Little good and bad things of our F150s

[gb7FRz26]

Why Ford insists on continuing to put the massive antenna on the F150 is beyond me.

I bought a splitter and one goes to the radio, the other goes to an SDR in the glove box, connected to a Raspberry Pi 5. The Pi runs dump1090 and feeds ADS-B data to FlightAware, ADSBExchange, FlightRadar24 and some others. The antenna isn't tuned for 1.09 GHz but it pulls in most planes from ~50 miles away (which is kinda low for a proper feeder setup but I think it's neat).

I think Ford's official reasoning is there are plenty of people living rural or driving long road trips that want good FM reception, and this is what the engineers picked for that. It's easy to change if it bothers people.

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[Porpoise Hork]

They could most certainly come up with a top loaded stubby antenna or something like that for it that would provide adequate range. Or make use of the twin antenna bubble mounts on the roof instead. But then we're talking about Ford's engineers here. They are smart but also incredibly dumb at the same time. (Looking at the engineer who came up with Ford's anti-fogging strategy that forces the HVAC to flip to fresh air in winter time and fill the cab with exhaust fumes)

 

[gb7FRz26]

They could most certainly come up with a top loaded stubby antenna or something like that for it that would provide adequate range. Or make use of the twin antenna bubble mounts on the roof instead. But then we're talking about Ford's engineers here. They are smart but also incredibly dumb at the same time. (Looking at the engineer who came up with Ford's anti-fogging strategy that forces the HVAC to flip to fresh air in winter time and fill the cab with exhaust fumes)

I like to picture them all in a room arguing for a few hours over a thing, nobody can agree, so instead of doing a real world case study or checking what other manufacturers do, they just spin the Wheel-o-Decisions and it just has all their names on it. Fred won this one guys, have the defrost suck in fresh fumes, what's for lunch?
Edit: Bonus points if FordMotorCo chimes in here with how they actually finalize a decision lol.

 

[Porpoise Hork]

That's most certainly on brand for them.

 

[MotoGary]

If you don't mind shelling out a little money, there is an auto/stop eliminator that you can install. It is very easy to install behind the bottom glovebox. It works great, but I would take it out when having your truck worked on while still in warranty.

Amazon.com: 4D Tech Auto Start Stop Eliminator - Easy-Install Autostop Eliminator Made for 2021-2025 Ford F150 - Compatible Ford F150 Accessories : Automotive

Thanks for that tip. The auto start-stop is the worst invention ever! I just bought this from Amazon and it came same-day delivery. Installation was simple and works as advertised. Best $100 I've spent recently.

 

[MikeNH]

Here’s one. The cluster display sometimes remembers where it was set. And sometimes defaults back to a menu screen.

On my 2024, I discovered if I leave it on a MyView screen, it will not always boot back to it but if I pick the same data from the regular menu (I have it on the 4 lines of temp info), it’ll boot to it every time. Random but that’s software. Haha

 

[KC WHEELS]

Car washes here in KC remove your antennae before allowing you to go through the wash. When asked why they said they had too many cracked windshields from the antennae

 

[gb7FRz26]

Car washes here in KC remove your antennae before allowing you to go through the wash. When asked why they said they had too many cracked windshields from the antennae

Only happens if Devo - Whip It is playing on the radio at the time.

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