if hiding spare truck key IN cab of 2020 F350 - an issue with truck getting confused?

[UncleTim]

Originally Posted by HABBERDABBER

Looks like in the previous post, one could simply unscrew the large eyebolt and make off with the lot of it all. Then, nobody gets in.



But the posters notion is solid.


Simplify, simplify!

Been there thru two kids and 20 years. But we do live in a safe neighborhood. Find one that can be screwed down. They come in all sorts of shapes.

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by UncleTim

Find one that can be screwed down. They come in all sorts of shapes.

True - these lock boxes for keys are available in a version with holes on the back intended to be screwed to a wall, with the screw heads secured by being locked inside the box. Some apartment buildings use them to give emergency crews access.

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by EdColorado

A dead battery in the hide-a-key would be a bummer.

That depends on the key. In vehicles that use a key for normal operation, rather than pushbutton start, any battery is typically only used for remote locking/unlocking (keyless entry) and perhaps identifying the driver, not to operate the vehicle. The electronic demobilization function uses an RFID device, which doesn't use a battery. My Sienna has the old style of a separate key and transmitter, and I routinely don't even carry the bulky transmitter.

The original question is about a 2020 F-350... someone should check the manual for that.
This online guide from a Ford dealership says that it shouldn't be a problem with any Ford.
https://www.sherwoodford.ca/blog/wha...tery-dies/amp/

[C&G in FL]

Originally Posted by Brian B-P

That depends on the key. In vehicles that use a key for normal operation, rather than pushbutton start, any battery is typically only used for remote locking/unlocking (keyless entry).......

I cannot help but laugh. My lowly 2020 F-150 XLH does not have a push button start. I use the key to lock and unlock it and to start it by inserting the key into a slot on the steering column as had been the standard for many years until recently. Or I unlock the truck with the keypad if I am puttering in the garage and I left the truck’s key inside and want to get or do something inside the truck.

My spouse’s Honda CR-V has push button start and “proximity” door unlock, and saying I despise it does not even come close to how I feel about it. If she leaves her purse inside with her key, the vehicle will not lock automatically. While that is a good thing, if we are stopping at a local ice cream stand, I have my key, and are out of sight of the vehicle for a few minutes, it is a PITA. And if one of us gets in before the other and closes the door, all the doors lock and then the other key will not open the door immediately, it takes a few seconds to recognize the second key. And I have to keep one door open if I have unlocked the car and am loading stuff into it or it will automatically lock, yet another PITA.

I am so glad that I have an F-150 without all the fancy automatic locking and unlocking features. Since my key is always on a leather loop key holder on my belt with all of its keys, including the trailer door key, dangling into my pocket, I have no concern about losing it. And if we are out in the trailer, I have a third Ford key in a discrete location inside the trailer. If the truck battery dies, the key will still unlock the door manually. But battery failure can be foreseen usually. While a lot of people dislike the engine autostop feature, it ceases to function when battery voltage drops. If it is not functioning at start up, phantom draw may have lowered the voltage slightly. It generally starts functioning after a bit of driving/recharging. If it doesn’t, it may be an indication that the battery is on its way out.

[escape artist]

Hi: All... How to foil the trucks "No lock" with keys in system. My wife has to hide her keys under the seat to get away without them. I always carry my fob and still get lots of messages about it. "Big brother is watching you"!!!
I used the remote start once to try it out. Didn't take off B4 the time was up so next start displayed a MIL light. They seem to be the bane of my existence!!! Alf
escape artist N.S. of Lake Erie

[Iowa Dave]

Hi Alf
Back in the day when I was learning to drive the filling station had a 1950 Chevy Pickup.
Three on the tree. The Emergency brake cable long ago dismantled by the owner while on a hunting trip to Wyoming. Compression on the 6 cylinder engine wasn’t at factory spec any longer either. So if you parked in a hill without a curb to turn the front tires to, the first thing you did was to jump out and put a block of wood behind or in front of the rear tire to keep the truck from rolling. Then attend to the task at hand. But the fun started when it was time to leave and someone was parked fairly close behind you and you were pointed uphill. Get in the truck, note that you had left the shifter in low gear, now, put the clutch to the floor, and other foot on the brake. With your third foot, push down on the floor starter button with your heel on the foot feed to give her a little gas. And slip the clutch to pull out into the road and go, Wait, I forgot the wood block for the next stop. Hmmm. Yup the good old days. How about a GMC Flxible bus on an icy downhill story ? Doesn’t make a key problem look so bad huh?
Iowa Dave

[yangstyle]

We got key fob protectors similar to these-
https://www.amazon.ca/Todoxi-Protect...07912066&psc=1
They are to stop theft as there are some smart thieves out there who can sometimes use this technology to intercept the communication from the fob's and steal the vehicle.
Similar to the foil idea, with the key in the protector the truck wont recognize the key is in the cab.

[WillyB]

My 2016 F150 XLT has a Regular Ignition Key, a Top Secret Factory Built-In Key Hiding Place and a Key Pad Entry.

If I spent more money for the Lariat I lose the Regular Ignition Key and get the very cool proximity FOB that creates the question at hand.

Fortunately, I was unwilling to spend more money. )

[Rossue]

Our 2019 Expedition XLT with 202A option- a bunch of creature comforts most reviewers recommend has the key fob/start button. My 2011 Murano had the button too and seems consumers want them.

Anyone ever own a Saab with the key on the floor? That was a safety feature as statistics show a lot of knee injuries into the key on the steering column upon a collision.

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by Rossue

Anyone ever own a Saab with the key on the floor? That was a safety feature as statistics show a lot of knee injuries into the key on the steering column upon a collision.

I never had one, but as I recall, it also allowed the key to lock the manual transmission shifter in reverse, rather than locking the steering as usual.

Leave it to Saab to take a unique approach to security.

[azjack]

The early Porsche, before 1965 also had a lock on the shift unit.
AZjack

[Iowa Dave]

I’ve not experienced the Saab or the Porsche but I do remember the Edsels with the push button shifting in the center of the steering wheel and the push buttons in the Chrysler products too.

My cousin who passed away a few years ago had a home with a drive under garage. For at least 40 years he had a top of the line Edsel parked in the garage. He bought it used. He started it up and drove it a couple miles regularly. When he passed in 2010 it had about 25,000 miles on it. We always laughed about the learned reflex of hitting the center of the steering wheel for the horn and blowing the transmission instead.
Iowa Dave