2004 Ford F-150 2dr Regular Cab FX4 4WD Styleside 6.5 ft. SB (5.4L 8cyl 4A)
Review
I've had Toyota, Nissan, Chevy and Dodge trucks over the years. This is the first Ford truck I've owned. Bought it used with 97K miles. Only owned it for 3 months now, but I believe it's the best built pickup I've ever owned. I do have some concerns however. A tear appeared out of no where in the drivers seat, there is a whizzing/scraping sound coming from the right front (possibly brake issues). And the cam phaser knock that is common for these engines. Also the 4x4 will go into 4HI with no problem, but you have to mess with it to get it to go into 4LO, and then you have to mess with it some more to get it to come back out of 4LO. Have not towed with it yet, but I'm sure it's great at that.
Favorite Features
"Big truck" feel, roomy cab, comfortable ride, solid feel, no rattles or vibrations, very good looking truck.
Suggested Improvements
The very common cam phaser engine knock needs to be corrected in newer models to eliminate this engineering flaw. But I'm sure it has been corrected already. Spark plug nightmare needs to be corrected, although I've not went through this yet.
To Fobserver,
That sound you hear may be your wheel hubs trying to engage on the fly. This is caused by a bad
brake vacuum solenoid, or vacuum leak in vacuum lines. The Solenoid is located right behind the battery. Very easy to change and only costs about 16 bucks at rockauto.com or elsewhere. Do this right away. The design of the front 4 wheel drive depends on this solenoid to keep the truck out of 4 wheel drive. Intermittent behavior can cause serious damage to the front hubs. Do this now. A word to the wise. I love my truck too, very solid performer with a couple of design flaws. This one, and the idiotic spark plugs. BTW Low 4 only goes in stopped, in neutral.
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on 01/01/12 12:40 PM (PST)
To Fobserver, That sound you hear may be your wheel hubs trying to engage on the fly. This is caused by a bad brake vacuum solenoid, or vacuum leak in vacuum lines. The Solenoid is located right behind the battery. Very easy to change and only costs about 16 bucks at rockauto.com or elsewhere. Do this right away. The design of the front 4 wheel drive depends on this solenoid to keep the truck out of 4 wheel drive. Intermittent behavior can cause serious damage to the front hubs. Do this now. A word to the wise. I love my truck too, very solid performer with a couple of design flaws. This one, and the idiotic spark plugs. BTW Low 4 only goes in stopped, in neutral.
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