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Ford Files Patent for Truck Bed Movie Screen System

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If you want to talk about a rear entertainment system, have we got some news for you! Ford filed a patent for a new truck bed movie screen system. This accessory turns the pickup bed of your Ford truck into a movie theater and might be the latest big thing to take over.

truck bed movie screen
Ford

Truck Bed Movie Screen

The system consists of two telescoping supports which mount into receptacles. These are built into the truck bed sides. The first one sits near the front of the pickup. It features an “I” shape that allows owners to attach the movie screen. You’ll also find a single cross-member found closer to the tailgate. This accommodates speakers and a projector.

In the patent, Ford states that the integrated design is superior to a custom setup. With another type of configuration, holes would have to be drilled in the bed. As you and I both know, drilling holes leads to corrosion and we don’t recommend it.

While there aren’t plans yet on how to bring the design to fruition, it sounds like a promising idea.

Other Truck Bed Innovations

Of course, this comes on the heels of some other significant truck bed innovations between automakers. It wasn’t that long ago that the Ram Box made the news. We also reported last month on the Ram swing-open tailgate. Just last year, GMC released their Multi-Pro tailgate. It’s capable of six configurations and allows drivers to turn the tailgate into a mobile workbench.

Because of all the new innovations, it makes sense that we would see Ford try to outdo the others. The question is, will we ever have a truck bed movie screen included in the F-150 or is this just to create more hype? Honestly, we wouldn’t be opposed to being able to watch a movie on a warm, summer night from our truck bed. How about you?

Ford Pickup Recall Affects Almost 900,000 Trucks

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Nearly 900,000 Ford F-150 and Super Duty trucks are involved in the latest Ford pickup recall in North America. This time, it’s related to an engine block heater cable that poses a fire risk.

Ford pickup recall
Ford

Ford Pickup Recall Information

Truck owners rely on the heater cable to warm up the engines during the cold, winter months. This cable hangs from the vehicle and plugs into an extension cord which runs into the driver’s home or garage.

It turns out that water and other contaminants can get inside the cable’s splice connector causing damage and corrosion over time. This leads to a short in the connector which causes the heater to become inoperable. More severely, users might trip the breakers while the vehicle is parked with the heater plugged in.

This creates a fire risk with the parked vehicle when users plug their block heater cable into the electrical outlet. In fact, there have been reports of three separate fires already because of this cable splice connector. One of these instances caused some damage. As of now, there aren’t any reports of injury or further accidents.

410,000 of the trucks involved in the Ford pickup recall are from the United States, while the rest drive the roads of Canada.

Affected models include:

  • 2015-2019 Ford F-150 trucks built in Dearborn, Michigan between March 18, 2014 and November 17, 2018.
  • 2015-2019 Ford F-150 trucks built in Kansas City, Missouri between August 21,2014 and November 17, 2018.
  • 2017-2019 Ford Super Duty trucks built in Ohio between February 5, 2016 and November 17, 2018.
  • 2017-2019 Ford Super Duty trucks built in Kentucky between October 8, 2015 and November 17, 2018.

What Should You Do Now?

Once you receive the letter about the recall, make sure you make an appointment with your dealer. Otherwise, head to the Ford recall site and search your truck by its VIN to see if you need to schedule a repair.

This comes just two months after Ford’s Focus recall and the one in September that required seat belts be repaired in 2 million F-150 trucks. Let’s hope things settle down for the American automaker soon.

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