I love my 2012 F-150 Eco-Boost truck except for some of the really cheap stuff stuck on a really good truck to save a couple bucks 1)El cheapo Hankook tires 2)Skid"plate"El cheapo fasteners that let it fall off frequently 3)major issue - Flex bumper. My F-150 has 28,000 miles on it and both sides of the Flex bumper have shook around enough to chip the paint under the fold around wings. It came with the Flex Bumper and Factory Trailer hitch. What is best solid after market bumper to replace with when I have paint chips repaired ?

 

I'm not sure which series of Hankook tires you have but the ones that came on my 09 had 60k miles on them when I traded it in, they had 4/32's of tread left, the only time I put air in the tires was to shut of the low pressure switch when we'd get a cold spell here.(Once a year), never rotated or balanced and it handled great and rode smooth the entire time. I'll take better care of the ones that came on my 13 as I plan on keeping this truck for awhile. Good luck getting your issues fixed.

 

What's a flex bumper?

 

X2

 

Flex bumper is a bumper cover.

 

The hankook tires are cheap because it's a cheaper truck. Higher end Michelin LTX A/T2 tires or BFG Rugged Trail tires are an option from Ford on the XLT at very little cost. I agree about the skid plate (the one covering the transmission under my truck fell off a month ago) but the rear bumper has never been an issue. Maybe it's loose?

 

That's not a skid plate and it says in the owners manual to remove it if offroading. I removed mine last winter and haven't bothered to put it back on.

 

As I have read it, the Flex bumper"wings"folding around on each side are designed to fold into the fender well rather than push ahead mashing everything in a collision. Basically - that means they are so flimsy when towing they jump all over the place, chipping paint off in the dish where the bumper"'flex wings"curve around the bottom of the bed side. Makes no sense to me- so will put a real bumper on when Ford take off Flex bumper to re-paint chipped areas.