Blue Cruise vs Lane Centering + ACC

[Nasto]

I bought it at Home Depot. It came with 5 or 6 smaller hooks for keys. I think it was $5-$10. Worth it to me.

I bought this at Home Depot.

Here's the Home Depot listing.

Done and done. Both items ordered. Thanks for the assist! ?

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[Nasto]

Exactly. If you have lane centering you have hands-free....with a simple hack. Isn't it grand?

Could be grand. Not much need for BC in Boise, Idaho, unless one travels a lot on the I-84 freeway, which I don't, so I passed. The legal speed limit east of the Boise airport is 80 mph for most vehicles, which in real world terms means 90-100 in the fast lane, but that's a whole different BC discussion. All the other fun stuff requires scenic drives to the north on State HWY 55 along winding, mountain roads with woods and rivers all around. There's some nice patches of open road, however, so safely experimenting with "Ghetto BC" (as another user on this forum called it), might be worth the effort!

 

[HammaMan]

Yeah, the 80mph cap for BC sucks. We can't have a court case held against us for +10 and under so +12 typically attracts zero attention. About the only time BC works is when I'm in the city in stop and go, and the lane centering function w/ out eye nanny works equally as well. I have one w/ BC and one w/ lane centering, aka 2 lane centering vehicles where one can sometimes go hands free while bitching about eyes regardless.

 

[oneinch]

...might be worth the effort...

It's worth the next to no effort.

 

[astrand1]

In theory Ford could enable traffic control sign recognition. Both systems are tied into the nav's database which is done by a 3rd party. You've probably seen its influence by phantom speed changes with no speed limit sign present. I went to the DB and modified areas around here where both systems will at times change speed w/ no signs present. They have to approve changes submitted which can take months. It takes even longer to propagate out to the nav.

The problem with ford though is they're overly cautious with the system. While I don't suspect it's got the horsepower to perform local road turns, it can certainly self-lane change for the purposes of interstate splits when navigating, and stop and go at stop lights and stop signs (both in that the DB has the variables present and the camera can see them). The 2024 hardware 'will' be capable of this (local road turns) with higher resolution sensors. The vehicles already have dead reckoning in them in that on loss of GPS they can keep track by counting wheel revolutions, among other things.

The limiting factor for ford, not just on what we've seen out of them, but by their own admission, will be software. They just don't treat themselves like a tech company. I'd like to think by moving over to android to power the system they're moving in the right direction. They can then rely on more 3rd party options if something comes up that's a real value add, it won't be stonewalled by having to be coded to some proprietary mess ford has made.

Where do you go to help update the data base? I’d be happy to do that as there are areas around me where I get those phantom speed changes.

 

[astrand1]

No. It won't be. When you say BlueCruise, I going to assume you're wanting hands-free. I'm also guessing that you don't know you already have hands-free driving right now. You do....with a super easy hack.

With BlueCruise hands-free, the truck is steered with the lane centering system. All you need to do is weight the steering wheel to fool the truck into believing you have your hands on the wheel. Do this and you'll have the hands-free experience on any road the truck will allow lane centering to work. Mapped roads be damned. This little hack will have a one time charge of $15 or less. You may already have what you need. Sure beats a recurring $$$ subscription. The hack arguably works just as well as the real deal.

I use this hack in my Maverick. BlueCruise isn't offered in this little jewel, yet I drive hands-free in it daily. My F150 has BlueCruise and I still use this hack. Why? BlueCruise mapped roads have many no hands-free sections. Use this hack in conjunction with BlueCruise and you can cruise hands-free through almost all of these sections. This hack is the best thing since sliced bread.

Watch the super simple hack in action here. This is demonstrated on a highway that will not be mapped for hands-free (at least not currently).

No Safety Sally comments. Hack at your own risk. You're a grown assed man. Even with BlueCruise hands-free, always be ready to grab the wheel. Now go drive with no ?.

I use this weight.

I made a little weight that I can just hook over the wheel but I almost like this better. Might have to try it.

 

[HammaMan]

Where do you go to help update the data base? I’d be happy to do that as there are areas around me where I get those phantom speed changes.

here.com is the DB -- I corrected things 2 weeks ago but based on what others say, 8 weeks is the fastest here.com update, but no word yet on how long before it propagates out to vehicles. So don't expect a magic fast fix....

 

[dolsen]

I have to say, I got to try out BC yesterday for about 20-30 miles and I didn’t have any problems with the nanny cam at all. I actually feel like the BC is a bit more refined than the co-pilot assist. And I have pending updates on some of the modules that BC uses

 

[HammaMan]

I have to say, I got to try out BC yesterday for about 20-30 miles and I didn’t have any problems with the nanny cam at all. I actually feel like the BC is a bit more refined than the co-pilot assist. And I have pending updates on some of the modules that BC uses

As someone who drives them back to back regularly, I must say they're quite clearly following the same base code. They both do the same dumb shit in exactly the same spot.

 

[dolsen]

As someone who drives them back to back regularly, I must say they're quite clearly following the same base code. They both do the same dumb shit in exactly the same spot.

My lariat mid with co pilot assist acted slightly differently than my platinum with cop pilot active, even when not in blue cruise mode. I haven’t driven enough to quantify it yet, but it “felt” different

It could certainly be in my head, but I don’t quite think it’s the same. Even the graphics are *slightly* different.

 

[natefons]

Yes. When you press the farthest left button on the wheel your engaging everything. Lane centering, active cruse, blue cruise. They all work together. The hiway I was on had blue cruse and had a stop light. I was in active blue cruise hands free with a ton if traffic. They all had to stop. My truck came to full stop. When the light changed and traffic resumed my truck followed and after a very short time blue cruise continued. I made a sweeping exit to a two lane road and active steering took over. Still on cruse control. The truck automatically slowed during the turn. I went 21 miles on different hiways with some kind of assistance. Mix of hands free and hands on but all under active cruise. Didn't touch the breaks once.

This is not your truck knowing "Stop light".

Your truck stopped because the others stopped, BC does not do (afaik) stop sign/stop light recognition

 

[PaulGrun]

Here is a little video proof of my "Blue" weight cruise. I still can't believe how good this works everywhere I go, almost too good for the most part as it drives better than I can most of the time. If I'm on long stretches of highway, I'm using it, only have to take it off for turns and to get around town.

[/QUOTE
I'm curious about all this, but first a little background: I have a '22 XLT with lane centering, lane keeping, ACC and no Blue Cruse. I use lane centering periodically, but frankly I don't trust it worth a damn. I am a veteran of the high tech industry (high performance networks for supercomputers), so technology does not scare me, (although I am mighty suspicious of the possibilities of AI in the near future...and for good reason).
Here's my question: in the video, you're whipping along a two lane highway with good visibility at 70MPH, hands free. What happens when you come to a 30MPH curve, marked or not? Do you have to jam on the brakes and take control of the steering wheel back? Or does the truck drop into a four wheel drift as it (barely) slides through the corner? My question isn't specific to the hack being described, but applies generally. What happens when the truck finds itself in the middle of a curve but going much too fast for the physics of that curve?
Interesting thread ... fun reading.

 

[Snakebitten]

My lariat mid with co pilot assist acted slightly differently than my platinum with cop pilot active, even when not in blue cruise mode. I haven’t driven enough to quantify it yet, but it “felt” different

It could certainly be in my head, but I don’t quite think it’s the same. Even the graphics are *slightly* different.

I have had two different Powerboost and the first one (2021) wasn't as "tight & accurate" as the second one. (2022)

In all fairness, there's been quite a bit of software updates since I had the 2021, and I have no problem attributing the more polished Lane Centering experience as being a result. But something tells me that there's some percentage of variation between any 2 trucks that is nothing more than the acceptable tolerances in the design?
Similar with the shifting experience with the 10r80.
Software updates (PCM) has probably improved ALL 10r80's. But that doesn't insure that they all shift exactly the same. (and I promise you that they don't)

 

[Ajzride]

When I was experimenting with weights prior to the BC roll out last spring, I found that a fishing weight on a wall hook from Home Depot was the most effective and easiest to put on an off:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0083GID7A/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The weights came in a 3 pack, I probably still have the other two if anyone in Houston wants one.

 

[HammaMan]

When I was experimenting with weights prior to the BC roll out last spring, I found that a fishing weight on a wall hook from Home Depot was the most effective and easiest to put on an off:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0083GID7A/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The weights came in a 3 pack, I probably still have the other two if anyone in Houston wants one.

I'd be a little too iffy on that approach given the explosive it's sitting next to. On the other hand it looks like you've always got an ornament at hand for a little Christmas spirit.

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