F-150: Tough Truck Exterior, Refined Interior

Americans take home five Ford F-Series trucks every 60 seconds, and statistically, one of those five Americans is a Texan.

While it's undoubtedly true that "Texans love their pickup trucks," as The Detroit News columnist Paul Lienert says, industry trends show that Texans aren't the only ones.

The pickup market is changing, and a variety of new customers are redirecting their automotive attention to trucks from station wagons, sport utilities and minivans.

According to Detroit Free Press reporter Mark Phelan, the F-150's "leather-wrapped interior [is] worthy of a Lincoln Town Car."

It's "a near-world-class interior that leaves the other guys in the dust," writes Lienert.

The redesigned pickup reflects Ford Motor Company's tripled investment in interior design, as well as an acute attention to detail and ergonomics.

"Truck owners spend more time than ever before in their vehicles, both for work and personal use," says Jim Smithbauer, Ford F-150 design manager. "We designed the new F-150 interior to give them the comfort, craftsmanship, versatility and features they want and deserve."

Increased passenger room in 2004 Ford F-150 SuperCab models (Lariat series pictured) seats three adults comfortably in the rear seat.

In other words, if you're going to tow 9,500 pounds, you might as well do it in style.

Three different instrument cluster designs combine with interior "modules" to create distinctive looks in each of the F-150's five series—XL, STX, XLT, FX4 and Lariat.

On FX4 and Lariat models, the 2004 pickup introduces an available flow-through console featuring two captain's chairs and, for the first time in an F-150, a floor shifter.

Also an industry first, the new F-150 offers an overhead rail system that allows for customized organization of storage cells and entertainment systems, including an optional rear-seat DVD.

Regular Cab and SuperCab body styles are six inches longer in 2004, with an additional 16 inches of behind-seat storage in the Regular Cab—enough to fit golf clubs, toolboxes or five-gallon paint buckets—and increased rear-seat comfort for three adults in the SuperCab. To better access storage in the cabin, Regular Cabs are equipped with industry-first, rearward-swinging access doors. Rear access doors also assist SuperCab rear-seat passengers with ingress and egress and are opened by single, double-acting handles, which are easily operated from outside or in.

"The F-150 essentially puts an upscale car interior into a full-size truck, raising the bar for cabin refinement for all pickup makers," writes John McCormick of The Detroit News.

In ride-and-drive reviews, automotive media are applauding the "look and feel" of the F-150's new cabin as well as its quietness. Double-sealed doors and metal/plastic layering help keep road noise to the road and engine noise to the engine. Additionally, the new F-150's frame is nine times as rigid as its predecessor. The new F-150 introduces an available flow-through center console and floor shifter on FX4 (pictured) and Lariat models.

Combined with a 1.5-inch wider stance and more outwardly positioned shock absorbers, the 2004 F-150 produces a smooth, quiet ride with minimized levels of noise, vibration and harshness.

An available industry-first overhead rail system allows for customized interior storage options. "Two adults can actually carry on a conversation in a normal tone of voice at 70 miles an hour, which is difficult in some competitors," Lienert notes.

The F-150 will offer the industry's widest variety of body and trim configurations when it goes on sale this fall.

With three cabs, three box lengths, two box styles and five interior trim series, there's an F-150 to meet your unique pickup truck needs, whether you're new to the segment or a lifelong customer.