Sheila the Truck
Updated March 2022
Sheila is our 2019 F450 Platinum FX4, and we're lucky to have her. Here we'll keep note of the things we learn, change and fix on our truck. If you'd prefer to hear from more experienced folks in video form, I learned a ton from the BTBRV/KYD video here.
Two things: payload and turning radius.
The door-sticker payload on this truck is 4,646 lbs. The pin weight of our Solitude is about 3,000 lbs fully loaded. That means we would need about 3,800 lbs of payload capability in any truck we take on this adventure. Single rear wheel trucks top out around 3,200 lbs in a stripped, work truck configuration, which not only would be too small for us to all fit into, but leave little room for people, equipment, and needed supplies.
So once you go to the dual rear wheel trucks you get that 4,000+ lb payload, but maneuverability becomes an (even bigger) problem. You can barely turn these things around inside a typical intersection, or easily back trailers into tight spaces. The one truck on the market that does address this is the F450. This is based on a commercial truck chassis designed to be built out as box trucks, flatbeds, and DOT work trucks - anything carrying heavy supplies and gear everywhere it goes. The finished pickup build only comes in a DRW long bed configuration. Ford leverages this fact to build in a 6" wider front axle than on the F350, giving a turning radius a full 8' or more tighter than the comparable one-ton truck. For a first-time truck owner like myself, I felt that to be essential, especially considering the size of the trailer we'll be hauling.
Why this truck?
For as large a vehicle as this is, the maneuverability and visibility are phenomenal. These are expensive vehicles, with decades of design evolution put into making them comfortable and manageable, and it shows. The highly adjustable seats, visibility, controls, they’re all quite nice, very "stiff” and sturdy. We love this truck!
There is gobs of power on tap from the engine, and even with Solomon fully loaded at highway speeds, when it’s flat enough you quickly forget how heavy this all is. Even on mountain passes, the speed control and trailer management is so good, it’s mostly an exercise in dialing in a comfortable speed and letting the engine do the rest.
The adaptive cruise control is an absolute must-have for travel days. I rarely touch the pedals on any freeway, instead I dial in a safe speed and the truck does the rest, no matter who I’m behind.
For how firm the ride is, it’s pretty comfortable especially on the highway. The 500-mile range is disorientingly large. Truck stops can be far apart sometimes, turns out this is why - it just keeps going and going…
The LED lighting revolution has definitely hit trucks, and this thing is lit up like a Christmas tree at night. There’s no missing it, from inside or out. Which is great! Nobody like a surprise 9,000 lb truck all of a sudden.
Joys
Well, buying was certainly an adventure, as I’ve described. The 4.33 axle ratio and 6-speed transmission makes highway speeds over 70MPH kind of intense - this is not a truck that likes to go fast. Model year 2020 trucks get a new 10-speed that would be a huge improvement in the mountains.
Finding accessories can be tricky. Even simple things like mud flaps are hard to get, as the market is tiny and it’s just a little bit different than the 250/350 super duties so ensuring compatibility is hard.
Parking it anywhere can be a challenge, and though the surround camera system makes things much easier, you get used to walking across the lot or from blocks away.
The “Auto” climate control doesn’t seem very effective compared to our Toyota. Rather than dial in a cabin temperature and have the system try to cool/heat until it’s reached, it just seems to sit there and casually blow a gentle breeze… somewhere.
Hassles
Changes
Added BakFlip MX4 hard tonneau cover
Added WeatherTech rear mud flaps
Added Ford OEM front mud flaps
Installed B&W Companion hitch with Ford puck system base
TST Trucks TPMS on inner rear wheels
Added Sulastic Shackles to rear leaf springs
Replaced factory shocks with Bilstien 5100s
Added AirLift compressor and Firestone airbags
Long-Term Notes
Cruise Control
The adaptive cruise control is pretty great. You can set yourself behind another driver, and it will keep a following distance you set even if their speed varies. I have some nitpicks, however:
Cruise and Tow Mode
I’d say overall the speed control is a bit too aggressive, but it’s particularly a problem when towing. When climbing, it will allow you to drop 5 mph below the set speed before downshifting, then downshift and race back up to the set speed, and upshift. Then if it can’t maintain the set speed in that gear it will drop 5mph under again… and race back up to the set speed. You end up rubberbanding between speeds over and over. This is ridiculous and tiresome, so I end up not using cruise during mountain ascents, so I can climb at a steady pace the engine and passengers are comfortable with. Then when going downhill, cruise will aggressively engine brake to stay exactly at your set speed, not permitting any overage. When hauling, I need that momentum, so I’d rather go faster to build up speed for the next climb. If you’re behind someone going say, 10mph below your set speed and they exit the freeway, the truck will race right back up to your set speed. Again, not helpful when hauling and I want to accelerate more slowly. When the truck is unloaded most of this isn’t noticeable, because speed changes are pretty easy to make with so much engine power on tap. But when we’re hauling, I want all my speed changes to be smooth and predictable. So I wish the cruise control would ease up a lot when in Tow/Haul mode. Permit longer following distances, and prioritize steadiness over maintaining an exact set speed.
Interface
I’ve gotten used to these buttons, but I still don’t love them. Compared to the Toyota/Lexus cruise control stalk - the ne plus ultra of cruise control interfaces - adjustments never feel automatic, and it takes some touch-hunting to find the right button. They’re logically arranged at least, but a stalk would just be better. I do like the display on the dash, which shows the state well. Also, holding + or - moves your set speed in 5mph increments, which I use frequently.
The pedal behavior is similar to other systems with one exception I hate - acceleration. Pressing the gas does not cancel your current setting, just accelerates you over your set speed. The display grays out the set speed but does not strike it through like a cancelled setting. When you let off the gas, cruise returns you to your set speed. I get the logic here - maybe you’re passing a slower driver and want to let in re-engage when you’re done - but years of driving other cars have trained me to know that any pedal touch cancels cruise settings and let the driver take control. Too often I’ll expect the truck to slow after tapping the gas and releasing, only to find cruise still on and pulling me faster. Not a fun surprise. I’ve learned to favor the cancel button so I can be totally sure it disengages.
Adaptive Mode and Highways
Clearly the adaptive mode radar is tuned for interstate driving, because on many local highways the turns are tight enough that the front radar loses track of the vehicle in front of you. If your set speed is say, 10mph higher than they’re going, the truck will suddenly rev to get back to the set speed, then when you exit the turn and it picks the vehicle up again, slow back down. Not fun! It feels like there should be a cooldown period before trying to get back up to set speed. On the other hand, it hangs on to slow drivers for too long when they turn right , slowing the truck when you’re just going to drive around them anyway. I presume the sensitivity range changes based on speed, but on anything but interstates it feels touchy.
Ride Quality
So, the thing about the 450 is that it uses commercial 19.5 inch tires. For commercial customers, these are great. They’re incredibly tough, durable, and long-lived. They can hold 4000+ lbs per tire without being super wide. They’re very fuel-efficient by virtue of being fairly hard. However, these properties confer no benefits to RVers. I don’t care about 75,000 miles of life on my tires, I don’t care about fuel economy (ok, maybe a little). I want reliable, comfortable, and grippy tires that work in all kinds of surfaces. These are reliable, but that’s about it. They’re fine on asphalt but terrible on gravel and dirt. They’re incredibly stiff-riding (you can feel the crosswalk paint driving over it), are hard to balance, and hard to get service for at many tire shops. I hate them and wish that either a) someone would make a 19.5 tire that had better tread pattern and ride quality or b) 20-inch, 10-lug wheels didn’t cost a fortune and leave you with a brodozer-looking disaster of a truck.
Because of the stiff tires, the suspension components become very important. We made 3 changes that helped considerably. Bilstein 5100 shocks, Sulastic shackles, and airbags. I wish I had done these right away, because we endured thousands of miles of terrible roads that would have been much more comfortable with these upgrades.
If I were to own another 450 long-term, I would make these upgrades right away:
Bilstien (for highway) or Fox (for offroad) shocks
Sulastic Shackles
Rear axle leveling aIrbags (I’d look hard at the KYD kit so I could ditch my portable compressor and just have an onboard)
Toyo M655 tires
Combining the Sulastics with airbags provides similar benefit to the Kelderman 2-stage air suspension without the high cost.
