Dumbest Ford Thing Ever - 2025 F150

[ctechbob]

Look, the transmission is totally electronic - they put that shifter there just to make you feel good.

May as well have put a couple of buttons on the dash, or a rotary knob, or a touchscreen menu, whatever - you moving the shifter isn’t really doing much.

That one electric solenoid to bump it into the physical position is, again, an indulgence to make you feel like you’re still in control.

I just wouldn’t sweat it.

Not sweating it.

My point is. It is unnecessary. All of these vehicles these days are crap, I think lots of people agree to that. I'm saying there's no need to add useless crap on top of crap.

Especially crap that costs extra. Especially by a company that has been struggling extra with building things that aren't crap.

 

[nickaluch]

I never used a parking brake with a automatic transmission vehicle but I never lived in a hilly area.

 

[nickaluch]

Apparently this is needed when people have brain farts and forget to put the vehicle in park prior to shutting it off.

I do it on the regular

 

[SC Maintenance]

Look, the transmission is totally electronic - they put that shifter there just to make you feel good.

May as well have put a couple of buttons on the dash, or a rotary knob, or a touchscreen menu, whatever - you moving the shifter isn’t really doing much.

That one electric solenoid to bump it into the physical position is, again, an indulgence to make you feel like you’re still in control.

I just wouldn’t sweat it.

An actuator is way more likely to fail than a contactor or switch. I would rather have the button. Most new truck buyers likely won't keep it long enough to find out though.

 

[Astro14]

An actuator is way more likely to fail than a contactor or switch. I would rather have the button. Most new truck buyers likely won't keep it long enough to find out though.

Well, perhaps. It’s an actuator - a solenoid that moves it to allow a spring to take over. Some solenoids (like those in a transmission) last for millions of cycles. So, while this is a potential point of failure - I believe that it is an unlikely point of failure.

Besides, if you don’t make the mistake again, it won’t have to operate again, and you would never wear it out, right?

 

[SC Maintenance]

Well, perhaps. It’s an actuator - a solenoid that moves it to allow a spring to take over. Some solenoids (like those in a transmission) last for millions of cycles. So, while this is a potential point of failure - I believe that it is an unlikely point of failure.

Besides, if you don’t make the mistake again, it won’t have to operate again, and you would never wear it out, right?

Is it a solenoid? Or is it a motor with some sort of linear gear?

Electromechanical stuff doesn't like to not be used for a long time either. Best to use it once a month actually, like I do with our e-parking brake.

 

[ctechbob]

Is it a solenoid? Or is it a motor with some sort of linear gear?

Electromechanical stuff doesn't like to not be used for a long time either. Best to use it once a month actually, like I do with our e-parking brake.

The janky service manual I have isn't real clear and it is bedtime. What I can say is that it looks like a single part that holds the whole shooting match, so when it fails, you're replacing everything.

 

[SC Maintenance]

The janky service manual I have isn't real clear and it is bedtime. What I can say is that it looks like a single part that holds the whole shooting match, so when it fails, you're replacing everything.

View attachment 294080

Well I give them credit - it doesn't look like too much has to come apart to get to it?

 

[Hermann]

My Maverick with the dial shifter does it also. Saved me from a couple of brain farts.

 

[ctechbob]

Ok, have melatonin hadn't kicked in yet. Yep, one big assembly. $370

 

[ctechbob]

I never used a parking brake with a automatic transmission vehicle but I never lived in a hilly area.

It is automatic. I think you might be able to turn it off though. I actually prefer that because of the travel trailer. I want it on at all times when it is being towed and I go to park.

 

[SC Maintenance]

I never used a parking brake with a automatic transmission vehicle but I never lived in a hilly area.

I never used to but I always do on anything other than perfectly flat now - with all the different parking pawl recalls I have decided its a good idea.

 

[SC Maintenance]

I do it on the regular

I have too, but it won't let you take the key out. However if you ever used a truck for work that your in and out of 100 times a day, you typically leave the keys in the ignition when getting out. So I honestly think its not a bad idea to dump the completely electronic transmission into park. However, I don't like this moving lever at all.

 

[wemay]

I have no issue with this extra layer of safety when someone forgets to place the car in park (it can happen to any of us, and after some time, the chimes, buzzes, alerts blend into the background). If that person doesn't use the parking brake, the consequences can be deadly.

 

[crashz]

I'm not sure how the parking brakes work on the new trucks, but the previous generations are weak. I don't love the idea of the electronic shift, but can understand it. My 2014 would roll away on a significant slope, even after the brakes have been rebuilt and adjusted properly. I consider it a parking assist at best.

 

[supton]

I want to say I've opened a door while in gear before while hitching up the camper,

I certainly have, in the past. Before I had a camera on the truck. You know the drill, back up to where you think it's right, get out, look. Realize you're off by x inches and to the left, so roll a foot forward, cut it, a foot back. Something like that. Open the door, set the foot on the jam, and try to eyeball the distance involved.

Adding a camera was a godsend... when I wired mine up, I wound up wiring so that I could turn it on and it's stay on when going forward. Sometimes I needed to pull forward and cut the wheel so as to line things up--now I could eye the monitor and see when everything lined up properly.

I wonder... used to be, you couldn't remove the key if the car was not in park (unless if it was a worn out GM cylinder). That's a mechanical linkage that could wear out, right? So the old school "lock the key in" could fail too. [At least GM failed in a nice way I guess. Yes, I know of at least two cars I could yank the keys out while driving down the road.]

 

[SubieRubyRoo]

Want to know exactly the reason this exists? Stupid people doing stupid things and then suing the manufacturers. If we didn’t have such a retarded legal system, things like this would never be invented, or at least implemented. This is how manufacturers insulate themselves from risk.

 

[PontiacHO]

Move the shifter to Park because you forgot to?? What’s wrong with that. It worked when it was needed in my opinion.

 

[thastinger]

My 98 or 03 do not do this but I also can not remove the key from the ignition unless that are in Park.

 

[supton]

But why have it move at all? If I'm following the OP, the transmission is 100% drive by wire. Moving the shifter lever does NOT move the parking pawl--that is electronically controlled. Removing the key should tell the ECU to park the truck and put a fork in it.

Upon restart, IMO, it should have left the shifter in Drive, and simply had a huge instruction on the display "move shifter lever back to park, dummy". Once done, lever and trans are now in sync, and least amount of failure-prone parts would have been used. [Yes that's a bit over the top, I know.] No need for another actuator in the column.

I'm guessing more than a few other people think this feature is "cool" and probably have taken to doing this more often than not.