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2021 F-150 Real Life Sightings

Boosted0407

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Carbonized Grey 5.0L Lariat with a 6.5’ bed. Super nice engineer who didn’t mind giving me two minutes of his time. Told me it’ll be worth my wait!
Thank you for posting pics of the base Lariat wheels!!!!!! Up to now, all I’ve seen are the Early Build tool and other digital renderings, which is not the same. The wheels are very nice, in my opinion.
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daemonic3

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A.) They break like all electronic actuated systems, and when they do they are expensive to fix/replace. This will be my wife's daily driver, and she is 5'4", and will not be able to climb in without running boards, so I will hear big complaints and will have to fix them as soon as they break.

B.) The regular running boards actually protect the truck from some door dings, as they are the widest point of the body. You can still get door dings from other high vehicles like other trucks, but car doors are pretty much going to beat up against the running board instead of your aluminum body. The electronic boards when retracted offer no such protection.

C.) I am extremely cheap, a bit counterintuitive for someone buying a KR, but at $1200, or part of a $4500 package, electronic running boards are a hard pass for me.
I am coming from an XLT to a Platinum so I am not familiar with the retracting running boards - I am shocked if there is no switch to disable the retraction? That seems like a major oversight to not be able to turn off the feature!
 

Reeltime

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I think I have learned some more about the King Ranch Front Seats, and I think there is a third seat style we have not seen yet, but my assumptions will be impossible to confirm until some KR 600A package trucks are built and seen by the public. The above pictures appear to be showing the Max Recline Seats. I think most of the other pictures/renderings that Ford has published either showed these same Max Recline Seats, or they showed the optional "Multi-Contour with Active Motion" seats that are part of the 601A package, or standard on the the Platinum and Limited. It think the base King Ranch (600A), if ordered without the optional Max Recline seats will have the seats from the Lariat, just using the Java/Tan leather. The cushioning is slightly different on the seat bottom and very different in the shoulder area. The Lariat seats do not look quite as plush, and do not have that look of a premium piece of furniture, they just look like regular high back car/truck seats. It's almost pushing me to change my order to get the Max Recline seats, but I hate the thought of an indefinite delay. And I do not want the 601A package, because of the electric running boards, so I'm pretty sure I'm going to have Lariat seat cushions in Java/Tan when I get my truck. A little disappointing, but I'm sure they'll be fine.
Roger, I sat in a Lariat this week and I really liked how comfortable the seats were. Even the XLT seats are way better than my 2014 GMC that I currently drive. My wife and I looked at a 2020 Lariat, and I think the 2021 seats are even more comfortable than a 2020 Lariat. I don't think you will be disappointed.
 

chrisp993

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I am coming from an XLT to a Platinum so I am not familiar with the retracting running boards - I am shocked if there is no switch to disable the retraction? That seems like a major oversight to not be able to turn off the feature!
On my 2016 F-150, there is the option to have Power Running Boards set to Closed, Deployed or Auto. Hopefully the 2021 truck has similar options.

I live in Michigan / Rust / Snow belt .... the drivers side (which gets all the use) started slowing its operation around 80k miles or so before finally failing to function properly around 120k miles - what happens is enough resistance in the bushings builds up that the running board "thinks" a foot/leg or something is in the way and stops / reverses its action - like a power window if your hand is in the way. At this point you have to start "helping" the board up or down with pressure from your foot :( Unfortunately the design is such that there really is no way of getting sufficient lubrication to the bushing. Best option is to regularly blast it with a penetrating lubricant - I didn't do this until mine started getting slower by which time the damage was probably done!

The fix in my case was to replace just the front motor/hinge and the rear hinge assembly, total cost of $603, parts FL3Z-16A507-A and FL3Z-16A507-B. Took about an hour to remove whole assembly from the car and remove/replace those parts.

Despite the above, I love the Power Running Boards and they are part of my order for a 2021 F150 :) Hope this helps / offers some perspective on how much of an issue there is with this option.
 

ZWARRIOR

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I am coming from an XLT to a Platinum so I am not familiar with the retracting running boards - I am shocked if there is no switch to disable the retraction? That seems like a major oversight to not be able to turn off the feature!
There is an option to turn them OFF, or to put them "down" from the truck's menu on the instrument cluster. Or at least the last gens did
 

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daemonic3

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On my 2016 F-150, there is the option to have Power Running Boards set to Closed, Deployed or Auto. Hopefully the 2021 truck has similar options.

I live in Michigan / Rust / Snow belt .... the drivers side (which gets all the use) started slowing its operation around 80k miles or so before finally failing to function properly around 120k miles - what happens is enough resistance in the bushings builds up that the running board "thinks" a foot/leg or something is in the way and stops / reverses its action - like a power window if your hand is in the way. At this point you have to start "helping" the board up or down with pressure from your foot :( Unfortunately the design is such that there really is no way of getting sufficient lubrication to the bushing. Best option is to regularly blast it with a penetrating lubricant - I didn't do this until mine started getting slower by which time the damage was probably done!

The fix in my case was to replace just the front motor/hinge and the rear hinge assembly, total cost of $603, parts FL3Z-16A507-A and FL3Z-16A507-B. Took about an hour to remove whole assembly from the car and remove/replace those parts.

Despite the above, I love the Power Running Boards and they are part of my order for a 2021 F150 :) Hope this helps / offers some perspective on how much of an issue there is with this option.
This makes sense! When deployed, do they stick out further, or sit lower than a standard non-retractable? I wonder if that is the issue then. Otherwise it seems you could just keep them deployed. The advice on lube is a good tip thanks.
 

chrisp993

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This makes sense! When deployed, do they stick out further, or sit lower than a standard non-retractable? I wonder if that is the issue then. Otherwise it seems you could just keep them deployed. The advice on lube is a good tip thanks.
Yes, when deployed they both stick out further and lower than non-retractable i.e. they are a much better positioned intermediate step into the truck.
 

daemonic3

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Yes, when deployed they both stick out further and lower than non-retractable i.e. they are a much better positioned intermediate step into the truck.
Ah, I see. In your opinion, is it unsafe, like it is low enough and out enough to be risky of damage?
 

executor485

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Yes, when deployed they both stick out further and lower than non-retractable i.e. they are a much better positioned intermediate step into the truck.
I’m hoping that the trucks at the drive event are just “wrong”. But their power running boards SUCKED!!! They didn’t come down hardly at all, just out. Their position SUCKS so hard my wife noticed and hated them.
 

chrisp993

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Ah, I see. In your opinion, is it unsafe, like it is low enough and out enough to be risky of damage?
I've always thought that they stuck out diagonally down far enough that it just looks weird to leave them down ... and also looks vulnerable, although in reality they are still a lot higher than the sills of most vehicles in the road, so probably fine unless off roading.

Disappointing to see the post above about them not being great on the 2021. Anyone else seen them in person?
 

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RandyRck

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Carbonized Grey 5.0L Lariat with a 6.5’ bed. Super nice engineer who didn’t mind giving me two minutes of his time. Told me it’ll be worth my wait!

carbonized-gray-lariat-2021-f150-1.jpeg
carbonized-gray-lariat-2021-f150-2.jpeg
carbonized-gray-lariat-2021-f150-3.jpeg
After seeing these pictures of the Carbonized Gray, I am changing my color choice! Really like this new color, and the wife was nota fan of the Rapid Red so it’s a win/win ?
 

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After seeing these pictures of the Carbonized Gray, I am changing my color choice! Really like this new color, and the wife was nota fan of the Rapid Red so it’s a win/win ?
Yeah, i went with Carbonized Gray also. My wife was not a big fan of Rapid Red, but it was one of my top choices. We both really liked Stone Gray, but the Lariat Sport is not available in that color. And my F150 i have now has a lot of chrome, which i don't mind, but i am ready for a change. So had to have the sport version this time.
 

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Found a video that shows the steps retracted and deployed ... King Ranch w/Power Running Boards
Yep, I know it's too much to hope that those are just pre-production running boards and that they will be set to the correct height. But I really doubt it. When you've used the power running boards from 2011, 2015, and 2018 trucks... Then they change the game, it feels extremely wrong and out of place. Basically like GM products where the power running boards are more in the way than useful.
 

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Yeah, i went with Carbonized Gray also. My wife was not a big fan of Rapid Red, but it was one of my top choices. We both really liked Stone Gray, but the Lariat Sport is not available in that color. And my F150 i have now has a lot of chrome, which i don't mind, but i am ready for a change. So had to have the sport version this time.
I was going to go with carbonized grey, but given the interior of the lariat sport, and my sons love of the color red (he is a toddler) I went with rapid red.
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