FORD F-SERIES

OVERVIEW

Manufacturer: Ford

Also called: Ford Lobo (Mexico, 1992–present)

Production: 1948–present

• Body and Chassis

Class: Full-size pickup truck

Layout: Front engine, rear-wheel drive / four-wheel drive

• Chronology

Predecessor: 1941–1948 Ford pickup

Successor: Ford Super Duty (F-250, F-350, F-450, F-550, F-650, F-750)

HISTORY

The Ford F-Series is a series of trucks marketed and manufactured by Ford. In production since 1948, the F-Series is a range of light-duty trucks marketed as full-size pickup trucks, slotted above the compact Ford Ranger in the Ford truck model range. Since 1999, the F-Series also includes the heavier-duty Super Duty series, which includes pickup trucks, chassis cab trucks, and medium-duty trucks. As of current production, the Ford F-Series includes the F-150 pickup, F-250 through F-450 Super Duty pickups, F-450/550 Super Duty chassis cabs, and F-650/750 Super Duty Class 6-8 trucks. The most popular version of the F-Series is the F-150, now in its fourteenth generation.

The best-selling pickup truck in the United States since 1977 (the highest-selling vehicle overall since 1981); the F-Series is also the best-selling vehicle in Canada. As of the 2018 model year, the F-Series generated $41 billion in annual revenue for Ford. At various times, Ford has marketed the F-Series across all three of its divisions in North America. From 1948 to 1968, Mercury marketed the F-Series as the M-Series (in Canada); during the 2000s, Lincoln sold the F-150 as the Blackwood and the later Mark LT. The F-series platform has underpinned several sport utility vehicles, including the Ford Bronco, Ford Expedition and Lincoln Navigator.

The Ford F-Series is manufactured by Ford in four facilities in the United States.

SOME FUN FACTS ABOUT THE F-SERIES

Now that more than a century has passed since Ford offered its first real truck, and more than 70 years with the venerable best-selling F-Series, let’s load your arsenal of pub trivia on the topic.

• Bonus Built

The original F-1 trucks, also advertised as the “Bonus Built Line,” marked Ford’s first truly all-new postwar vehicle design. Find out how a 1949 Ford F-1 compares to a modern 2019 Ford F-150 here.

• Nationwide

First-gen trucks were assembled in nine U.S. assembly plants (Chester, Pennsylvania; Dearborn, Michigan; Edison, New Jersey; Long Beach, California; Norfolk, Virginia; St. Paul, Minnesota; St. Louis, Missouri; Hapeville, Georgia; Highland Park, Michigan), most of which also built sedans. By the later 1950s, trucks started being built in plants of their own, and today’s 13th-gen F-150 is built in just two locations: Kansas City, Missouri, and Dearborn, Michigan.

• Mercury Trucks

The Mercury brand was particularly popular in Canada, so much so that many rural communities had a Mercury (or Lincoln-Mercury-Meteor) dealer but no Ford dealer. So to ensure that its trucks could penetrate the entire Great White North, Ford sold Mercury M-Series pickups there with minor trim variations through 1968.

• Outsourced 4WD

If you wanted four-wheel drive on an early F-series, your truck was upfitted by Indianapolis-based Marmon-Herrington Company, which added its own two-speed transfer case and live front axle. The company had been converting trucks for the military since the 1930s. Ford began installing its own four-wheel drive in 1959.

• 100x Better

In time for Ford’s Golden Jubilee in 1953, the redesigned second-gen “Economy Truck Line” appeared, renamed F-100, F-200, and so on. (Some say the name was inspired by the F-100 Super Sabre fighter jet.) The ancient flathead V-8 soldiered on through 1953, it’s 21st year. This gen also brought the first automatic transmission option.

• Styleside

For 1957, the third-gen F-Series adopted the smooth-side look all pickups enjoy today, though a more traditional narrow box with “Flareside” external fenders became optional. Two bed lengths were also offered: 6.5-foot and 8-foot.

• One Bumper Fits All

A slightly redesigned front bumper arrived for 1959—chromed or painted—that would carry over on successive F-Series generations for 20 years. That ranks as the longest-running unchanged part on an F-Series.

• Unibody

In an effort to greatly simplify the body assembly and paint processes, the cab and box were unitized for light-duty F-100 variants of the fourth-gen truck in 1961. Bad idea. Loaded beds occasionally caused a cab door to spring open and/or be impossible to shut. By 1962 and ’63, F-100s could be ordered with a separate bed (Flareside or Styleside), and the unitized option was dropped for 1964.

• Twin I-Beam!

For 1965, Ford trumped all rivals on the ride and handling front by replacing the leaf-sprung solid front axle with a pair of forged swing arms on coil springs—a solution that was deemed far more rugged than carlike control arms. A Twin Traction-Beam 4WD variation would appear on the seventh-gen truck in 1980.

• Full-Size Ranger

Also appearing in 1965 was the Ranger name, which Edsel was no longer using on its base trim-level sedans. In F-100 duty, it signified the fanciest trim level, making it the King Ranch or Platinum site-foreman’s truck of its day.

• Factory Crew Cabs

1965 also marked the start of crew-cab production on the assembly line for F-250 and F-350 models. The body style had been available before, with production farmed out to coachbuilders.

• Mission Creep

It was during the fifth gen (’67-’72) that the pickup line started broadening to meet demands for increased creature comfort, with a new bare-bones Custom model on the lower end for 1972 and a new Explorer trim package added at the top end.

HOW TO TAKE CARE OF YOUR F-SERIES?

Properly maintaining your Ford F-Series is vital to achieving endless on and off road smiles for more miles. You should take proper maintenance seriously

• General Maintenance Information

The Normal Schedule applies to operation of the vehicle under typical, everyday driving conditions. The listed services should be carried out at specified mileage, time or hours of operation, whichever occurs first. If the vehicle is operated in one or more of the following special operating conditions, those additional services will be required. The special operating conditions are:

• Towing a trailer or carrying heavy loads.
• Extensive idling and/or low-speed driving for long distances.
• Driving in dusty conditions.
• Off-road operation.
• Use of E85 fuel 50% of the time or greater (flex fuel vehicles only).
• Special Operating Condition Requirements
• When operating in dusty conditions:

Install a new cabin air filter as required (if equipped).

Install a new engine air filter as required.

Rotate tires, inspect tires for wear, measure tread depth and inspect wheel ends for end play and noise every 8,000 km (5,000 mi). Vehicles with dual rear wheels should only be rotated if unusual wear is noted. For vehicles with different front-to-rear tire pressures, the tire pressure must be adjusted and the tire pressure sensor training must be done.

Inspect and lubricate control arms, steering linkage, steering ball joints, U-joints and driveshaft with zerk fittings every 8,000 km (5,000 mi) or 6 months (if equipped with zerk fittings).

Change transfer case fluid every 96,000 km (60,000 mi).

• When operating in off-road conditions:

Install a new cabin air filter as required (if equipped).

Inspect and lubricate control arms, steering linkage, steering ball joints, U-joints and driveshaft if equipped with zerk fittings as required.

Change transfer case fluid every 96,000 km (60,000 mi).

Use of E85 fuel 50% of the time or greater (flex fuel vehicles only):

If run exclusively on E85, fill the fuel tank with a full tank of regular unleaded fuel every 4,800 km (3,000 mi).

• Checks and Services

Certain basic maintenance checks and inspections should be carried out at specified intervals. Any recognized adverse condition should be corrected as soon as possible.

• Maximum Oil Change Interval
• 8,000 km (5,000 miles) or 6 months, which ever comes first.
• Engine Coolant Change Interval
• 6 years or 169,000 km (105,000 mi) which ever comes first.
• After initial change: 3 years or 73,000 km (45,000 mi).

Source: wikipedia, motortrend.