[rupert]

2019 F150 XLT 3L Diesel FX4. Purchased new in October 2019 and have about 35,000 miles on it to date. So, yeah it's been a good ride. Issue with faulty EGR valve last May that had it parked for almost a month while trying to find the parts. Now facing FSA for the same thing. Other than that, we've been very happy with it. We train retrievers and have a 4 dog kennel box mounted on the bed. That's about 800#. Add 3 to 4 dogs, 2 people and all the gear truck still averages about 24 mpg. With all that I've pulled friends from the mud. One was a Nissan Titan 4wd that was just spinning all 4 wheels. The other an older 4wd F350 with a 4 wheeler trailer and 12 hole kennel box that sank up to the rails in a bog. Lot of weight but we eased out of the mud pit with ease.
Pulling a 24' travel trailer is no strain. Interstate at 65 mph engine runs at 1,500 rpm and rarely drops a gear. In our moderately hilly home base truck stays locked on whatever cruise I set and rarely drops more than 1 or 2 gears. With the TT mileage drops to about 17 mpg. That's dbl what I was getting with my Chevy V8 gasser. Added air bags which I run at about 20 psi. With the TT hooked up I boost that to 50 psi. That keeps truck on a level plane and smooths out the bumps nicely.
When I can I'll post a pic.
Folks here have been very helpful with info on the recall/FSA. Thanks

 

[jmperlik]

@rupert - gave you a quick "welcome" in your first post over on the EGR By-Pass Recall v2.0 (20E04), but I'll give you my standard obligatory welcome here in the New Member Introductions sub-forum.

Thanks for posting your towing MPGs as that helps with prospective buyers looking at this platform for towing.

As a dog trainer, sounds like you have a serious dog kennel setup (800lbs!) to protect your doggers. We had a previous Dogs and trucks thread where @Henfield was looking for pickup bed options for transporting dogs. While your setup sounds pretty permanent (any pics?), I consider you to be our new SME (Subject Matter Expert) on transporting canines and perhaps you could chime in on that Dogs and trucks thread with your experiences and recommendations.

Here in shows the power of our little F150 PS Diesel club in the corner of the Internets, where we continue to build a knowledge base of owners who in their own right are SMEs on something that most of us aren't and can help steer us in the right direction.

Looking forward to hearing more from you and hoping to see some pictures of your kennel system (and dogs!)

Welcome to the club here and please don't be afraid to post back with your new ownership questions & experiences.

 

[rupert]

Thanks. We're packing up to head south so I'll get some pics posted in a couple of days.

 

[rupert]

Made the 711 mile drive to FL in one day pulling the travel trailer. Something I would not have attempted with the old Chevy gasser. That truck was a great workhorse and I ran up about 350,000 miles on it. But boring into a S Dakota headwind, the RPMs churning at 4,500, making about 50MPH and burning through 8 MPG got me thinking about a diesel. Here's a pic of the new rig. The dog box was made by Mike DuCross in Ottawa, 15+ years ago. (I'm the 3rd owner.) Comfortable, lockable kennels for 4 dogs. We have 2 golden and 2 Labrador retrievers that go up to 65 lbs. Light weight aluminum ramps lets pups load and unload easily. (Except for the old guy who at 13 needs some assist.) Box has interior and exterior work lights, fan and 20 gallon pressure water tank. Plus room for all our gear.
Truck came with 4WD package, trlr package. Otherwise pretty standard XLT. I added the Firestone air bags and the pic shows the rear end slightly elevated as I hadn't let the air down after unhitching the TT. We run an Equalizer anti-sway WD hitch system. I see too many rigs on the road where the trlr is down by the nose and out of balance. I give those a wide berth. Other than the issues with the EGR truck has been flawless in its first 35,000 miles. I'm thinking about getting an extended warranty through Ford. My local mechanic, who did all the work on the old Chevy advised against any warranty program other than dealer/Ford. Even though that means he won't get the repair jobs. Thoughts on extended warranty programs?

Thanks all. This forum has been very informative.

 

[jmperlik]

@rupert - this is probably the best thread on ESPs: Extended Warranty After the Sale

Opinions here vary on the value of ESPs and mine changed recently with the purchase on my 2018 PS Diesel:

• There is definitely a huge dealer mark-up if you add as part of F&I process
• There is a pretty simple way to drive that dealer markup out of your cost
• PM me if you have further questions