BlueCruise = lane assist and adaptive cruise control?

[Snakebitten]

Ok, so how do I know if my truck has lane centering or lane keeping assist?

You should have the appropriate button on the steering wheel. Along with the icon on the instrument cluster.
At least I assume they wouldn't be identical between the two features.

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[4dRunningMan]

post a pic of your steering wheel.

I seem to have the LKA since it says that only on the steering wheel. Here’s a pic.

 

[PaulGrun]

Actually they are. Ford wants to use the nanny cam. Tesla doesn't.

I wasn't talking about what is required technically, I was describing the way Ford has chosen to package features and technology. Tesla made different choices.
What is a 'comma 3x'? Remember our discussion about the use of jargon?

 

[HammaMan]

That's its name, it's not initialism.

Furthermore the first button "converse" provides...

@4dRunningMan
You have lane centering, it's this button. The button above it is following distance of radar cruise. They say its distance, but it's more of a time distance. As speed increases so too does the gap it leaves per unit of setting.

 

[Snakebitten]

Yea 4dRunningMan, you have the good stuff.

 

[4dRunningMan]

Indeed Brother - love my truck; that's for sure!

 

[PaulGrun]

I seem to have the LKA since it says that only on the steering wheel. Here’s a pic.

This is one of my pet peeves about Ford these days...the conflation/overlap of features. Lane Centering and Lane Keeping are a classic example of that.
- The former ("Lane Centering") is a component of Adaptive Cruise Control and is only active when cruise control is enabled and active. Lane Centering will actually steer the truck to keep it "centered".
- Lane Keeping, OTOH, can be active any old time, but it does something slightly different than Lane Centering. To add to the confusion, Lane Keeping has two different modes (which can be combined): Lane Keeping AID which can give the steering wheel a little nudge ("apply steering torque" in Fordspeak), and Lane Keeping Alert which gives you haptic feedback (wheel shake) if you wander too much. But importantly, Lane Keeping AID is not the same thing as Lane Centering

So they are very distinct subsystems which both have something to do with keeping the truck out of the ditch.
But here's the rub: the two features intersect at the steering wheel button. If you are using ACC, the button engages/disengages Lane CENTERING. But if you are NOT using ACC, the button engages/disengages Lane KEEPING.

My personal theory about this is that Ford purchases the ACC system from some third party vendor (Tesla? Bosch? who knows?), and purchases Lane Keeping from some other vendor, probably as part of a package of features that they want to offer to their customers. So the unfortunate result is that we have these two similar, but very different features. Ford, in its wisdom, compounds the problem dramatically by giving them similar sounding names.

 

[PaulGrun]

That's its name, it's not initialism.

Furthermore the first button "converse" provides...

Ah, so comma 3x is an implementation of (incorporation of?) openpilot? Thanks for the link. That was helpful.

 

[PaulGrun]

You should have the appropriate button on the steering wheel. Along with the icon on the instrument cluster.
At least I assume they wouldn't be identical between the two features.

Here's the interesting thing: If you look at the most recent version of the online Owner's Manual, under the section labelled "Visual Search", and select "Steering Wheel", the one button that isn't described is the one that controls Lane Keeping/Lane Centering.
If you dig deeper into how to use Lane Centering, and then look into Lane Keeping, it describes the same button, but shows it in two different manual sections with two different icons. Grrrr...
There's actually a section in the online HTML manual labelled "Lane Keeping System", but to learn about Lane Centering you have to do a search for it.

 

[4dRunningMan]

That's its name, it's not initialism.

Furthermore the first button "converse" provides...

@4dRunningMan
You have lane centering, it's this button. The button above it is following distance of radar cruise. They say its distance, but it's more of a time distance. As speed increases so too does the gap it leaves per unit of setting.

Ok, this is confusing because my window sticker says otherwise. Here are all the functional options it says:

A/C, DUAL ZONE ELECTRONIC
BLIS W/CROSS TRAFFIC
FORDPASS CONNECT™
INTELL ACCESS W/PUSH START
LANE KEEPING SYSTEM
POST-COLLISION BRAKING
PRE-COLLISION ASSIST W/AEB
REAR VIEW CAMERA
REM KEYLESS ENTRY/KEYPAD
REMOTE VEHICLE START
REVERSE BRAKE ASSIST
REVERSE SENSING SYSTEM
SIRIUSXM® W/ 360L
SYNC®4 12" SCRN W/ APPLINK

 

[HammaMan]

Ok, this is confusing because my window sticker says otherwise. Here are all the functional options it says:

A/C, DUAL ZONE ELECTRONIC
BLIS W/CROSS TRAFFIC
FORDPASS CONNECT™
INTELL ACCESS W/PUSH START
LANE KEEPING SYSTEM
POST-COLLISION BRAKING
PRE-COLLISION ASSIST W/AEB
REAR VIEW CAMERA
REM KEYLESS ENTRY/KEYPAD
REMOTE VEHICLE START
REVERSE BRAKE ASSIST
REVERSE SENSING SYSTEM
SIRIUSXM® W/ 360L
SYNC®4 12" SCRN W/ APPLINK

You're looking for $$ options like assist 2.0 @ $750 or active 2.0 / bluecruise at ~$2k

 

[4dRunningMan]

You're looking for $$ options like assist 2.0 @ $750 or active 2.0 / bluecruise at ~$2k

OPTIONAL EQUIPMENT/OTHER
2022 MODEL YEAR
FEDERAL EXCISE TAX 100.00
3.5L V6 ECOBOOST ENGINE 2,350.00
275/60R-20 BSW ALL-TERRAIN 1,000.00
3.31 RATIO REGULAR AXLE NO CHARGE
7050# GVWR PACKAGE
50 STATE EMISSIONS NO CHARGE
FORD CO-PILOT360 ASSIST 2.0 NO CHARGE
AUTO START-STOP REMOVAL - 60.00
TRAILER TOW PACKAGE NO CHARGE
20" 6-SPOKE DARK ALLOY WHEEL NO CHARGE
136 LITRE/ 36 GALLON FUEL TANK
LARIAT SPORT PACKAGE NO CHARGE
LEATHER BUCKET SEATS W/CONSOLE NO CHARGE

 

[HammaMan]

OPTIONAL EQUIPMENT/OTHER
2022 MODEL YEAR
FEDERAL EXCISE TAX 100.00
3.5L V6 ECOBOOST ENGINE 2,350.00
275/60R-20 BSW ALL-TERRAIN 1,000.00
3.31 RATIO REGULAR AXLE NO CHARGE
7050# GVWR PACKAGE
50 STATE EMISSIONS NO CHARGE
FORD CO-PILOT360 ASSIST 2.0 NO CHARGE
AUTO START-STOP REMOVAL - 60.00
TRAILER TOW PACKAGE NO CHARGE
20" 6-SPOKE DARK ALLOY WHEEL NO CHARGE
136 LITRE/ 36 GALLON FUEL TANK
LARIAT SPORT PACKAGE NO CHARGE
LEATHER BUCKET SEATS W/CONSOLE NO CHARGE

Yeah, assist 2.0 is lane centering. Was optional on 501, looks like you have a 502?

 

[4dRunningMan]

Yeah, assist 2.0 is lane centering. Was optional on 501, looks like you have a 502?

Yep, 502A.

 

[oneinch]

@4dRunningMan, if you have lane centering (not lane keeping...two different things) then you also have adaptive cruise control. You have to have these two things to have BlueCruise, but having them doesn't mean you have BlueCruise. By looking at your window sticker and the appropriate order guide you'll be able to figure out exactly what you have.

If you have lane centering then you can drive hands-free without BlueCruise. The magic behind hands-free isn't BlueCruise, it's lane centering. BlueCruise is really nothing more than geo-location switch that tells lane centering it can operate in either hands-on or hands-free mode. With or without BlueCruise all you need to do is weight the steering wheel at 9:00 or 3:00 with about 1½ lbs (a wrist weight). The truck doesn't know if you have your hands on the wheel. There are no pressure sensors. The truck "feels" radial torque being applied to the wheel. The weight slightly turns the wheel (applies radial torque) and this makes the truck think you have your hands on the wheel. There's one last wrinkle to the lane centering. Whether it has been told to drive in hands-on or hands-free, lane centering has to be able to see the lane. If it can't then no dice; lane centering won't turn on. If it can see the right side and left side of the road and the lane is neither too wide or too narrow, then lane centering turns on and does its magic. Basically you need to be on a fairly well marked road and lane centering will work. With a weighted wheel the lane centering steerss the truck. Lane centering also hates turns with a passion and it isn't fond of curves. So, if you're not driving on straight or gentle curves then lane centering won't work. BlueCruise hands-free works on controlled access roads (primarily, though not exclusively, interstates which are straight with gentle curves).

Ford demands (though I'm not convinced it commands) a very high price for BlueCruise. IMO it isn't worth the price of admission unless you drive on the interstate a lot or you just have money to burn.

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