No, what I'm talking about is is a minimalistic step just large enough to hold a large work boot from the toe to the ball of the foot in a regular styleside bed.

The stepside was an entire fashion statement unto itself.

 

I didn't want the steps (side and tailgate) so I asked the dealer to remove them, the microsoft sync. the back up camera and a few other things. I then asked him to search for a different truck from another dealer. Well we negotiated, i bought it and wow I really like the steps.

 

I thought the step was kinda silly too, but it was on the truck I wanted so I figured it would be a fun little gimicky thing to have... to my surprise the darn thing is pretty useful!

 

The Man Step is extremely useful, but you can't drive with the tailgate down. My dad has one on his F350 and has a long bed, but sometimes the stuff we haul takes up all 8' of that bed, and the bump out because of that step sometimes makes it unable to close the tailgate. So one day we were driving down a road close to home that has a few potholes and bumps. I turned around and noticed that the tailgate was shut and we didn't shut it. Got out and took a look and noticed that when we hit a bump, it flipped the tailgate up and shut itself, but it also came out of it's mount on the passenger side, so just the driver's side was sitting flush, but it was still latched shut. It was jammed shut, so after some yanking on it, it finally came unlatched. No damage to it, but it taught us to be more careful when we have to drive with it down.

The next time we had to do that, I drove behind him to see what it was doing. Sure enough, when you hit a bump it would send the tailgate up. One bump sent it about halfway up to closing. I don't know why it would do this, perhaps the step causes the tailgate to be unbalanced or something. It's still a great design and we use it every day, just have to be more cautious.

 

I ordered a new truck, and had the dealer put it on the factory order. It's a $350 option (retail price).

New truck scheduled to be built today, matter-of-fact.

 

My '05 Screw used to do the same thing, I don't think it's the step that causes this necessarily. When I haul my bike the tailgate stays down and in both my '05 and my '09 the tailgate bounces. The bike stops it from going more than a few inches so it doesn't close, but I can hear it bounce on big bumps. I think this is caused by Ford's attempt to make the tailgates easier to close...

 

Cool deal - my brother-in-law and nephew live in Frisco - they're my riding buddies. I'll hit you up once I get my bike rebuilt and broke in...

 

Must be. I'm coming from a Dodge though, and I know how heavy those tailgates were. The Fords do seem easier to close.

 

First had the step on my '08 SuperDuty 4x4. It was a must on that truck for a shorter guy like me. It was a natural when I got my '09 SuperCrew 150 to have it again.

Added use......it is the perfect height for my 6 year old daughter to pretend the handle is a microphone......and use the tailgate as her stage.

How's that for a manly use of the step!!!!

 

Just curious, was your switch to the F150 due to Job 1 and 2 build problems on the '08 6.4 SD? Reason I ask is because we had an '08 too, and because of it we now have a new '09.

 

Yes and a little bit of no. Mine was a Job 3, but I still had issues. I was on my third DPF at 11,000 miles. The truck would stay in Re-Gen for a week at a time. Plus I was getting major oil dilution (probably because of the re-gen issue) which made the thing way noisier than when you would first get the oil changed. The oil dilution was explained to me as being normal.....but I did not like that answer.

That being said, we also sold our large travel trailer, so the above, coupled with the fact I did not need the towing component said it was time to trade.

Good news was that I got a great trade (dead even for a hard loaded '09...with every option) so I am happy. Plus I can drink my Starbucks on the way to work now and when I hit a small bump....I don't spill it all over the damn place....these '09's ARE SO DAMN SMOOTH.

 

Wow, you were having those issues on a Job 3?

Job 3 for ours, '09 F350 CC SRW LB 4x4 Lariat, coming up on 8k now. We use the Motorcraft Cetane booster additive with each fill-up, no problems so far (knock on wood). Gas mileage is about the same I'm getting in the F150, and about 13 towing a trailer. Not as smooth as the F150, but the TorqShift tranny sure is! We broke even on the trade as well, even with the old truck sitting dead in the shop with a warped exhaust manifold. Bought it used at 120k with no warranty and it only made it to 140k.

Sounds like because you had an early Job 3 that the bugs still weren't fixed.

 

+1.... It all so help out when you have a 6" lift & 35" tire. I'am glad I got one.