Project 'Patience' - 2023 F-150

[Dougnuts]

Welcome to project Patience, a 2023 Ford F-150 XLT FX4 Sport. This truck is equipped with the 3.5TT Ecoboost, 9.75" rear end with 3.55 gears & electronic locker, trailer tow pkg., 360° camera, copilot assist, bed utility package, and tow mirrors.

As someone who doesn't name his vehicles, why does this one have a name?

Well, before talking about the new truck, let me start with some back story. My previous truck was a similarly equipped 2018 F-150. I loved that truck and it received a lot of positive comments from people, both friends and random passerby's. As a lifelong car guy, it felt good to build that truck into my vision and have people react positively. The truck was largely used for road trips, so there were lots of good memories and places tied to that vehicle.

On the other hand, being well aware of the design concerns with both the 3.5TT engine and the 10R80, and only having 1 year left on my extended warranty, I began adding up how much money I needed to set aside for potential repairs ($10-15k). I was also really pining for some better headlights, which would have been around $2500 for OEM parts. Even though I had recently purchased (but not yet installed) a Fox 2.5" front suspension, the wife and I decided it was better to sell the truck, while the value was high, and go a year or two without a truck. After a few months of trying to sell on forums and Facebook marketplace, the truck sold within an hour of placing it on Cars.com, to a guy in the neighborhood next to ours.

I immediately felt a hole in my life. My self-expression was gone. My tool was gone. Was it time to turn in my man card, or was this me finally growing up? Maybe it was time for me to learn patience, proving to myself that delayed gratification was something I was capable of.

Below is the 2018 F-150 XLT Sport Max Tow, with 3.5TT, rear locker, etc. I had installed many upgrades, including Lariat leather, Fox Suspension, and 34" BFG's on Method wheels.

 

[Dougnuts]

I was truckless........what to do, what to do?

I began to get desperate.....I began shopping all options, trying to figure out the balance between bang for my buck, desires, and long term goals. There were many options considered, from my friend’s King Ranch with 275k miles, to a new Raptor or F250 Tremor…..maybe a Tundra would fit me well. My brother works for Toyota and he would have another discount available for me to use in June, but those interest rates are killer.

In January, Ford brought out 1.9% financing for the remaining 2023 models and discounts were starting to pile up. My wife relented under one condition, that I was patient when it came to modifications. No problem, I thought, as I already had front suspension in the garage, and now I would have a truck again.....a useful tool that would be there if I need it. On the coldest day of January I took a day off work and started calling dealers. I located two trucks I liked, negotiated, and purchased the new truck.

An F-150 Tremor trim would have been perfect for me, but they didn't have the 1.9% financing. The decision ended up between between a Lariat Sport in Area 51, or a black XLT Sport. I'm not much for the maintenance required to keep a black vehicle clean, and I liked the idea of having another "rare" color, like the 2018's LeadFoot. However, the Lariat lacked 360° cameras and was $10k more expensive....so I chose the cheaper truck.

 

[Dougnuts]

What exactly did I get?

As someone who lusts after a Raptor, and spends a lot of time on YouTube watching things like Texas Raptor Runs, I realize that is not what I need. Similar to what I learned in some forum threads, a Tremor would do the job I need it to do, probably better than a Raptor would. Obviously, I didn't get a Tremor, but I can purchase the most important bits for this truck, someday.

In the end, I kind of bought a work truck, but that's OK. It has the options I need and it came with some pretty good General Grabber tires that measure just under 33".

Most importantly, I now have blind spot monitoring, cross-traffic alert, and LED headlights. These are all items I really wanted on my last truck, and helped drive the decision to sell and buy a newer vehicle.

Some of the things that are nice to have are wireless Carplay, a small glove box above the glove box, and the general configuration capabilities of the very sweet 12" display. Toyota trucks may have a 14" display, but Ford's operating system and screen utilization are much better. I love that I can have Carplay on the screen at the same time as the native Ford information, like satellite radio.

The only major gripe I have is how thick the center console lid is. In my old truck, I could keep a full size box of Kleenex on top of the Tuffy lid. In this truck, I had to buy some spacesaver boxes to fit in that spot.

My birthday in mid-February netted some Amazon gift cars, so I was able to get some accessories that I knew I wanted sooner rather than later.

A screen cover to protect that large 12" display, a Tuffy lockbox, a neoprene console lid cover, and the Built Right rear seat release.

 

[Dougnuts]

Patience is a virtue, but I never claimed to be virtuous.

Due to the chip shortage, Ford took the temperature LCD off the dials of the HVAC controls. It's now located all the way up at the top of the 12" display. This was an annoyance to me, and my wife was a bit confused the first time. For $130, the older HVAC controls could be purchased from eBay, so I decided to do just that. I filmed the install with my GoPro, sped it up a little, and put it on YouTube to help others.

I also sprayed the underside of the truck with black Fluid Film.

When I was buying this truck I thought a lot about living with the paint color, because I had purchased a black Camry last year. Since I street park the car, it actually took a few months before I realized how much both vehicles match. What's harder than trying to keep a black vehicle looking nice? Doing it twice!

 

[Dougnuts]

What are my plans with this truck?

I was really happy with my last truck and it was a great road trip vehicle, but I always wanted to build a "goverlander". I want a vehicle that can knock out highway miles and then keep a decent pace when the pavement turns to gravel or dirt. My ultimate goal would to be attend a Raptor Run event with my boys. For camping trips, I want to be able to self-sustain easier, longer, and more comfortably.

I want a bit more performance and function out of this truck, and I think the smart move is to buy the big ticket items earlier in the ownership instead of having a list of "maybe someday" modifications. There are a lot of reasonably priced accessories for these trucks, but they can quickly add up to significant money, delaying the more expensive items.

The next big change for this truck will be out back, in the bed. Our last truck had a Paragon bed cover and we had purchased tall and short totes that would stack to a perfect height under the cover. I want to do this truck a bit different. Being able to self-sustain longer requires more room, and this will likely be solved with an RSI smart cap and maybe a decked drawer system. Regardless, the first thing I needed to do was to get the bed sprayed, so the truck made a visit to Line-x.

But first, there was one thing still bothering me.....I just didn't care for the grille on this truck. I tried to convince myself that it was fine and I needed to stick with the plan of focusing on the big things first, but eBay was full of Lariat Sport grilles. With the model year change happening, I knew the supply of quality parts would dry up fast, thereby increasing prices. Sometimes patience and indecision can cost more. I pulled the trigger, spent the $200 and an easy one hour install gave me what I wanted.

Before:

After:

 

[Dougnuts]

Like my last truck, I had to add some front marker lights. The color matches the tow mirror and side marker lights perfectly and fills in that huge gap of nothingness between the headlights. I was worried the amber light would look out of place between the white DRL's, but that's not the case.