I didn't order this one myself, it was a dealer allocated model and the crossbars were on the sticker as an option for $340. I'll probably take them off and sell them as I plan on installing something like a Yakima LocknLoad platform.
Palsapp just updated again "Dispatched on Mar 10 2021".
I would assume that means that the truck is on it's way and since the since the dealer is about 90 mins away it should get there later this afternoon.
None that I am aware of and it would have to be a pretty big basket. The issue w/a cargo basket is that if it were mounted w/o crossbars it wouldn't have enough rigidity in the center. I do know that the Rhino Backbone system can take the place of your roof rails and it allows for a total of so...
I agree with Ford being overly cautious, it helps w/lawsuits. 100lbs dynamic vs 600lbs static is quite a spread. It seems to me that mounting a platform directly to the roof rack towers and not the crossbars would make it more stable and offer better weight distribution.
I'm probably going to get one of these at some point. I'll mount it to the rails and not the crossbars.
https://www.levittownfordparts.com/part/roof-platform.html
What's the date on your window sticker?
Mine updated when it was offloaded at the railyard (2/25) and that should be your status date. The next time the date updated was yesterday and I'm assuming that's when it was loaded onto a truck for delivery. So yours will prob change sometime next week...