Taylor Goes Platinum - 2011 Ford F150

[Jake]

+1 to Michelin LTX, I put a set on the Denali and they were very good.

[Senor_Taylor]

Was sitting at a stoplight on a cold morning and realized the heat didn't work. The heat only worked when the truck was moving or you revved the engine. Turns out I was a gallon low on coolant and no sensors or anything were indicating it. I had notice a coolant smell before but never saw any drips.

The level is slowly dropping again and I haven't been able to find any evidence of a leak except a drip sometimes on the splash shield. I'm not sure what it is and I'm wondering if ill just need to replace all of the hoses to fix it.

Transmission may still be overfilled as it shifts firmly on the 6-3 shift sometimes. The trans has to be at temp to get it right and it only gets to temp after 15+ minutes of real driving. Stay tuned.

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[Kaan]

Tundra...

[Scott]

Was sitting at a stoplight on a cold morning and realized the heat didn't work. The heat only worked when the truck was moving or you revved the engine. Turns out I was a gallon low on coolant and no sensors or anything were indicating it. I had notice a coolant smell before but never saw any drips.

The level is slowly dropping again and I haven't been able to find any evidence of a leak except a drip sometimes on the splash shield. I'm not sure what it is and I'm wondering if ill just need to replace all of the hoses to fix it.

Transmission may still be overfilled as it shifts firmly on the 6-3 shift sometimes. The trans has to be at temp to get it right and it only gets to temp after 15+ minutes of real driving. Stay tuned.

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In related news, my older Tundra's heat worked fine this morning and it's trans shifts great.

I'd start looking at the water pump as the culprit for the fluid loss.

[Deceus]

I had a small leak at my upper radiator hose once. It was hitting the fan and turning to mist so I could never really track it down properly as it left no trace other than the smell.

[Senor_Taylor]

I was never able to pinpoint the leak location directly, but there's a fair chance it was the y connector from the thermostat. It's a very common thing to leak so I ordered a new one. The only part Advance carries is a metal version which is an upgrade, so I ordered that. When it arrived, it did not seal properly on the upper radiator hose (which has an o ring you can't service), so I ordered a new upper hose and an OEM plastic Y connector. I think the aftermarket connector would have worked with the new upper hose, but I didn't want to risk it. Got those replaced quickly and cleaned the interior. Drove it around for the first time in what feels like months and it seems to be doing fine.

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[Ryan T]

Glad that fixed it. I had a SIlverado 8/9 years ago with a mysterious coolant loss that ended up being a cracked head. Didn’t know it till I tried to change the oil and it was brown pudding.

[Senor_Taylor]

Not much happened. Haven't driven it much at all. Fought myself for months on buying tires for it. They've been severely dry rotted, but had lots of tread, so I largely kept rolling on and kept an eye on them.

Decided to pull the trigger and was about to buy some high way all seasons before I realized that 1) I have the fiesta for daily driving and 2) Duratrac all terrains were cheaper. Went with the latter and I don't regret it. Towed the track car down to Richmond for the cage without issue and averaged almost 14 MPG, which is the exact same as usual. Excited to have something capable in the snow again.

[JPolen01]

Good thinking on the tires. Highway tires might have been a little quieter, but having the ability to go in the snow/mud will be a nice option.

[Deceus]

Probably stealing that idea with the Duratracs. The Ram definitely needs tires before it'll pass another inspection.

[ScottyB]

people seem to love those tires. i think they're 3-ply as well if you go for E-load so if you do ever decide to keep your pimp hand strong off road, they'll take some good knocks.

[Senor_Taylor]

Jake's update on his thread reminded me to check in on mine. 5 months of use, a couple more trips towing to VIR, a trip to the Poconos to pick up an engine and the truck hasn't skipped a beat.

The TPMS system has been going off ever since VA Tire did my tires and I've taken it back to them 3 times and each time they reset the thing and hand it back to me. They've checked the batteries in the sensors and everything seems to be fine. I'll give them another call soon.


Some things I've been considering.

1) I'd like to get the rear defrost working. Common issue with these trucks that were fixed under warranty for most owners, but of course, I did not notice until after my warranty was up from the dealer I bought it from. From what I've heard, it's $1000 for a new back window, and that hasn't been worth it to me. However, I think it's at least time I take it to the dealer for them to diagnose. Maybe it's something simple.

2) Headlights. I'd like to retrofit the projector headlights into my truck. I'm not sure what years/models ended up coming with the projector headlights, but for some reason, my fully loaded platinum does not have them. It seems pretty straight forward to swap the projector housings in so I think I may do that. https://www.protuninglab.com/pro-jh-ff15...OoQAvD_BwE

3) Head unit. I have the original Sync system in my truck and it's... fine. However, I'd really really really love to have Android Auto and bluetooth that actually shows the name of the song and artist playing. However, there's zero information out there on how to replace the headunit in the navigation models and retain the climate controls that are in the stock head unit.

I think with those 3 things, this truck will be perfect to keep for a very very long time. I love the truck, my gf loves the truck, my dog loves to ride in this truck. It's been super solid for me and it's a nice place to be.

This truck has been a tremendous asset to me. I've towed so many different cars this year and it enabled me to get these two old bimmers that didn't run!

[.RJ]

oh look an rx7 in its natural habitat

[rherold9]

I remember Crutchfield used to have those fancy wiring harness adapters to allow stock controls to work with different headunits for a lot of vehicles. Idk if that's still a thing or not

[Jake]

For the head unit:

I think you can replace it if you use an iDatalink Maestro RR as the interface between truck and HU. The Maestro is designed to not only retain steering wheel controls, but add vehicle-specific controls to certain aftermarket HUs that support showing those screens. So, if you install a supported Alpine, Kenwood, etc they know how to show the climate controls on a special screen and Maestro RR will make them play nice. I had an Alpine ILX-Wxxx in my gray F-150 and liked it a lot. The only "Sync" thing in that truck was the little two-line display showing song/artist but the Maestro kept that working.

For the headlights:

I think 2013-2014 were the years that got projector HIDs from Ford. People seem to retrofit all the time so that ought to be easy enough.

[Senor_Taylor]

Wow, it's been a while!

Nothing crazy. Two oil changes, lubed up the power running boards, replaced a turn signal bulb. Up to 107,000 miles. Towed two e21s, an E30, an e82, an E39. Sold my open trailer and bought an enclosed.



The truck tows the enclosed pretty well. It's a lot more stable than my open was, but obviously way heavier. 24 box, steel frame construction. Fully finished interior with AC, rubber coin floors, upper and lower cabinets, 12v and 120v lighting, speakers inside and out, loading lights, and exterior side lights.

Picked it up for a decent price in Raleigh and had to reseal the whole roof. It needs a good cleaning inside and maybe some more sealing/repair, and replacement of things like some water damaged boards. Overall, the trailer is in good shape.



Butyl seal completely gone from the roof seams let in rain water in the roof, which then leaked down through the AC, the back corner (Rotting the floor), and up front into my cabinets.



Scraped off the bad sealant, left the good, and covered everything with Butyl Tape. Also patched the floor in the rear (but plan to eventually pull it all up and replace the whole board), replace some weather stripping around the door, and used butyl tape to seal up the trim at the rear of the trailer.




Things to improve on the truck:
Need to take it in to get the rear defrost issue diagnosed. I'm 90% certain the whole rear glass needs to be replaced, but I would like to get it confirmed.
Transmission has had an occasional rough shift every once in a while. Probably should have that checked if I take it in.
Power Running boards are slow, not easy to service, and some times they stick down.
Rear bed cover is starting to fall apart
Tailgate is hard to hopen
Tailgate trim is coming off
I need to get under and wire brush/paint/fluid film the frame again

I ordered some helper springs to install on the rear and managed to lose one of the springs while I was waiting on them to send me some missing hardware. If I don't find the spring, I may just order some bags.

[Senor_Taylor]

Well, I managed to lose one of those helper springs and the company refuses to sell me just one spring, so I guess I'm looking at buying a new set completely or buying some bags. Anyone have suggestions on a cheap, simple product? I don't want to install any compressors.

[Senor_Taylor]

Ended up installing Firestone Ride Rite Airbags.