My Truck - 2015

15 SD Top

- Jim D's 2015 F-350 XLT -

New Pictures Added - April 3, 2017

6.2 Liter Two Valve Gasoline V8 Super Duty

White bumpers and dark tinted windows... are Photoshop'd.

Yes, it's always tough to say goodbye to a vehicle that you've put your heart into building. Sometimes, I think that's why we do it... to see what we can accomplish and then move on to the next project. "The Beast" (shown below left) took many, many hours and quite a bit of $$$ to build, but served it's purpose for my wife and I, as did my 2007 Ford Ranger Sport. It went to shows and actually won a "Member's Choice" Award from Mid-Atlantic Ford Trucks at the 2010 All Truck Nationals in Carlisle, PA. It carried our old Lance 845 Truck Camper onto the beach many a weekend to camp there by the ocean and enjoy nature the right way. It also carried our new truck camper the entire summer of 2014 but showed it's shortcomings. The new camper was almost 1000 lbs heavier than the Lance and was a bit much for the old F-250's suspension to handle. That's the primary reason for the change but the price of diesel fuel and the associated maintenance costs, also played a role.

Our friends at Metro Ford in Raynham, MA, set up a deal "we could not refuse" and made it very attractive to make the switch. The truck came with Ford's 11,100 GVWR package which yields a payload of 4250 lbs - far superior to the 3075 lbs that the F-250 was rated at. We test drove the new truck, a 2015 F-350 Super Duty XLT with FX4 Package, several times during the week leading up to Columbus Day Weekend - 2014. After some discussion with my wife, mostly about what I am NOT GOING TO DO to the new truck, we purchased the new unit on Friday, October 10, 2014. We traded in "The Beast" and waved good bye as we drove off on Friday evening in the new rig. On Monday, we drove up to Chesterfield, NH to Truck Camper Warehouse and had her fitted with Firestone air bags, Torklift StableLoads and Torklift tie downs for the camper. We also picked up a set of 4 Torklift FastGun turnbuckles. I added a 1.5" Hellwig rear sway bar from SD Truck Springs to help keep her steady on the highway. Now we're ready!

Tuesday morning, I backed the F-350 under the camper for the first time and Patti helped me hook it up. The new tie-down system makes things much easier on this badly damaged back of mine. We put some air in the new air bags and took it for a short test drive to Target to pick up some MEDS for me! On Wednesday afternoon, we drove it to Metro to show Josh, Keith and the gang... much to our surprise, they were hosting a 2015 Ford F-150 showing and test drive event. We got to drive one of the new, aluminum bodied trucks and had some great food - all the guys loved the truck/camper combo. All that's left now, and Patti approved these, is to mount a new front receiver for our cargo basket and mount the air horns and extra back up lights from the old truck. That's a far cry from the two years of work I put into "The Beast"! Time to relax and Beach Camp... well, that's if it weren't WINTER!!! Enjoy the pictures...

First time on Sandy Neck with the new combo.

We're also sporting a new 25' flag pole from Telepole!

Firestone RideRite Air Bags...

...Torklift Load Levelers, at the front of the overload springs...

...and the rear.

Rancho Shocks on all four corners with the FX4 Package.

The engine compartment and the 6.2l FlexFuel motor...

There's the FX4 Logo I spoke of... with an addition!

- FX4 PROJECT -

Since I can remember, Ford Super Duty trucks purchased with the FX4 package, had their outer grille shell color matched to the truck and the rest of the grille was some type of full black treatment. When I tried building my 2015 on Ford's web site, the only trucks you could get the color match on were King Ranch or Platinum trucks. I wanted an FX4 - it came all chrome - has that ever stopped me before? I just bought an XL Grille from eBay, sanded, prepped, painted and installed the true FX4 style grille assembly. NOW it's an FX4! I just finished doing the chrome mirror caps in white PlastiDip. When the weather warms up, I hope to do the bumpers White!