Ford Faqs

For awhile now we have been waiting to see someone come out with smaller trucks. With the gas prices on the rise it only makes sense that many of the automakers try to stay away from the things that will make it harder to sell. Ford is the first automaker to take this step.

Ford is thinking about bringing back the F-100 name to a new mid-size truck that will be built on a more modified version of the F-150 platform. It will be close to 9/10th the size of the regular F-150 and will be built using aluminum in order to shave off even more weight. The F-100 – which actually share many of the same parts as the F-150 and will even be built on the same assembly line.

Ford dealers were able to get a sneak peek at the new Ford F-150 Raptor as it was being unveiled at the Ford Dealer Show in Las Vegas. Naturally they have given us a few details on what to expect and a small glimpse of what the new truck will look like.

Jim Farley – Ford’s marketing boss – debuted the Raptor – which sported a Ford embossed front grille. In order to show the kind of power it has they brought along a video of it tearing through the desert.

It was five years ago that Ford first brought up the concept of using Hydraulic Launch Assist (HLA) in some of the heavy duty trucks that they were looking to create. While we have seen some of those heavy duty trucks come to life we have yet to see Ford use HLA, until now.

The system uses a hydraulic pump/motor and high pressure accumulator to recapture kinetic energy when braking, which can then be released when the truck is accelerating to assist the engine. It’s a type of mild hybrid system really, though its effect is promised to be substantial.

Ford is teasing pickup lovers with an early glimpse of the face-lifted F-series trucks that make their debut this fall. The 2007 Ford F-150 FX2 is the latest in a series of special editions of the F-series, following such popular models as the Harley-Davidson and King Ranch trucks. On sale later this summer, the ‘07 FX2 is basically a trim package on an F-150 4×2 chassis, providing a monochromatic look with some interior flourishes, essentially a street-truck companion to the rugged FX4 off-road model.

The master cladders at Ford Motor Company have left almost everything to the imagination with the spy shots of the next-generation F-Series pickup that have been seen around town, which is expected to debut for the 2009 model year. But as the truck moves into final confirmation prototypes, a number of them were caught road testing, in three cab configurations. Spotted in Detroit have been standard short cab, extended cab, and four-door crew cab ’09 versions, suggesting Ford will be ready to rumble with a full lineup when the trucks launch next year.