Found my 'Avalanche' XLT; Storm

[rdr854]

Ourisman Ord of Manassas is where I normally take my truck for service. Very good. I just went to Koons on Saturday for wiper blades since I live down the street from them.

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[Ned B]

Yes Woodbridge is just a hop skip and a jump (through heavy traffic, lol) from me.

From a $60k MSRP to $36k and only 9500 miles, that was a steal!

Enjoy!

Oh I know, I'm through that area a lot in my other truck...

usually late at night.

My thought exactly! I got the 'new truck' at a bargain. Now to enjoy it!

 

[Ned B]

Download the owners manual - cures insomnia almost as well as law text books, in my experience!

I'd attach it but the system tells me it's too big, so...if you don't already have it...

https://www.ford.com/support/owner-...lPf5Zxbh3GI3OlDmKheme2WLidoLcmIdzHT9ssMw6ZkQ2

Thanks! I'd be sitting in the truck a Long time otherwise.

 

[Grease Lightning]

2023 XLT with only 9500 miles. I'll pick it up saturday. Could have brought it home today, but would have had to go back and get my Volt home later.

And me half excited you did one of those sloped canopies that made it look like the Chevy Avalanche

 

[Ned B]

And me half excited you did one of those sloped canopies that made it look like the Chevy Avalanche

Oh the Build has only just begun. I'm leaning towards a roll back tonneau cover for the bed. I had a '90 F150 XLT that I put about 120,000 miles on in three years. I towed a 27' 5th wheel all over the USA traveling for work.

I did like the canopy back in the day, not sure how it would look on this body though. If I did that, I'd have to get the visor with the marker lights to match, and so on... .

or

I've already ordered some weathertech for the front floors. The parking lot at work is gravel, so while the carpet is Nice, it won't stay that way without more protection.

I'm also working on a phone holder, carplay is good, but I'm used to having my phone at hand in my semi.

 

[Ned B]

it's been an Expensive week... Photos tomorrow, but I've picked up better floor mats for Storm (yes, I name all of my vehicles), also got a bed mat from Weathertech.
Phone holder/charger still on its way.
I just ordered an upgrade to my EVSE (which goes with my Volt when my son comes to get it), Got an Emporia Pro on its way.
And last but not least, I have a Retrax PRO XR Pro tonneau cover that will be installed by a local company whenever I can get time to have it done.

 

[StevenC56]

it's been an Expensive week... Photos tomorrow, but I've picked up better floor mats for Storm (yes, I name all of my vehicles), also got a bed mat from Weathertech.
Phone holder/charger still on its way.
I just ordered an upgrade to my EVSE (which goes with my Volt when my son comes to get it), Got an Emporia Pro on its way.
And last but not least, I have a Retrax PRO XR Pro tonneau cover that will be installed by a local company whenever I can get time to have it done.

Love the color. Same as my 2024 Lariat "ReX". Yes, we name all our vehicles too.

 

[chl]

it's been an Expensive week... Photos tomorrow, but I've picked up better floor mats for Storm (yes, I name all of my vehicles), also got a bed mat from Weathertech.
Phone holder/charger still on its way.
I just ordered an upgrade to my EVSE (which goes with my Volt when my son comes to get it), Got an Emporia Pro on its way.
And last but not least, I have a Retrax PRO XR Pro tonneau cover that will be installed by a local company whenever I can get time to have it done.

My OEM wipers were terrible - got RainX blades on sale on Amazon and no more noisy problems in the rain.

 

[Ned B]

My OEM wipers were terrible - got RainX blades on sale on Amazon and no more noisy problems in the rain.

I’m a big fan of rain-x wipers, when my existing ones get noisy, I’ll be replacing them. Thanks!

 

[chl]

I’m a big fan of rain-x wipers, when my existing ones get noisy, I’ll be replacing them. Thanks!

Mine were noisy from day 1...when I bought it my truck was less than 3 months old (based on the door sticker data) so it's not like they sat in the baking hot sun and dried out...I tolerated it as long as I could, then my ears said, enough is enough, lol.

 

[chl]

Two things to keep an eye out for:

Keep an eye on the cooling fluid levels - the reservoir is located on the driver's side of the truck above the wheel well with the frunk open you can see it and with a long funnel top it off.

The 12v battery on these trucks doesn't get topped off often enough and they tend to fail within 3 years if not on a battery maintainer with an AGM mode - been a lot of reports of problems this winter. They show up as random error messages - when the battery gets week it sheds loads and that causes error messages to occur from a variety of system components.

And if the 12v battery SOC is too low, the OTA updates (which are few and far between) will not install.

 

[Ned B]

Two things to keep an eye out for:

Keep an eye on the cooling fluid levels - the reservoir is located on the driver's side of the truck above the wheel well with the frunk open you can see it and with a long funnel top it off.

The 12v battery on these trucks doesn't get topped off often enough and they tend to fail within 3 years if not on a battery maintainer with an AGM mode - been a lot of reports of problems this winter. They show up as random error messages - when the battery gets week it sheds loads and that causes error messages to occur from a variety of system components.

And if the 12v battery SOC is too low, the OTA updates (which are few and far between) will not install.

I’ll definitely keep an eye on the coolant, had a problem with my Volt recently, low coolant threw the charging system out of whack. And I’ll absolutely keep an eye on the battery as well, no indoor for Storm, no covered parking at my house. I’m guessing that the original builder didn’t think it was needed in VA.

 

[Ned B]

Well I was going to put in the bedliner as well, but it’s too cold for installation. There are two ball and socket gizmos that need to be glued to the front of bed. Probably not critical in the long run since I’m putting a tonneau on soon.
I did get the floor mats in though!

 

[chl]

Well I was going to put in the bedliner as well, but it’s too cold for installation. There are two ball and socket gizmos that need to be glued to the front of bed. Probably not critical in the long run since I’m putting a tonneau on soon.
I did get the floor mats in though!

Yes, things like glue and paint need warmer weather to work well.

I bought a 2023 Pro so not a lot of options except the towing packages and 9.6kW pro power.

My old 2001 Ranger had a spray in bed liner and a heavy duty bi-fold cover with gas struts to hold it up when opened - the cover was nice except when I had something tall to haul, like my motorcycle, then it was kind of heavy to lug off the truck. But they were already on the truck when I bought it.

That bed liner was hard plastic so things could slide in easily, but also might have to be tied down to stop them sliding around too much and breaking something, pros and cons.

The bed liner I got for the Lightning just lays flat, no gluing, from Husky for about $150. And no sliding things around on it, soft rubbery material. Easier on the knees too.

For the Lightning, I got a tri-fold T3 tonneau cover from Tyger for $225, much lighter and easier to remove than the Ranger one, if needed, or fold up to the front third.

I bought aftermarket Tyger running boards as well - my wife had trouble climbing up into the cab, about $125 on Amazon, easy to install and seem pretty sturdy.

I don't know if they were supposed to be in the truck or not, but I had no tie down cleats for the bed, so I had to buy those aftermarket for about $35. Need them to tie down the motorcycle if I have to carry it.

I recently got a tailgate mat for about $30 to install when the weather gets warmer too.

The latest thing I got was a Dongar Dashcam Power adapter that plugs in behind the rear view mirror on sale for $30 on Amazon - I have a dash cam but I haven't gotten mounted yet - waiting for a nice warm day. The Dongar makes it a lot easier to power a dash cam.

I used the Ford points I got for buying the truck for front and rear splash guards - also not standard on the Pro trim.

Some people have a bit of trouble with the blue tooth streaming music from their phones or other devices. My old iPod and Zunes would connect but there would be a lot of drop-outs and disconnects with the blue tooth. I had an old iTrip FM transmitter that takes an aux out from any device and transmits it to an FM channel not being used, that works well. I got a Monster Cable iCarplay 800 on eBay for $9 that plugs into the iPod and works as well to transfer music via FM and charge the iPod at the same time from a cigarette lighter/accessory outlet.

Mostly I use an SSD in a USB case, formatted in exfat with all my ripped CDs and other music on it plugged into the data USB port. Sync4 eliminated native compatibility with iPod and other MP3 players in 2021 or thereabouts so had to find some workarounds.

Anyway, congrats again on your buy.

PS: some sponsors of the forum offer discounts - search the threads for those when considering accessories.

 

[Ned B]

There are two anchor points that need to be glued in, maybe 1.5” square each. I sure hope that the adhesive is strong . I was looking at several Pro trucks, and a couple of higher mileage lariats, but in the end, I went with the lowest mileage truck that was in my price range.
So far no issues with Bluetooth, but my Volt only had wired CarPlay, so I’m used to plugging in.
I’ll be sure to support the sponsors, this is a great resource, and helping those who keep it running is a no brainer.
Thanks for the tips!

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