Tampa, Florida - The battle is fierce at the top of the full-size pickup truck segment. The Americans, always the undisputed leaders in this market, are beginning to feel the Japanese breathing down their necks. Even on a domestic scale, the war rages on mercilessly, at a time when pickup truck sales are intensively melting.
In order to convince hardcore truck lovers and demanding workers to buy a particular model, there's nothing like a live demonstration that pits one truck against the competition, allowing it to stand out as the uncontested king.
That's exactly what Ford tried to do in Tampa by making its 2008 F-Series compete with other rivals.
Rock solid
Before letting journalists take the Floridian roads, Ford executives decided to showcase the ruggedness of their vehicle by comparing its body and frame stiffness inside a small facility. The opponents had been wisely hand-picked: in the right corner stood the Toyota Tundra, which is starting to gain more and more market shares, and in the left corner was the GMC Sierra, arch nemesis of the F-Series. The center of the ring was occupied by none other than the best-selling full-size pickup truck in the world, the F-150.
First, a weight was placed inside the cargo box, on the right, near the rear wheel. Rigidity was assessed simply by calculating the drop angle. The F-150 only dropped 3 centimeters, compared to 7 centimeters for the Tundra and a little less than 5 centimeters for the Sierra.
Next up was a bolt resistance test where the box is fitted to the chassis. Again, unsurprisingly, Ford's truck came out on top by a significant margin. It took 300 lbs of pressure to break the Japanese bolts and 400 lbs for the Sierra. Meanwhile, 500 lbs were required to break the bolts of the F-150 -- one journalist even twisted his ankle during the process.
 |
| The F-150 in FX2 Sport trim. |
In order to convince hardcore truck lovers and demanding workers to buy a particular model, there's nothing like a live demonstration that pits one truck against the competition, allowing it to stand out as the uncontested king.
That's exactly what Ford tried to do in Tampa by making its 2008 F-Series compete with other rivals.
Rock solid
Before letting journalists take the Floridian roads, Ford executives decided to showcase the ruggedness of their vehicle by comparing its body and frame stiffness inside a small facility. The opponents had been wisely hand-picked: in the right corner stood the Toyota Tundra, which is starting to gain more and more market shares, and in the left corner was the GMC Sierra, arch nemesis of the F-Series. The center of the ring was occupied by none other than the best-selling full-size pickup truck in the world, the F-150.
First, a weight was placed inside the cargo box, on the right, near the rear wheel. Rigidity was assessed simply by calculating the drop angle. The F-150 only dropped 3 centimeters, compared to 7 centimeters for the Tundra and a little less than 5 centimeters for the Sierra.
Next up was a bolt resistance test where the box is fitted to the chassis. Again, unsurprisingly, Ford's truck came out on top by a significant margin. It took 300 lbs of pressure to break the Japanese bolts and 400 lbs for the Sierra. Meanwhile, 500 lbs were required to break the bolts of the F-150 -- one journalist even twisted his ankle during the process.
 |
| A series of challenges allowed journalists to measure the F-150 against the competition. |