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| 2005 Ford F-150 Review | |||
| Whether you're about to spend $40K on a brand new car, or half that on a used car, it is always important to learn as much as you can about the used car. Read these car reviews to learn about all aspects of the vehicle. Each of the usedcar reviews cover interior and exterior features, options, road tests, and more. | |||
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Introduction
| Road Test
| Inside & Out
| Other Thoughts
| Last Word
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| Other Thoughts | |||
If full-size pickups are famous for one thing, it's their levels of configuration. The various lengths, wheelbases, cab sizes, bed size, engines, transmissions, suspensions, and trim lines make truck shopping an all-day affair. Not only does this generation of F-150 have more of each than ever, it also has more than any competitor, pretty much making it the most complicated vehicle on sale. You might want to prep up your Pentium to deal with the avalanche of data.Let's deal with the essentials only, starting with the body. This used to be a simple four-way affair: Regular Cab (no back seat) or SuperCab (small back seat), and 8-or-6.5-foot bed. The addition of SuperCrew (medium-size back seat) and a 5.5-foot bed would bring the possibilities to nine, but Ford left three out. Also, there are five trim lines: XL, STX, XLT, FX4, Lariat (in ascending order). Here's how it looks: 1. Regular Cab, 5.5-foot bed (doesn't exist) 2. Regular Cab, 6.5-foot bed. Wheelbase: 126 inches. Length: 211.2 inches. Available under XL, STX, XLT, and FX4 trims. 3. Regular Cab, 8-foot bed. Wheelbase: 144.5. Length: 229.8. XL, XLT, FX4. 4. SuperCab, 5.5-foot bed. Wheelbase: 132.5. Length: 217.8. STX, XLT, FX4, Lariat. 5. SuperCab, 6.5-foot bed. Wheelbase: 144.5. Length: 229.8. All trim lines. 6. SuperCab, 8-foot bed. Wheelbase: 163. Length: 248.4. XL and XLT. 7. SuperCrew, 5.5-foot bed. Length: 138.5. Wheelbase: 223.8. XLT, FX4, Lariat, and special-edition King Ranch (a Lariat with cosmetic brushes). 8. SuperCrew, 6.5-foot bed (doesn't exist) 9. SuperCrew, 8-foot bed (doesn't exist) Tah-dah. Six body styles is one more than offered by Chevy, two more than Dodge, three more than Toyota, and four more than Nissan. For better or for worse, Ford is king of choice. Engines are matched up by trim lines, mostly. XL, STX, and XLT all start with 2005's newly added V6 engine, which is the only way to get a manual transmission. Anywhere there's a V6 sits the step-up option to the 4.6-liter V8. The 5.4-liter V8 is standard on, and exclusive to, the off-roader FX4 and the Lariat. 4-wheel-drive only comes with the V8s. The absolute cheapest F-150 is a regular cab, 6.5-foot bed, 2WD V6 with a stick, at $21,325. Multiply that by two to get the most expensive F-150, the SuperCrew King Ranch 4WD, at $41,060. A typical mid-line F-150 might be a 2WD, 4.6 V8, automatic, SuperCab, 6.5-foot bed XLT, which runs $29,200. This particular F-150 can hold 1,580 pounds, has a Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (total limit of truck plus all onboard cargo) of 6,700 pounds, and can tow either 6,400 or 6,900 pounds depending on axle ratio. But utility varies just as much. In terms of payload, the most useless F-150 is the SuperCrew 4WD with its 1,360-pound capacity, but that rises all the way to 3,020 on a 2WD Regular Cab with the 5.4 V8. Towing goes from a paltry 2,200 pounds (Regular Cab 2WD V6 manual) to a whopping 9,900 (Regular Cab 2WD with 5.4 V8 and 4.10 axle ratio). Oh, axle ratios. Did I mention the V6 has two of those for each transmission, the 4.6 V8 has two, and the 5.4 V8 has four? Did I also mention that every word spoken applies only to the F-150, the very beginning of Ford's F-series line that goes through the heavy-duty F-250, F-350 and beyond? Quiz tomorrow morning. |
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