In the same way you can tweak the settings on your phone, the Ford F-350 includes some handy features for customization and personalization. I was surprised how many of them you can look through and adjust, especially since I’ve been testing vehicles for so long.
The first setting is actually something that surprised me, since it could be so useful for a contractor or construction company: The F-350 allows you to weigh things. There’s no setting to adjust, but you can back up to a construction site, for example, and load up some heavy gear and then see the total weight increase in the truck bed. There is a warning right on the screen that this feature is not for commercial use, but it is a handy guide for how much gear you have loaded, bricks and stones, maybe a few lawnmowers…anything and everything.
Next up is zone lighting. I had no idea there were so many options for exterior lighting, which could help those working in the early morning hours or late at night. The Zone Lighting settings allow you to turn on and off several lighting zones around the truck, including front, sides, and rear. The screen for doing these adjustments makes it clear what you are controlling. You can also turn off all lighting around the truck with one button.
The running boards setting is helpful because, for starters, not every truck has automated running boards. Some are permanent, and I know this because I’ve hit my shin against them on other truck tests. On the F-350, you can turn them off, make them turned out at all times, or use the auto setting. With auto, you can also set the time the running boards fold up out of the way after you use them. Several times during my test, I noticed a passenger didn’t have to leap up into the truck as much because the running boards made it a lot easier.
Since this is a Ford, you can expect to find some nice power options. Maybe not as many as the electric models, but there is a power outlet in the truck bed that you can use for power drills, fans, or even a portable radio. In my case, I of course decided to charge a laptop. On the screen, you can see the power draw and monitor usage.
Customizations like this might not seem like that big of a deal, but what impressed me was the extensive options on each screen that came up. Most of us who love cars (and trucks) like to think there are no limits to the customizations and personalizations we can do — even if we know that isn’t true. Yet, as I scrolled through, I noticed so many tweaks to the lighting, weighing materials, adjusting running boards, etc. that I felt the F-350 could meet my every whim.
In the future, that might not be too far from the truth. We can already customize lighting, the seats, the interior temperature, etc. and have been able to do that for years and years. What’s coming next is the ability to really make the vehicle ours. The exact interior lighting we want and settings for how the vehicle drives to suit our exact needs is coming soon.
For now, the F-350 seems like one of the most customizable trucks I’ve ever tested, giving me the impression that Ford wants us to feel like we can change just about any setting.
Even if that is not quite the truth — yet.
