I've owned the truck one year now, well, as of 22 June it was one year. 13,1xx miles. Overall, I like it and I don't regret the purchase. For those that have been around, I owned a 15' King Ranch for a few months but ended up trading down to a XLT. I had priorities for the next 7 years and making that payment wasn't one of them. I don't think I lost out on the deal, and if I did it wasn't enough to notice. So I feel like it was a win. Less payment for less months.

Anyway, I did some modifications over the first few months of ownership. I liked most of them. I traded the 18" sport wheels for the 20" platinum wheels, bought 34" tires and sold the factory tires. Did a 2.5" lift up front and a 2.25" block in the rear. Added 1.5" wheel spacers. Bought a Platinum grille and painted it, then sold the XLT grille. Installed AMP power steps and sold the original boards. Shortened the antenna. I also bought a tuner and ran that for a little bit. After about 4 months of running the tuner I loaded the factory tune and it has stayed there. Between the factory settings and Sport Mode, it's enough.

So the tuner is probably my worst purchase. The 93 perf tune was great. I just don't like having to buy 93 octane and then getting crappy mileage in return, to just buy more 93 octane. What can I say, I'm a cheapskate. I made some posts regarding the 87eco and 87tow/perf tunes but I think my opinion was a little premature. After evaluating them a little more, I don't like them. Not much as far as performance (over Sport Mode), and both had a really hard 2-1 downshift for no reason. Just let me coast into my slow turn, I don't need to downshift. Plenty of power in second gear. 93 perf was fun to run though. I most likely will not load another tune onto this truck.

It's been problem free, aside from a battery issue I had which I can only assume was user error. I installed the AMP power steps then about 3 months later I was getting a battery/charging system error while driving. It would run, but if I stopped and turned off the truck, it was dead. I'd punch the steering wheel, and lights would come on for about 3 seconds and that was my window to start it. Well, low and behold, I didn't tighten the positive terminal. Crescent wrench + 20 seconds, problem solved. I just figured that if I made a mistake it would have shown up sooner. So, other than a dumb user error, it's been great.

Truck hauls everything I need. Hooked up a trailer a few times. Max weight probably 3 or 4k lbs. Didn't notice it, even with the "terrible choice" 3.31 gearing (which with the tires I have it more like 2.95 effective). Truck can be fast or a comfortable cruiser. Lifetime MPGs are at 21.4. Not bad at all. Even by lie-o-meter standards. Actual is probably 20.7 based on a few of the times I have hand calculated. I go about 630 miles between fill ups and the DTE still reads 80-100 remaining. I don't like to run it too far below 1/4.

The sport interior still looks brand new. The bed is all scratched to hell and back but I don't care too much for that. When I see more bare metal than paint I might do a spray in. Haven't had any dings, but I do have a few chips. Not where you would expect them. I thought the PTM bumper would look like crap in 6 months but I've touched up one spot. All the others (about 8 or so) are on the front and rear, drivers and passenger side doors. I'm guessing since my tires stick out a hair (mostly flush) I'm throwing rocks. That's the only way i can explain it. All my other vehicles got chips in the front. Glad I didn't spend money on clear film for the front. $15 touch up paint from Amazon and a little body work know-how and you can't tell unless you're looking/feeling for them.

I haven't decided what I want to do once the tires wear out. I'm hoping they'll last about 50k but I'm a little worried since the KO2s don't have a mileage warranty. I might not want to spend $1300 for tires. I considered removing the spacer and block and dropping down to maybe a 1.5" spacer, stock 1.25 block and 33" non LT tires. Slightly more factory look and theoretically less wear and tear. Probably a slight increase in economy as well.

If you've skipped the essay, in summary I like the truck a lot and probably will be keeping it longer than I originally anticipated. I thought I might upgrade to a 2018 when they come out but I don't really see the need. I'm happy with the XLT. I loved the King Ranch and I still stare at them every time I see one. They're beautiful trucks. But then my sensible side clicks in and aside from aesthetics and it being pretty, it's really non-essential.

I don't regret getting the 2WD model either. I haven't been in any hairy situations, but I try to avoid those anyway.

I'm sold. It took me a while to not pore over it and question everything Ford did. When I realized I didn't do that with my wife's car, I figured I'd stop the double standard and enjoy it.

Hope you guys are all enjoying your purchase after a year (or more) as well.

 

Cool..5 days into mine...hope to enjoy it 360 days from now!

 

Thanks for the great write-up Booze. Glad to hear things have gone well and that you’re happy with your purchase. Really appreciate your perspective related to the tune as I’ve been on the fence on whether to tune my 2.7. Honestly, since I’ve installed the JMS PedalMax and started driving in Sport Mode full time, I feel similarly where I’m just not sure I’d appreciate the value out of any gains. Down the road I may install the JMS BoostMax but again on the fence on that too.

One follow-up question, if you do downsize in tires/level-lift, would you still run your wheel adapters? I have 1.25” Boras on order and just wondering your overall thoughts on them. Thanks.

 

Thank you. It's nice to read what people think some time after a purchase, when the initial wow factor ends.

 

Good question. I've thought about it a little bit over the past few months and I'm not quite sure what I'd do. From a geometry standpoint, I think if I were to drop the truck with a smaller spacer and smaller rear block, as well as lower the tire diameter by an inch, the 1.5" wheel adapter might push me out too far for my liking. I don't want to buy a smaller size wheel adapter but I really don't like the stock tucked look.

Whatever I decide I'll keep the forum updated. With 13000 miles on these tires, hopefully I have a while to make that decision.

 

Sounds good, thanks. I'll also post up some pics once I get my 1.25" installed.

 

On the non tightened pos battery cable, not surprised it didn't show right away. It takes a while for the oxidation to set in and affect contact. Glad you found it though, electrical issues are only second to vacuum issues for being major headaches.

 

I got pretty much the same truck except 3.73 and 4x4, black even. 4x4 was essential for my travels. Bought in in March 2015 so it's been like a year and 3 months, and I've got 50k on it already lol


I love it as much as the day I got it. Only thing that bugged me was the black color and trying to keep it clean. Used to wash it more than once a week but I gave up on that. It's my first black vehicle, and will be my last hah. But still, other than keeping it clean, I have no regrets and I'll be keeping it for a long long time.

 

Only 13k miles, don't you like driving the thing? haha


I've had mine for almost a month and put a little over 2000 miles, no road trips yet but we drive a lot

 

Nice write up. But only 13k? I've owned mine since September 21st of last year and i have around 18k on mine along with BFG's since around march and i gotta say they are wearing fantastic!