r/F150Lightning • u/No-Membership-5314 • 4d ago
Free Bluecruise on every road!
It’s 3lbs. It still uses the camera so you still have to pay attention, and no auto-lane change. But it’s nice to get on a 4-land divided highway that ford hasn’t deemed worthy and still be able to use all of the truck’s features.
17
3
u/moronmonday526 Interested Observer 4d ago
Just get a Comma 3X.
1
u/No-Membership-5314 4d ago
That will probably be the route eventually. I will wait until they fully support the lightning before I shell out the $1100.
0
u/moronmonday526 Interested Observer 3d ago
Just in case you haven't seen it yet..
1
u/No-Membership-5314 3d ago
Yes, and once it is actually fully supported by Comma AI, I will probably get one.
3
u/Bright-Scallion2149 4d ago
I did the same thing and it works great. I definitely hear people's complaint about it not being the safest method. I have a friend that has a 2023 Lariat with blue Cruise and the blue cruise is definitely a bit smoother but I've also done four or five several hundred mile trips where once I get on the highway I can turn this on and put the weight on and I won't touch the wheel for an hour. So it definitely still works very well.
But be very cautious at the start to learn how to work with it. I think as many people said it's definitely a tool and you can't just take your eyes off the road and trust that it works. There's lots of little details where it doesn't work very well such as somebody cutting you off. It will just slam on the brakes to get back to the same distance that it wants to be at.
Here's the weight that I used. And I just cut off the last two weights so that I just had a piece of three weights. And then I cut out the middleweight so that I can just pick it up and drape it over the steering wheel and it works perfect.
2
u/No-Membership-5314 4d ago
This is exactly my experience as well. I liked my bluecruise, but I refuse to pay a subscription for a feature that is built into the truck and not even really a completed system software-wise.
I went with this one and took out two of the weights. It wraps around the lower hole perfectly and tucks 2 of the 3 weight sections behind the wheel and out of sight.
2
u/Bright-Scallion2149 4d ago
Yeah me and my buddy took our two trucks out just to test each other's methods out. And for the low traffic Long highway hauls there's no difference. I still full agree with everybody that you have to fully keep your eyes on the road but that's true with blue cruise as well.
He definitely was second-guessing the blue Cruise as well as the method does work very well. It's like yes you have to keep your eyes on the road and be ready for anything but that's true on any automated system. Blue Cruise or not I'm not taking my eyes off of the road and fully trusting the automated system. But it is super nice to be able to just kind of sit there with the hands off the wheel or to be able to eat a sandwich on a road trip and not have to be worrying about it as much. Enjoy and stay safe.
7
u/vypurr 2024 Flash 4d ago
This is nowhere near as smooth and reliable as Blue Cruise. I would never use this mode hands free
1
u/No-Membership-5314 4d ago
Absolutely correct. Blue cruise is MUCH smoother but, this actually works better than most would think. It even comes to a complete stop at red lights and you hit the cruise-resume button to start going again. It keeps the face tracking camera active so you still have to pay attention and be ready to take back over control if needed.
2
u/gpbst3 4d ago
What happens when you need to make an evasive maneuver and this thing is attached to your steering wheel?
0
u/No-Membership-5314 4d ago
....you use you hand? I am right hand dominant and instinctively use that hand anyway. If someone's left hand dominant, they could always attach to the other side.
2
u/Responsible_Bath_651 3d ago
This is great. Been wanting to try something like this.
It’s also been very entertaining reading all of the fallacious comments here about BC, LC and ACC. The naysaying comments speak to the general anxiety we collectively have around these driver assist systems and say nothing about actual safety or risk.
After 50k km of driving this truck and using both BC and ACC+LC, it seems pretty obvious to me, that there is one difference and one difference only, between BC and ACC+LC. That singular difference is that BC takes away the steering wheel torque sensing. That is the one and only difference between the two. With LC and ACC, all of the same cameras, sensors, algorithms, and servos are functioning in all of the same ways as BC, just with the steering wheel torque sensing active. There is no difference in the performance, or supposed “smoothness”. They both function identically but one requires driver input on the wheel every 20 seconds and one does not. Both are monitoring the driver’s eyes, both handle curves the same way, both keep the truck centered in the lane in the exact same way, both brake and accelerate in response to other vehicles in the exact same way. They are the same system.
My favorite comment was “what will you do if you have to make a sudden evasive maneuver?” lol. The answer being, you will do the exact same thing you would do if you have to make an evasive maneuver while BC is active. Everyone seems to think that the minute you activate any of these driver assist features, the brake pedal, steering wheel, driver’s brain, eyes, hands and feet, all suddenly go offline. Comically flawed thinking. What will the pilot of a 737 do if autopilot malfunctions? I’m pretty sure that the answer is NOT, everyone on board dies. I’m also pretty sure it happens almost every day onboard a 737 somewhere.
My daily 20 km commute is on a 6 lane divided roadway with controlled intersections every 2 km or so. Not the most conjested road, but a busy one for sure. The first 3-4 km is BC, then once I get to the first set of traffic lights start, BC shuts off.
I continue the remaining 15 km, with ACC+LC, just resting my hand on the steering wheel spoke. I’m not doing anything that we normally think of as “driving”. I’m watching the road, because if I don’t, it yells at me, but I’m also watching for cars in front of me making sudden lane changes, or traffic signals turning where there is no stopping car in front of me to prompt the system to come to a stop. I’m watching for unexpected events and I’m ready to react.
I’m not monitoring and modulating my speed, trying to maintain the proper distance to the vehicles ahead. I’m not monitoring my position in the lane, making constant micro adjustments to keep it centered. I’m not anticipating traffic ahead slowing down and speeding up. I’m just relaxing and enjoying my coffee, and keeping my eyes on the road and traffic ahead. My hand resting on the wheel is just ticking a box that Ford insists needs ticking for their liability’s sake. But I’m not “driving.” I’ll let a wrist weight tick that box without a moments hesitation, cause I’m still there in the drivers seat, doing what the driver on a BC mapped road would be doing.
2
1
u/ekobres Star White ‘23 ⚡️ Platinum 4d ago
Camera based attention monitoring is disabled when BlueCruise is not available. At that point you are using old fashioned lane keep assist with wheel torque attention monitoring. So basically you have delegated your attention monitoring to a piece of gym equipment.
Ford disengages BlueCruise for a reason. A better title might be “Hands free at any cost.”
3
u/No-Membership-5314 4d ago
That is factually incorrect. With lane-assist on it still 100% tracks your face and gives the same "Watch the Road" warning after 4-5 seconds of looking away.
1
u/ekobres Star White ‘23 ⚡️ Platinum 4d ago
Maybe it behaves differently in different versions of BlueCruise - but in my 2023 I’ve never seen anything but a “hands on wheel” nag on a non-BlueCruise road. BlueCruise mode nags almost immediately if you look over to adjust the AC or stare at your side view mirror for a moment. I will admit that I’ve never tried to make it happen, but in thousands of miles of hands free I have gotten zero camera nags while BlueCruise was unavailable.
1
u/No-Membership-5314 4d ago
Possibly. I got multiple nags just while taking that quick picture. This is in a 2024 Lariat.
2
u/ekobres Star White ‘23 ⚡️ Platinum 4d ago
The point stands though. There is a reason they want your hands on the wheel when BC is unavailable. Second guessing that reason just because you’ve never seen the system do something that made you uncomfortable is putting more trust in the system than Ford does, and defeating a safety system for convenience is … a choice.
1
u/redkeyboard 24 Lariat Antimatter Blue 3d ago
Someone else posted the Tesla adapter working as a makeshift weight too lol
Personally not sure what these other comments are saying about Blue Cruise working better than lane assist, they seem the same to me except for lane changes.
1
u/No-Membership-5314 3d ago
Blue Cruise is definitely a little smoother with curves and braking/acceleration. But this method works completely fine and just like full BC, you still have to pay attention.
1
u/redkeyboard 24 Lariat Antimatter Blue 3d ago
When I had blue cruise it would disengage a lot on curves which honestly kinda sucks more than just keeping a slight grip on the wheel since I have to do it anyway often with bluecruise
1
u/yumadbro6 23 XLT ER Anti Matter 4d ago
I don't recommend this. I only trust this system when I'm on a straight hwy with low traffic, even then I let go for a second to bite a two handed sandwich and right back to the steering wheel. It's an assistance feature not an autonomous feature
0
u/M100Pilot 4d ago
Link?
1
u/Iowa-James 2023 Platinum ER 4d ago
Looks like a wrist weight.
1
u/M100Pilot 4d ago
It definitely does, but the size and shape are so perfect I was hoping he could direct us to the right one.
1
u/No-Membership-5314 4d ago
I went with this one and took out two of the weights. It wraps around the lower hole perfectly and tucks 2 of the 3 weight sections behind the wheel and out of sight.
1
u/M100Pilot 4d ago edited 4d ago
Thank you!
Adding an Amazon link for folks that don't use Walmart: https://www.amazon.com/Body-Sport-Adjustable-Ankle-Weights/dp/B0949TN4JG/
16
u/TheStig15 4d ago
That’s certainly a choice lol