Ford F150 Review, Crew Cab 4 Wheel Drive

Ford F150 4 Door Crew Cab Review

Summary of Ford F150 Truck I tested:
-SLT Package
-Cloth Interior
-Short Bed 5.5 feet
-Advertised Gas Mileage: 14 city 19 freeway
-4 Wheel Drive
-Microsoft Sync stereo and phone via bluetooth
-5.0 Liter V8 360 @ 5500 rpm (5.0L V8) 380 @ 4250 rpm (5.0L V8)

Editor: Mike

Story:

I have owned the F150 Crew cab from Ford for about 2 years. I bought it new with 5 miles on it, and now have 29,000 miles on the truck.
I have used it for a variety of purposes, and have really given it a good overall test:
-Towing a 6500 pound boat 500 miles
-Taken it off road hunting in mud, and snow
-Driven it, as a commuter vehicles, driving to work and back many times (about 15 miles round trip.
-Taken the family on a vacation in the vehicle, taking 6 passengers about 1000 miles.
-I have also pulled a small trailer with 2 Four wheelers, or a small fishing boat on several occasions, probably totally about 2500 miles.

Interior Feel and comfort:
There is NO question that the Ford Crew Cab excels in interior comfort. The front seats are plush and comfortable; they adjust easily and can get you in about any position that is wanted. The Front bucket seats are huge, and will hold anyone’s big butt with ease .
Mine is equipped with a middle seat that folds forward to create a center console. This seat is a little small, like they all are. It does work however, and is usable for a smaller person. The handle on this middle seat, used to lift the seat up and down, is on the passenger side, and makes it awkward to adjust and use by the driver.
The rear seat is fantastic, and will easily seat 3 normal size people with an acceptable level of comfort. We have taken several long trips with people sitting in the back seat, NOT ONE COMPLAINT. It has great leg room, and great hip room.
The rear seats also fold up and down easily and provide good storage under each section. NICE JOB FORD!
Cup holders are found in abundance throughout the front and back, and make long hauls with 32 ounce drinks a snap.
The stereo system is adequate in the SLT, and provided decent sound quality. I have not been overly impressed with the SYNC capabilities, and I find myself CONSTANTLY re-syncing my Bluetooth devices. It loses sync and loses my device frequently.
I do have my ipod connected via the USB port, and that does work flawlessly.

Ride Evaluation:
Ok enough about the inside, how does this thing feel on the road?
In a word: SMOOTH
The Ford F150 is a great riding vehicle, the suspension is very smooth, and feels more like a luxury car than a truck for sports car. It feels a little soft and times, and tends to bounce over bumps in the road vs recover fast. It is for sure the least stiff of the competition.
I have noticed that sharp turns with too much speed are scary; the truck leans hard, due to the soft suspension. This is not a track vehicle for sure. You will also notice that with the stock suspension, and stock tires a load in the bed really increases the side to side sloshy feeling in a turn. A modified suspension, and newer stiffer tires really help.
The steering is easy, and soft, with an acceptable amount of play.
The F150 has great brakes, and stops on a dime even when towing. I have been very happy with the braking capabilities.
I did replace the tires with a more aggressive better tire just recently, and have noticed more stiffness in the ride, which I like!
Overall, great smooth ride, that is very comfortable!

Towing Comfort:
When towing my large boat I have noticed a little bit of jerking from the heavier load, and can at times feel like the truck is getting towed vs towing
It does, however, pull like you cannot believe!
I pull a 22 foot open bow boat, over several mountain passes, and am able to keep speeds of up to 75 MPH. The 5.0 Liter is a real pulling machine, far better than I had anticipated!
The F150, with smaller loads also performs very well, I keep my gas mileage up when towing light loads (about 14 MPG) and do not feel the load behind me. By Smaller load, I mean a small trailer and 2 Four Wheelers.

Other factors and feature evaluation:
The 5.0 Liter v8 from Ford seems like a very soundly designed motor. I have been able to easily get 20 MPG on the freeway, with NO LOAD, and 15 in town with cautious driving.
It has great power and accelerations, and is very fun to drive. It does have a good throaty muscle car type sound which I LIKE.
I have several friends with the EcoBoost Motor that have been somewhat disappointed by the gas mileage and were wishing they had gone with the 5.0 liter.

The truck did come with crappy tires! I did replace mine at 22k miles not because I wanted to, but they were close to being worn out, and I did have a BLOW OUT!

I have taken mine off road several times, in very bad snow, and mud. The 4 wheel drive handled this well. Shifting into 4 wheel drive is a snap, and locking the differential is very easy, and helps a ton!

Overall Summary:
The Ford F150 with the 5.0 Liter V8 is a very good truck. It is good for towing, better than I had hoped. It commutes well, and is comfortable, and gets good mileage.
If looking at the Ford, I would evaluate the 5.0 vs the EcoBoost. Do not just jump to the EcoBoost without some thought. Is it worth more money for the same gas mileage, and same towing???
The truck is a little soft, but does what I need it to do, and looks pretty cool doing it!
Nice work Ford!

What they could do better:
-Get better tires
-Fix the SYNC issues
-Perhaps stiffen the ride a little.