Caribou Gear

The Straw the Broke the Camels Back (Fords....)

teej89

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 7, 2015
Messages
1,677
Location
West of the Rockies
This is more of a vent and rant... bought my F150 new in 2014(terrible idea) since then it’s been nothing but problems. Let’s start slow, year one, air bag light on, I’m at the shop for two days till they figured it out, 3mo later, it’s back on. I get it fixed again, then a year later back on, couldn’t figure it out again, they got it “fixed” and now 5 years later it’s on again, been on for a while, I’ve given up.

Next up... AC goes out, and now I’ve put a lot of miles on so the warranty is void. I get that fixed, a good ole $1500 fix...

Well that’s all well and good, then, a couple months down the line, I go to take the pup pheasant hunting. Nope... car overheats and smokes on the highway, coolant completely leaked out, it’s a cracked water pump. Get that fixed.

Once again drive on the highway, all of the sudden all the lights go on on my dash, traction control, e brake on, engine service required, etc.... I take it in and a wire broke that lead to a sensor.... get that fixed....

I go to start up the AC again and whelp, the AC has gone out again... now I just run with zero AC, I’m over it. I’ve gotten used to just having the windows down. Fortunately the one part was on a two year warranty so I will get that looked at and estimated this summer.

I had a brake caliper freeze and run thru a pad and a rotor, that was an easy self fix tho.

Then I had a T (or branch?) leak all my coolant again. Fortunately I caught it leaking before I wasn’t full bore on the highway, that had to be fixed.

Once again driving on the highway, hit a bump and all the traction control, e brake, service engine, etc.... comes on. Got that fixed, same thing, the wire broke to the sensor. They paid for it since it was within a year of the other happening.

Don’t even get me started on the location of the oil filter and the damn hoses on either side of it making it nearly impossible to unscrew. Especially when I had to get my oil changed at a shop and had the hulk screw on my filter. Afterwards I got that one off my oil filter looked like it got shot with a shotgun, had to fill thru it and crank it out with a screwdriver.

And well there’s today. The straw that broke the camels back. The reason I’m typing this in my driveway, trying to hold back from throwing this breaker bar through my window.... I have to change my pads and rotors, pretty simple and straight forward... HA! Turns out, all of my lug nuts have swollen. They were 21mm and now some are 21 or 22 or in between. That’s not so bad because I have multiple sized sockets, however the cheap-o lug nut covers have started to break and separate from the lugnut over the years and when I crank on them the cover just spins around the but, I can get maybe 4 outta 6 off each tire. All I needed was to change my brakes and I can’t even get the tire off!!!. I’m beyond over ever owning a ford again, this is outrageous.

I thought maybe this is an isolated problem and I google it and apprently there’s a class action lawsuit in Michigan because of their faulty lug nuts where the covers are just spinning over the nuts. These ones have been decent so far but I think years of an impact wrench(from shops) and general use has done em in.

I’m just frustrated and had to blow off steam somehow without hucking this bar thru the window.

Also I apologize for any run ons or typos, I’m typing on my phone.

-Disgruntled Ford Owner
 
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Well GM is probably getting sued for transmission issues. They also had some driveshaft problems. Tundra limited slip clutches go out if you off road a lot. IDK about Ram, haven't heard a lot of chatter about problems with them. My father in law has had issues with his ram but he destroys vehicles regardless. Just saying all vehicles have problems. People seem to like the Titans if you can get over how ugly they are lol.
 
That sucks man. Worst car I ever owned was a Ford Contour. I’d say consider a Toyota, but every time I take my 2015 Tacoma in for service, invariably the service guy tells me that I should be glad that I got one of the last good ones. They say things went south after the 2015s. Might be different with the Tundras though. Good luck with the breaker bar/window situation.
 
Ugh, what a nightmare. I've owned trucks that are one problem after another with no relief in sight. Current '04 Ranger have had for 4 years and zero problems. IDK
 
Knock on wood... I have a 13’ Dodge Ram with the 6.7 with 127k and the only thing I’ve had to do was upgrade a coolant connector and a water pump.
 
I always figured you could hear anything you want about a truck brand if you talk to the right person.

Scott85 loves his Dodge and I wouldn't take one for free unless I could sell it. Teej89 hates his Ford but I have owned around eight Ford trucks and have never had a break-down or had to do anything other than maintenance (except a Ranger that had a factory defect in a coolant line that was fixed immediately under warranty). My current hunting truck is an '05 Explorer Sport Trac with 125,000 miles and I trust it to go anywhere I dare to take 'er. Hopefully she's got many more hunting season to go.

20181123_141920.jpg
 
I hate rig issues, my last truck was a 98 Dodge Ram , was falling apart in the end but was 20 years old , had some great adventures in it, never forget my first trip off the mountain with a branch bull in the back
108602

Thanks , rtraverdavis for telling me there are no good Tacoma’s after 2015 , since I just bought the 19 !!! Ha ha ha jackwagon
 
I'm sure the time has since passed being a 2014, but sometimes getting lawyers involved is a way to go. Some good friends of mine bought a new Ram that turned out to be a total lemon and had issue after issue that made it completely unsafe to drive sometimes.
The whole legal process process can take well over a year, however, they are basically going to be getting a full refund for it.

In my experience (worked at a dealership and sold parts for a while) I have found all vehicle brands to be generally the same in terms of quality and reliability. Sometimes you just get a bad batch 🤔
 
Thanks , rtraverdavis for telling me there are no good Tacoma’s after 2015 , since I just bought the 19 !!! Ha ha ha jackwagon

😬

Oh yeah, forgot about that. Just relaying what the dudes at the dealership say. I’m sure it’s bullshit. Your truck is beautiful. Aside from that scratch of course.
 
This is more of a vent and rant... bought my F150 new in 2014(terrible idea) since then it’s been nothing but problems. Let’s start slow, year one, air bag light on, I’m at the shop for two days till they figured it out, 3mo later, it’s back on. I get it fixed again, then a year later back on, couldn’t figure it out again, they got it “fixed” and now 5 years later it’s on again, been on for a while, I’ve given up.

Next up... AC goes out, and now I’ve put a lot of miles on so the warranty is void. I get that fixed, a good ole $1500 fix...

Well that’s all well and good, then, a couple months down the line, I go to take the pup pheasant hunting. Nope... car overheats and smokes on the highway, coolant completely leaked out, it’s a cracked water pump. Get that fixed.

Once again drive on the highway, all of the sudden all the lights go on on my dash, traction control, e brake on, engine service required, etc.... I take it in and a wire broke that lead to a sensor.... get that fixed....

I go to start up the AC again and whelp, the AC has gone out again... now I just run with zero AC, I’m over it. I’ve gotten used to just having the windows down. Fortunately the one part was on a two year warranty so I will get that looked at and estimated this summer.

I had a brake caliper freeze and run thru a pad and a rotor, that was an easy self fix tho.

Then I had a T (or branch?) leak all my coolant again. Fortunately I caught it leaking before I wasn’t full bore on the highway, that had to be fixed.

Once again driving on the highway, hit a bump and all the traction control, e brake, service engine, etc.... comes on. Got that fixed, same thing, the wire broke to the sensor. They paid for it since it was within a year of the other happening.

Don’t even get me started on the location of the oil filter and the damn hoses on either side of it making it nearly impossible to unscrew. Especially when I had to get my oil changed at a shop and had the hulk screw on my filter. Afterwards I got that one off my oil filter looked like it got shot with a shotgun, had to fill thru it and crank it out with a screwdriver.

And well there’s today. The straw that broke the camels back. The reason I’m typing this in my driveway, trying to hold back from throwing this breaker bar through my window.... I have to change my pads and rotors, pretty simple and straight forward... HA! Turns out, all of my lug nuts have swollen. They were 21mm and now some are 21 or 22 or in between. That’s not so bad because I have multiple sized sockets, however the cheap-o lug nut covers have started to break and separate from the lugnut over the years and when I crank on them the cover just spins around the but, I can get maybe 4 outta 6 off each tire. All I needed was to change my breaks and I can’t even get the tire off!!!. I’m beyond over ever owning a ford again, this is outrageous.

I thought maybe this is an isolated problem and I google it and apprently there’s a class action lawsuit in Michigan because of their faulty lug nuts where the covers are just spinning over the nuts. These ones have been decent so far but I think years of an impact wrench(from shops) and general use has done em in.

I’m just frustrated and had to blow off steam somehow without hucking this bar thru the window.

Also I apologize for any run ons or typos, I’m typing on my phone.

-Disgruntled Ford Owner
Hi TeeJ89. With all due respect, sorry about your ongoing troubles with your truck. I can’t help but laugh at these automakers.

Sell the consumer a $40,000+ piece of depreciating, scrap metal and put cheap lug nuts on the product to save a couple nickels for their profit margins and overpriced employee benefits.

You gotta give the auto industry credit - they surely have the American consumer by the “baseballs”.

My take - Give your spouse a nice vehicle and rent vehicles for all of your business or hunting trips. Lovely feeling to walk back to the rental counter and turn in the keys, knowing you don’t have to make repairs or suffer the depreciation.

Drive junk and let the $40,000+ earn a small return in a safe money market fund. Hell, buy yourself a private bighorn sheep hunt with the money. At least you won’t give $1,500 to the dealership every other month for a broken 4 year old air conditioner.

Thanks and no offense given towards your current troubles, TheGrayRider.
 
Wow, sorry to hear about your truck problems. I have owned 3 Ford F150’s, a Chevy Suburban, Chevy S10 pickup and blazer, and even a Honda Ridgeline. All have had their own issues fo sure. That said, out of the bunch, I still prefer F150’s. My current one is a 2016 F150 lariat that I had purchased new and so far the only problem is that stupid lug nut issue, I need to replace them all.
 
Wait until your wipers won’t turn off, or you need a head job because you let the 5.0 idle too much. We have 6 2014 F150s in our fleet and they are a a POS. I’m a Ford guy and I wouldn’t touch one! Have the wiper issue with my ‘14 F250 now.
 
Bummer. All I've ever run were Ford. Current one, now serving as a backup/winter weather/deer hauler, is a 2010 5.4 F150 with 264,000 on it. Nothing really major, but I did have the rear end rebuilt once by my own choosing. Wasn't broke, just got pretty noisy. The low tire light is always on but that's ignored. My backup alarm quit a while ago but hey, I have mirrors. Nothing wrong that affects my driving. Do my own maintenance and I haven't heard about the lug nut thing. THAT has to be frustrating!
 
I have a 09 Silverado that I've had a few problems with. #1 being the excessive oil use. The active fuel management that kicks in at cruising speed on the long highway drives does a great job of purging oil straight out of the engine and right through the tail pipe. It will foul up the plugs too. Not to mention the cylinder wall scaring from repetitively running it on low oil if you dont watch your oil levels. All because of a poorly designed valve cover from what I understand. They just had to mess with the vortec engine! Used to be a guaranteed high mileage engine. But according to Chevy, using 2 quarts of oil in 1000 miles is "normal". Several of my friends ditched theirs long ago. I gotta say, as a long time Chevy fan/owner it has definitely turned me off on them. A truck I've hoped to use for my western hunts has been relegated to a work truck. I'd need nearly as much oil as gas to get west :ROFLMAO:
 
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