2004 Ford F150

Start the Gospel music,the revival has begun
By Lou Ann Hammond

Competitive Models:
Chevrolet Silverado
Dodge Ram
GMC Sierra
Nissan Titan
Toyota Tundra

Gruen (as in Green), Texas - Okay, we know Ford is the best selling truck in the USA. Hell, in Texas alone they sell an F-series every minute. Six of the top fifteen F-series dealers in the USA are in San Antonio. San Antonio is the largest market in Texas with one of every four vehicles being an F-series truck, out-selling Chevy, Dodge and Toyota combined. Ford has dominated the truck market, with average annual F-series sales in the last five years of over 800,000 trucks and 900,000 each year in the last two years. What is more astonishing is that Ford’s F-series sells more trucks than all of Honda or Nissan Corporation worldwide. So why is Ford worried? Because other companies are turning up the heat,. Chevy Silverado has outsold the F-series the last two months. Granted, some of that is coming from heavy discounts, but the foreign companies have noticed this marketshare and are going after it - full-sized. Ford couldn’t have waited another year to bring out a completely revised F-series. And they didn’t. Start the gospel music, the revival has begun.

Ford has been profiting from the same platform since 1996. The change will be as noticeable as if you had gone to McDonalds for a regular meal and gotten a super-size instead. Big, very big. For those folks who can’t afford the extra $1,000 bucks or so, or don’t like the new configuration there will be a " Heritage" edition - commonly known to the rest of us as " old" . The most noticeable difference being the V-6 instead of the new 5.4 V-8. Or, it could be the 9 times stiffer frame or the twice as strong as the " old" one. Forget it, just order the Super-sized model.

On June 16, 2003 Ford celebrated it’s first 100 years in business. With the 2004 production Ford will be celebrating 56 years of F-series. The first F-series vehicle rolled off the assembly lines in 1948 with the introduction of the F-1 (1/2 ton) through F-8 (3 ton)trucks. In 1953 the F-100 replaced the F-1 and the series took on the now familiar F-250, F-350 name designation. The Ford truck was known as the " working man’s" truck till the 1960s. The " Built Ford Tough" slogan was introduced in the ’60s along with the first four-door F-250 pickup. The rest, as they say, is history.

One fact that hasn’t passed by Ford is that pickup trucks are doing double duty as family transportation. According to Phil Martens, Vice President of Product Planning, the F-series is being called a contemporary vehicle - " is this a truck like no other, or a car like no truck?" Ford spent 2 Billion buckaroos (that’s Texas talk for dollars) on this new vehicle. Martens was particularly interested in the interior. " People, including our older generations, are using F-150s as primary vehicles. Interior is a big deal as well as ease of use."

Interior

So, let’s start with the interior and head on out. Ford took it upon themselves to try to meet the unmet needs of the current customer. I’m sure they were looking at grabbing some new customers as well, but the customers they worked with are the ones they know real well and they have every intention of making them happy. The F-series is the first pickup to offer four doors in all cab styles. This includes regular cab, super cab and super crew cab. Customer comfort was increased for rear seating in the supercab with a 21 degree back angle, the same back angle as the front seat. And speaking of those front seats, we’re talking seven inches deep, with a lumbar support. We tested those trucks all day and my back didn’t feel sore at all. According to Todd Eckert, F-150 Marketing Manager, " We put in over five million miles of testing this vehicle. We refined this truck consistently every Friday." The instrument cluster lines mimic the curve of the steering wheel, which provides a smooth look while driving. Regular Cab and SuperCab models have a passenger compartment that is 6 inches longer, providing more space inside for occupants and their gear. For SuperCab models, that extra length means increased rear-seat comfort for three adults in the rear seat. There are no air vents in the back, but the back seats tilt back with more cushioning. For a regular cab, it means 13 inches of secure storage space behind the seat.

Structure

Everything is wider - which creates a more aggressive look, and complements the new design. According to Ford, the front track is 67.0 inches wide - an increase of 1.6 inches over the current F-150. Cues from the F-250 are seen throughout the new F-series, including wider shoulders and beltline. The wide track gave a better ride and handling and improved the frame. The frame is approximately nine times stiffer in torsion and approximately two times stiffer in bending over the current generation F-150. Payload is 3000lbs., 800lbs more than Ford’s closest competitor. Towing is 9500lbs, up 700lbs from the current F-150. Ford engineers also improved the suspension, by using a coil-over-shock, long-spindle double wishbone front suspension with a cast aluminum lower

2004 Ford F150 FX

Drive by wire throttle control gives predictable power and the rack and pinion steering provides precise steering - steering that was better than in some luxury cars, with very little wheel play and a real feel for the road. According to the engineers, this improvement is due to new " gripping" bushings, which twist with the stabilizer bar and produce a more refined steering response.

We drove the 2003 Supercrew Lariat with a 5.4L V8 along the backroads of Texas, somewhere betweeen roadkill and newer roadkill. Along the way there were numerous Ford F-150 signs on the roadside, on barn roofs, and sides of buildings. Ford left no doubt in my mind that this was " Ford Country!" .

Two inches

My favorite part of this car/truck is the bed. The bed is two inches deeper and yet the tailgate, when lowered, is two inches lower. This is huge if you live in the country, which I do. My neighbor has four horses and hauling hay is a big deal. One not only needs a sturdy tailgate, but all the room a bed has to offer. The tailgate was designed with a torsion bar tailgate assist mechanism. I opened and closed the tailgate several times. The tailgate, while made of steel, opens and closes as if it were made of light plastic. The assist is transparent and most customers would not know its there if you didn’t tell them about it. The force required to open and close the tailgate was reduced from 28lbs to about 13-14lbs. This feature is standard on all trucks.

Model Line-up

There is something for everybody at Ford’s F-150 store. Three engines are available: Standard engine for the base XL is a 4.2-liter V6 that makes 202 horsepower. A 4.6-liter V8 rated at 231 horsepower is optional in XL models and XLT, standard in all others. Recommended for the serious worker or heavy tower is the 5.4-liter V8 rated at 300 horsepower, a 15-percent improvement over the previous award-winning 5.4-liter engine. Five-speed manual and four-speed automatic transmissions are available, but you can’t get the 4.6 or 5.4 engines with a 5-speed manual. No light-duty diesel engine is available in the F-150 models, but you can get it in the F-250HD.

Body styles include short and long beds; regular cab, SuperCab four-door, and SuperCrew four-door, in either Styleside or fendered Flareside bed styles. Two-wheel and four-wheel drive models are available. The three cab styles are offered in XL, XLT, and Lariat trim levels; If you get the King Ranch model you can have the SuperCab or SuperCrew, which also affords you the leather captain’s chairs, a premium audio system, and unique badging.

SuperCrew features rear seats that can quickly be converted into covered cargo space. The full-size SuperCrew far exceeds a compact four-door pickup for space and comfort, but rides on a light-duty chassis rather than a heavy-duty platform with its excessive weight, rougher ride, and greater fuel thirst. Overall length is kept reasonable by using an ultra-short bed that measures just 5-1/2 feet. The bed is a compromise, but it relieves the driver of the daily burden of maneuvering a pickup into tight urban or country spaces. The Lariat SuperCrew is equipped like a luxury sport-utility, with leather upholstery, power-adjustable pedals and an optional moonroof and rear-seat entertainment system.

Towing Challenge

Ford set up a towing challenge which involved a potpourri of trucks and a 7,700 pound trailer. The Titan had not been released when the challenge took place. The competitors included a Dodge Hemi 1500, Chevy Z71, Toyota Tundra V-8 4WD iforce. They were pitted against a Ford F150 Lariat 4X4 5.4 Triton. The Lariat had more power through the entire ride, very little noise and was the smoothest drive of all with the least amount of noise. The worst was the Toyota Tundra, which is lighter and got pushed around on the road more. The powertrain seems to fight with the load and I question the eighty percent at 1,000 lbs of torque.

In Conclusion

Ford needs the F-150 to succeed. Ford has a host of products coming down the pipeline, and they need to renew confidence in Ford’s product expertise and creative designs. Ford is already moving forward with production that started on June 9th in the Norfolk assembly plant. Kansas city will start producing F-150s soon. If the F-150 fails it will drag down a pipeline full of new vehicles, poised for debut in the next two years. This truck is the source of Ford’s revival, and debuts at a critical time for the company. The success of this new F-150 is key to Ford’s ability to withstand the heat from competitors who sense that the old champ is vulnerable. With this new F-series, they are not vulnerable in the truck segment.

Amen.

2004 Ford F150 Specifications