage doors. No lights on 4x4 switching knob.
Nice writeup
Met and exceeded...you wouldn't by chance be from Microsoft would you, I'm a 22 year alum and that phrase is burned into my brain from reviews...3.5 pushing to a 4.0
