Watch YouTube. There are countless videos of vehicles misbehaving as a result of modifications and the operator not underestimating the new limits. Several of these videos show slight injury, the odd one involves something significant.

 

That's not what I'm talking about - there are idiots everywhere. You can not understand the limits of a stock vehicle and still hurt yourself or others.

It's like OP thinks some number of people are literally hacking into their vehicle control systems and just playing around for grins, which is categorically not the case. For some reason he's also disparaging new safety features like the ACC and BLIS which I don't really understand.

The "Now kids, everyone listen because I'm a responsible engineer." tone doesn't help.

 

Just cause the OP drives a train, that doesn't make his point any less valid.

 

I appreciate the OP's point of view. However, it goes much further back in time then these fancy new systems. In short, too many people aren't smart enough to understand the limitations of their abilities, and more importantly the potential ramifications of their actions on others. Some examples:

- I've lived in a state (PA) where annual state inspections were required. They caught things that I, as a very observant driver, had no idea were malfunctioning or about to malfunction. Some of these were clearly safety-related, and had they not caught them it's possible someone could have been hurt. Could be something as simple as a brake light being out, or all brake lights being out. How many people out of 100 regularly check their lights? How many people out of 100 check the air pressure in their tires, versus driving around on near flat tires that may blow at any point? I can tell you that in Michigan it's not unusual to see a beater driving on the interstate with no car hood - because the hood blew off some time before. Or fenders flapping in the wind.

- I have a relative that is the nicest man you could ever meet. Everyone says that. He is very mechanically inclined. He's also tighter with a buck than anyone I've ever met. Some time ago, he was driving in a neighborhood and his tie rod broke (or some other steering component). He totally lost steering and the car went over the curb and stopped just short of a fence (his relative's it so happens). Luckily he was going 15 mph. I called his car dealer and said "how can someone bring in their car every 3,000 miles for an oil change and you not spot this?". They pulled up the records and said "we not only told him that it was about to fail, we sent him a letter after the appointment reiterating the importance of immediately replacing it.". When I asked my relative "what would have happened had it failed at 70mph on the highway?", his response was "I'm almost 90 years old, so if we go we go.". I said "what if you hit a car with a family in it and killed them?". He just looked at me. From that point on I monitored his credit card and when I saw a charge from the dealer I called and they told me what they found, if anything. Most recent was a transmission fluid leak. He thanked them, went home, and added some additive designed to stop transmission leaks.

- Many people, including some on this forum, knowingly tow over their vehicle's capabilities. A small fraction of F-150 owners ask on the forum for advice, get great advice from knowledgeable owners, and educate themselves to safely tow. The vast majority of people don't have a clue and regularly risk their lives - and ours - on the roads.

To summarize, we can all joke about self-selection and such, but the reality is that too many people lack the intelligence to understand the consequences of their actions, and the OP's pointing out that these systems are very complex may cause someone to think twice. I applaud his post.

 

Uh-oh, LOL.

OP, is this what you were warning us about?

https://www.f150forum.com/f118/tunin...u-made-315195/

 

Or things like this:

https://www.f150forum.com/f118/adapt...-scary-299485/

 

Agreed

Yes, I don't think some people realize that a lot of our cool new technology started out on luxury brands years ago. Adaptive cruise came to US around 2000 and had been in other countries before that. Ford does have the designation of being the first truck, but this Technology is by no means "new", unless we are supposed to wait several decades before something isn't new anymore. I am sure all of our other new to the truck options have been baking in luxury brands for at least as long, with some items starting before that in military applications. I won't be "hacking" any systems to make changes, but I will never be deterred from buying a vehicle that has technology.

 

Ha, I love reading the comments from people complaining about the adaptive cruise control. I had adaptive cruise in my 2003 Infiniti FX and it worked pretty good once you figured out how it functioned. I can't see a way that a system with 12 more years of advancement isn't way better, so I always assume people are just being unreasonable.

 

chief_bs

You nailed it!
With the VCM I , VCM III and a Ford subscription, the failure rate of network controlled components is staggering and very expensive. The modern Technician requires a degree in Engineering and a proficiency in programming to apply the hex data and fit it into a misbehaving controller.

The day of the knuckle dragging Neanderthal has just ended when ADAS calibrations are required after a road accident or a damaged windshield with camera adaptations and calibrations. Then there's adaptive cruise control and lane change assistance.

As for the nay sayers, see you at the shop and top up your credit card. It's 2021, toys break all the time.

 

Dammit, you guys are cool.