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All righty, you guys, I have owned this truck for a year and a half now and I’ve got 25,000 miles on it. It’S a 2023 Ford, F 350 with the high output diesel. Show you the miles here. This is the XL off-road package, so it is the basic work. Speec um and overall I’ve been pretty happy with this truck, but I’m going to tell you what my biggest grip or biggest flaw about it is there just so you can see that it’s got the 115 GVWR package and, like I said it’s, the XL, it’s a Crew cab and it’s a long bed.
Okay, I’ve got two car seats, packed there couple of dogs and we all travel to about a 13,000 lb Fifth Wheel in the back there. It’S got a headache rack with lights, toolbox, uh, which is actually just starting to crack. Now not too happy about that. You can see there’s a little crack going on there in the plastic. This is a decked toolbox by the way, otherwise been very happy with the waterproof um.
But enough of that, so I have had a couple of little issues with the truck I had the rear main seal replaced um under factory warranty. It was leaking from the rear main seal at about 21,000 Mi was 22. I guess, but the biggest thing that I don’t like about this truck actually has to do with this right here so 2023, even the XL models came with the factory Apple carplay, which is really nice, um Wireless carplay and then you’ve got wires down. Here. I use high quality, you know good lightning, cables, um they’re, not worn out or anything, but I have issues all the time with my carplay and also just with Bluetooth audio for that matter.
So what’ll happen is I’ll, be driving. The car play will randomly cut out and or the volume will cut out it will still show the display up here like it’s got carplay like your text messages, Google Maps whatever, but the audio won’t come through at all, so you’ll just be driving along and randomly The audio will cut out and there’s no way to reconnect it like you can try and reconnect it, but the audio won’t come back until you totally shut off the truck and restart it um. I’Ve had that happen, probably over a hundred times now in the last year and a half which is just really frustrating so sometimes the entire screen, the actual connection. U, the Bluetooth connection will cut out, and so your screen gets also disconnected like your Maps or whatever you’re using, but sometimes it’s just the audio. Now I’m on iOS 18 with an iPhone um like 13, or something like that and I’ve done.
The Wi-Fi updates on my truck I’ve done the Apple updates. I’M using a good cord happens whether I’m corded or plugged in tethered or not, and so it doesn’t seem to be a cord issue. It seems to be a Bluetooth stability issue or some kind of uh. I don’t know, there’s some some kind of a gremlin going on in the background, so I hate that just because it happens randomly and you’ll be on a long road trip. You don’t want to pull over just to have your audio, you know, so you can shut off the truck and start it again just to get your audio back.
Like that’s ridiculous um. In my opinion, it should be a very simple thing, but that is my biggest gripe with this truck has been the audio um cutting in and out and the Bluetooth connection. Um. Aside from that, the truck’s been pretty good 25,000 miles. It’S got great power.
Brakes are good. The exhaust brake works, fine, it’s not as good as Commons, I’m sure um. For what I tell it’s nothing super heavy visibility is great space inside I will say I’ve been very, very happy with the XL interior um. The seats are actually pretty comfortable and I’ve got the center console, but it folds up here and becomes a bench seat, and I’ve used this quite often like we’ve had six people in here many times or five people uh, but we’ll have our dog sit up here And it’s kind of nice that you get that um. There is also storage under here, which I never really even use um, because I just don’t need it, but it is there and then you just depress this button and Center comes back down and then you’ve got.
You know it’s kind of a smallish um center console there, but you’ve got two good cup holders put your phone there, whatever so um yeah. The truck overall has been pretty darn good. For me. I just wanted to talk to you about what has been a problematic and the uh. I guess the overall what I buy it again.
I think so I think so um I know has had some problems, just not a huge Chevy guy, just calling it like it is. For me. I’Ve just always been a Ford guy. I had a 60 that I really liked and put over 125,000 mil on it. I know that engine had problems, but um got that to like 350,000 miles after I had bought it used.
So I was pretty happy with that truck. This truck’s Been Good to Me. Overall um thing I really like about the XL package is just how easy it is to clean right like I’ve got dogs and toddlers, and I just never worry about all the rubber mats or the vinyl. You can see, there’s goldfish and crumbs and crap, but um. You know it’s very easy to clean this truck and uh get the dog hair out of it or the snacks um having the long bed has been great uh turning radius, absolutely sucks on this truck trying to make a U-turn.
You need more than two lanes, usually um, unless you spin it wide, but you can’t always do that in the other lane. Um bumper step is nice. I do use that quite a bit to get up uh this step. I actually don’t use a whole lot because, with the headache, rack and the toolbox here, you know I can grab on my toolbox and get something from the from the toolbox itself, but uh. I don’t do that generally, because I just climb in the bed as far as the deck toolbox goes.
If anybody’s interested and wondering um like I said, I’ve been pretty happy with it. The waterproofing is very good. We’Ve had a ton of rain. This thing has never ever leaked um, it’s pretty. You know deep and keep all my tools in here.
Recovery straps got uh all kinds of equipment here that I used to use for Demolition and junk removal um, and now I just keep it for you know. If I need to get out of a bad situation or fix something on the trailer uh but, like I said the two things I would actually change on this is, I would have a lock on both sides, so you have to unlock it from the driver’s side. Not the end of the world, but there is no lock here. You can open it here once it is, unlocked um and then you kind of have to slam it shut sometimes, and you can see that crack right there um that’s going on, and this is only a year and a half old um. I don’t abuse this truck.
Nothing’S ever hit it, but you know you do have to put some force on it just to get it shut all the way and press down on both sides, and then it works. But that’s uh been my one bummer about this. I really thought it would. Actually. Last longer than it has, but that crack is a bit disappointing um.
You know I do like the headache, rack and the lights um so that comes on. You got your turn signals and then extra bright, reverse LEDs. The de consumption on this truck um. I really don’t have anything to compare it to it’s. Fine.
I obviously wish I didn’t have Def and one day I might delete this truck after we move, but um here in California, that’s pretty strict, no, no uh, it does ride rough. When it’s empty. You can see it’s uh, you know it’s got our Leaf pack in here, and it’s also got the heavy duty front service suspension um it does. It does ride pretty much like a one ton when it’s empty, but when it is uh loaded, it rides pretty good. Um haven’t had any issues with the turbo, no issues with the transmission shifts pretty normally um.
Big reason why I got the long bed was for the fifth wheel and I could still have a toolbox and a headache. Rack not have to worry about any clearance issues. Uh and also it’s got a 48 gallon fuel tank. That’S one thing: I really do love, especially on road trips, when you’re towing the trailer it can get like 500 mes of range Towing, um. Plus I get about 750.
I just driving around town with uh the standard uh, just with the regular tank now, on average, I’m averaging about 17 m a gallon, that’s totally mixed driving, but honestly most of my driving is city um, just driving around in the suburbs, doing errands and stuff driving To work when I’m towing that goes down to about 12 to 10, depending on the grades with a 13,000 lb fifth wheel, um yeah, there really isn’t too much else to talk about on this truck couple things I wish I did get um. I did not get a bedliner, so I put this WeatherTech mat in and then we cut it to fit the BMW, uh fifth wheel, uh prep package, which I did also didn’t get because this was just pretty pretty barebones truck other than the XL off-road package. So that’s fine um! I really wish I would have gotten the up upfitter switches. I did not get that and that’s really the only thing that I didn’t get that I wanted um.
The bedliner is fine. As far as uh, I did get the snowplow prep package like I mentioned the heavy duty service suspension, and I do like the XL off-road package, these good, your Wranglers at 25,000 Mi um, I’ve rotated them a couple times, probably could rotate them more often than I Do but they’re still holding up pretty good. I think they have about 50 % life on them. Um I’ll probably put another 20,000 miles on them before I change. Those out do need to rotate those a little bit more.
I’Ve been doing my oil changes around 5 to 6,000 miles. Um. I’Ve never had the indicator light come on. I know you can run them longer, but I don’t like to just keep it clean, um yeah, that’s really about it. So obviously an alumin DTI.
So it’s aluminum body um, guess that’s good for anti-corrosion in the snow, but we’ll see how well it holds up over time. I I think pretty good. I do like that. The XL off-road has the shorter front air dam, so it looks it looks like it should, in my opinion, like the the regular ones, come down like another in and a half or something, and they just look stupid in my opinion. I know it helps with the aerodynamics, but I don’t like that uh I, like the look of the XL off-road.
Now I do kind of want to get a little bit bigger tires. This does look like a work truck which it sort of is but uh. It’S really just a family hauler to be honest and uh, so I do think I want to get something like 34s or 35s next time we change out the rubber. I might go with a good G Wrangler again, but I’ve also been really happy with the Coopers um. So I might go with like, like a Cooper Tire next alterrain of some sort, probably if you guys have any Tire recommendations or any recommendations for me on this truck uh.
Any questions, please let me know, and thanks for watching