Except for last year, the Ford F-Series trucks were named the Truck of Texas for the previous 8 years, so it was nice for the F-150 to take the title back. Ford’s lineup of trucks has also been named the Truck Line of Texas for the 12th consecutive year.

Texas is a HUGE market for Ford trucks, it is the country’s largest truck market.

“These honors show Ford trucks still reign supreme in Texas, and it is rewarding to see that the truck-savvy Texas auto writers appreciate just how innovative our F-Series pickups are,” said Mark Fields, Ford’s president of The Americas. “These awards validate what our customers have been telling us about our ‘Built Ford Tough’ F-150, and we are honored by their recognition of the strength of our truck lineup as well as our crossovers and EcoBoost engines.”

In addition to the F-150 being named the Truck of Texas, Ford was named the Truck Line of Texas. The 2012 Edge was named the Best Midsize CUV of Texas and the Crossover of Texas. Other Ford products receiving top honours in their categories in the Texas TAWA Truck Rodeo include the 2012 Super Duty F-250 King Ranch, 2012 SVT Raptor F-150, and 2012 F150 Platinum EcoBoost.

Ford says it’s too close to the size of the F-150 and it wouldn’t sell well in North America. If you actually look at the specs… well we’re not so sure. It’s just a few inches bigger than the current Ranger.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve asked a few owners I know, and they don’t consider the F150 as a replacement for their beloved Rangers! They consider the F150 too big for their needs.

For more info on the truck Ford doesn’t want you to own, see this link, and this one.

Ford has told us that the current Ranger plant (for North America) will be shutting down at the end of 2011 and the Ranger production will end. They haven’t said a word about what will replace the truck, if anything.

If you think you’d like to own one of these, by all means, let Ford know. We think there’s more demand for this truck than Ford realizes. Especially with the torquey and fuel efficient 4-cylinder turbo diesel!

* by “you can’t buy”, we mean “you can’t buy if you live in North America”.

That recall affected about 144,000 trucks. The NHTSA had wanted Ford to recall 1.2+ million trucks back then, but Ford was avoiding such a wide-spread recall saying that they had made production changes that minimized the number of affected trucks.

NHTSA sent a letter warning Ford that if they didn’t agree to a recall, the agency could convene a formal public hearing to compel a recall – a rarely used step that hasn’t happened in decades. Well, this week Ford has agreed to recall 2004 through 2006 F-150 vehicles, approximately 1.2 million more trucks.

The problem being fixed is unexpected airbag deployment, even if the truck is not involved in a collision. It seems that the only early indication of the problem is the illumination of the airbag warning light.

The fix takes less than half a day to fix which involves installing a new air bag clockspring jumper wire that has a special mesh cover.

If you own a 2004-2006 F-150 and your air bag light is on, be sure to contact Ford ASAP. The recall notice is not in Ford’s system today for some trucks, Ford says they’ll send out customer notification letters in May. In the mean time, you can check for all recalls on your truck (have your VIN handy), and go here – http://corporate.ford.com/news-center/news/recall-information

If you have any questions about the recall, please check with your local dealer or call Ford @ 1-800-382-3673 (US) or 1-800-565-3673 (Canada). Of course you’re always welcome to ask questions or share your experiences regarding this in our F150 Forum.

For more details, see DetNews

Well although you can buy an EcoBoost truck already, and test drive one likely at your local dealership, Ford has decided to extend this special F150 test drive event to Canadians. There’s no explanation why Ford waited 6 months to offer this to Canadians, but we suspect it may have something to do with cold winter weather. The dates and cities are as follows:

• Saturday, March 19 in Vancouver, BC
• Saturday, March 26 in Calgary, AB
• Saturday, April 2 in Edmonton, AB
• Thursday, April 7 in Winnipeg, MB
• Saturday, April 16 in Toronto, ON
• Saturday, April 23 in Montreal, QC
• Saturday, April 30 in Halifax, NS

To sign up, visit http://www.drivef150.com

UPDATE April 2011 – This recall has been expanded, see our newer article on the 2004-2006 F150 Air Bag Recall.

Ford is recalling approximately 144,000 F-150′s from the model years 2005 & 2006 for a problem where in some rare cases the air bags can deploy without warning and even possibly when driving (not involved in a collision).

This affects about 135,000 trucks in the US and 9,000 in Canada. In most cases vehicle owners should be alerted to a potential problem when the air bag light comes on a stays on.

The Detroit News reports:

NHTSA found that the F-150 driver-side air bag wires can be chafed by a sharp metal edge of the horn plate during normal vehicle operations or due to road vibrations. Once the wire insulation is cut, a short can cause the air bag to deploy.

In response to reports of inadvertent air bag deployments, Ford in January 2006 made a stop-gap change to the 2006 F-150 by adding a protective tape over the sharp metal edges of the horn plate.

For the 2007 model year, Ford changed the air bag wire routing, added a better wire protector sleeve and redesigned the horn plate tooling to eliminate the potential of a sharp edge.

If the airbag light is on and stays lit on your 2005/2006 F-150, definitely get that checked out ASAP! To check if your 2005 or 2006 F-150 is affected, have your VIN handy and go here: http://corporate.ford.com/news-center/news/recall-information

If you have any questions about the recall, please check with your local dealer or call Ford @ 1-800-382-3673 (US) or 1-800-565-3673 (Canada). Of course you’re always welcome to ask questions or share your experiences regarding this in our F150 Forum.

For more details on the background of this recall see Det News

For comparison sake, the 2010 F-150 with 5.4L V8 is rated for 14 city / 20 highway with 2WD, and 14 city / 18 highway with 4WD. So you’re getting more power and more MPG with the new trucks.

This good fuel economy rating is due to the efficiency of the direct injection, electric power-steering, six-speed automatic transmission, and low gear ratio (as low as 3.15:1). Gas prices appear to be creeping back up, so these improvements are welcome news for pickup truck owners.

If you spend much time in our F150 forum, you’ll see that there are already a few 2011 F-150 owners, none yet with the EcoBoost engine. If you buy a 2011 F150, be sure to stop by our forum and tell us all about it!

The Ford F-Series trucks were the best-selling vehicle line ever in a single year in Canadian history. Thanks to big incentives truck sales are on track to outsell passenger cars in the Canadian auto industry.

Ford offered Employee Pricing during July, August, and September of 2010 which was a very successful program that was also around during 2009. One might expect to see it again in the future in Canada.

South of the border in the United States, the F-Series lineup was the country’s best-selling truck for the 34th consecutive year. The F-Series was also the best selling vehicle for the 29th year in a row. For the first time in 9 years, Ford trucks outsold GM full-size trucks. Ford sold 528,349 F-Series trucks in 2010

Yes, Ford is doing a lot of things right. Many people believe the fact that Ford was the only one of the “Big 3″ automakers to not be bailed out by the government means they deserve a lot more respect. Well, we agree!

Good job, Ford for a great year in 2010. All of us here at FordF150.net are looking forward to another great sales year in 2011!

The danger is that if the module shorts out electrically, it could overheat and cause a fire.

Two 2011 F-150‘s caught fire outside the Dearborn assembly plant. This must explain the delay in production/shipments we heard about not that long ago.

If you own a 2011 F-150 and are not sure if you are affected by this safety recall, please contact your local dealership or all Ford @ 1-800-436-7332.

If you are concerned about safety recalls in general, please contact your local dealer or the NHTSA if you live in the US.

This potential change leaves a lot of questions like
- Will the F-150 turn into a unibody Honda Ridgeline-like vehicle?
- How does this affect towing capacity?
- Will they also put a 4 cylinder engine in the F-150?
- Will the changes make the F-150 wimpy!!??

Well time will tell what Ford will do to the F-150. Considering how they’ve continued to only improve on the truck we don’t anticipate that Ford would do anything to compromise the F-150′s capability.

Source: PickupTrucks

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You’ll have the opportunity to check out the four new engines available in the 2011 F150. You can also drive or ride along in an F-150 towing a load. They will have a portable dyno (dynamometer) to show you how the new 2011 F-150 engines perform compared to the competitor’s offering. And what might be the most fun part, they will have a closed course acceleration run called a Power Drive Competition.

The tour will travel to six cities with dates as follows:

• Texas Motor Speedway, Dallas TX – Sept 25/10
• Sam Houston Race Park, Houston TX – Oct 2/10
• Ripken Stadium, Aberdeen MD – Oct 23/10
• Six Flags Over Georgia, Atlanta GA – Oct 30/10
• SeaWorld Orlando, Orlando FL – Nov 6/10
• Auto Club Speedway, Los Angeles CA – Nov 13/10

You need to be at least 18 years old with a driver’s license to be eligible to drive the trucks. To reserve your space, go to http://www.drivef150.com Word is there will be 20,000 spaces on the tour for consumers, dealership sales staff, and fleet customers.

NYTimes: One owner of a 2001 truck with 191,000 miles told the agency he was driving about 60 miles per hour and heard a dragging noise. He found both of the straps had broken and the fuel line was the only thing attaching the tank to the truck.

So let this be a heads-up to all 1997-2001 F-150 owners out there. If you have experienced problems with your gas tank straps rusting, we encourage you to let the NHTSA know by filling out the complaint form @ http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/

Please, also let us know by posting in our F150 forum. This issue potentially affects 1.4 million trucks. No word on whether it also affects the Expedition or F-250.

Source: NYTimes

First off, the F-Series has been the #1 selling truck for 33 years now, and is on track to take the title again in 2010. Sales from January through July of 2010 are more than double the sales in the same period of 2009. Super Duty (retail) sales are up 65% this year. The SVT Raptor 6.2L is the hottest selling truck on the market, it’s selling in about 12 days. And truck sales overall are up, up, up this year. Truck sales momentum is great!

Fuel economy is the #1 unmet need right now, 70% of pickup owners that Ford surveyed said they wanted improved fuel economy. And many of them were willing to switch brands to get it.

In 62 years of F-Series production, this is the most extensive powertrain overhaul ever. The F-Series get new engines, plus all new F-150′s will get the new 6 speed transmission.

The entry level powertrain is the 3.7L V6. This is so much stronger than the older 4.2L V6, that it will be available on a broader range of cab styles, including the SuperCrew cab.

The EcoBoost twin-turbo V6 engine will be available from XL through Platinum level trucks, and is the max towing engine, up to 11,000 lbs towing capability. In fact, Ford has best-in-class trailer tow capability across the board, as seen by this slide here:

The new engine lineup is about 20% more fuel efficient over 2010 engine choices. In part, that’s thanks to the deceleration fuel shut-off feature that’s made it’s way into all of the new engines.

Three key changes on the 5.0L V8 truck engine as compared to the 5.0L V8 found in the 2011 Mustang:

• Retuned intake camshafts (for lower RPM torque)
• Cast iron exhaust manifolds (for durability)
• Compression ratio down to 10.5:1 in F-150 versus 11:1 in Mustang

The premium engine in the 2011 Ford F150 is the 3.5L EcoBoost V6 twin-turbo direct-injection engine based off the similar engine in the Ford Taurus SHO and EcoBoost Ford Flex. The cams have a longer duration, the intake manifold is changed, different cylinder heads, etc. So the 3.5L EcoBoost engine is not the same as found in the other Ford cars. Ford isn’t giving an exact figure on power and torque, expect that information within 4-6 weeks’ time. Of course, the folks here at FordF150.net will update the 2011 F150 page when we have the information.

• The base 3.7L V6 is rated at 300 hp, 275 lb-ft torque
• The EcoBoost 3.5L V6 is currently unrated
• The popular 5.0L V8 is rated at 360 hp, 380 lb-ft torque
• The bad-ass 6.2L V8 is rated at 411 hp, 434 lb-ft torque

Oil change intervals will be 10,000 miles (5W20 oil). If your 2011 F-150 is equipped with the in-dash productivity screen, you will have an oil life monitor in that display.

So no matter what your needs and wants are, the 2011 F-Series trucks are the answer. If you want better fuel economy, just pick your V6 engine. If you need unmatched towing capability, choose the EcoBoost V6 or 6.2L V8. If your truck is a daily driver, perhaps the 300hp 3.7L V6 will suit you just fine. If not, upgrade to the 5.0L V8.

Other great 2011 F-150 details can be found at the following resources:

• 2011 Ford F150
• 2011 Ford F150 Engine Lineup
• 2011 Ford F150 Forum
• New V6 Engine Forum
• New V8 Engine Forum

The 2011 Ford F-150 pickup will get three replacement powertrains. Ford Motor Co. will offer a 3.7-liter V6 and a 5.0-liter V8 in the 2011 F-150 pickup when it goes on sale early next year, sources say. Those engines are in the 2011 Ford Mustang.

Also, Ford has announced it will offer a 3.5-liter V6 engine with EcoBoost turbocharging and direct injection in the 2011 F-150.

All engines will offer 6-speed automatic transmissions, sources say. The 3.7-liter V6 will be the standard base engine for the 2011 F-150, sources say. That engine will have improved horsepower and torque compared with the outgoing 4.6-liter 2-valve V8 engine that is standard on the 2010 F-150, they say.

AutoWeek is reporting the above.

Ford’s current 2010 F-150 lineup includes a 4.6L 2V V8 (248 hp), a 4.6L 3V V8 (292 hp), and the 5.4L 3V V8 (310 hp). The Raptor F150 also has the 6.2L V8. So the 2011 Ford F-150 engines with more power and newer technology definitely helps Ford stay on top of the competitors.

Although we’re not going to see a Diesel F150, Ford is hoping the EcoBoost turbo-V6 will satisfy the fans who want the oil burner. However, the V6 F150 fans should be happy with the 2011 F150 engine lineup because there will be TWO V6 options.

As an aside, there’s no word on a hybrid F150 powertrain, but anything is possible in the future.

Now if only we could get Ford to give us the dirt on the next generation Ranger (F-100?), life would be great

Source(s): [AutoWeek]

Aside from the new cab option, Ford has added Silver as a color choice for the 2011 Raptor. As well, we expect to see the in-dash computer, the Productivity Screen, that’s available on the 2011 Super Duty. Ford has not announced whether that screen will make it in the F-150 for sure in 2011, I guess we’ll just wait and see.

Sources: [Car&Driver] [PickupTrucks]

Our spies have caught a half-dressed engineering mule of what’s believed to be the 2011 Ford F-150 Lariat Limited… By the time we see the production version of the 2011 Lariat Limited, we expect the lower front air dam will be body color. The wheels may change to a different style or they’ll be painted with body color accents. The diamond mesh grille is likely to stay the same as shown, to differentiate it from the Harley F-150. It’s identical to the 2010 Ford F-150 Lariat’s grille. What else is the Lariat Limited package likely to come with? Though the pictures show a single awkward looking exhaust tip, the side view shows it’s really two pipes merged into one. Based on that and the loud exhaust note, we expect the Lariat Limited will feature Ford’s all-new 6.2-liter premium V-8 engine, as Ford rolls that engine out to high-end F-150 models.

Check out the article @ http://www.leftlanenews.com/ford-f-150-lariat-limited.html

The generically-named Ford Custom Graphics are a series of vinyls that can be used to add a little extra something to your blue oval beauty. Ford says the graphics are scratch-resistant and weatherproof, and retain the car’s 3 year, 36,000 mile warranty. They will be sold exclusively through Ford dealers.

Check out FordCustomGraphics.com for details, or see this post at AutoBlog.

And in other news, information was leaked that the 2011 Mustang GT will get a 5.0 engine with 412hp. We suspect you’ll see a 5.0 V8 engine return to the F-150 as well. Expect the 6.2L V8 engine to be available on the Raptor and Super Duty only. More 5.0 info, again, at AutoBlog.

The bigger engine will cost $3,000 more than the standard engine. “The order bank for 6.2-liter Raptors is estimated to open around Dec. 25 [at Ford dealers nationwide],” said Mark Grueber, marketing manager for Ford.

Thanks to PickupTrucks.com for the news story.

The Freedom Truck, a dark navy blue Ford F-150 Super Crew Lariat, is highlighted by a series of murals painted over the past three months by internationally renowned airbrush artist Mickey Harris.

The truck will be showcased on military events, displayed at NASCAR races and car shows after which it will be sold at auction. The proceeds will then be donated to the Fisher House, a non-profit organization dedicated to injured and recovering servicemen’s family members and loved ones.

Base Vehicle
2009 Ford F-150 4X2 Supercrew Lariat
5.4 liter V-8
6 Speed automatic transmission

Powertrain
Borla cat-back exhaust
ProCharger Intercooled Super Charger System
K&N Air Filter

Chassis
McGaughys 2″/4″ Lower Kit

Wheels & Tires
Giovanna Caracas 24X10 wheels
Cooper Tires Sport Truck Tires XSTA 295/35/R24

Exterior
Mickey Harris Art-Custom Airbrush
Dupont-Paint & Materials

Malibu Customz-Prep & Finish

Malibu Customz-Carbon fiber bed rail covers, front bumper valance, stone guards and door apertures
Phantasmic Entertainment Inc/ProVision-3-D Holographic imagery
SnugTop Tonneau Cover
BedRug Bed Liner
Carriageworks Billet Grill

Interior
Classic Soft Trim-Leather Interior
Advance Performance-Design & install of interior
Kicker Audio-Amps, speakers & subs
SuperCrew Sound-Sub box enclosure (a sponsor here at FordF150.net)

Created By: Malibu Customz, Knoxville, TN

For full details see http://malibucustomz.com/ford_f-150_freedom_truck.html