Ford Trucks For Sale

First drive in the newly designed F-150 truck took place during a couple of days at Ford’s Michigan Proving Ground, a test facility with over 100 miles of road spread out on about 3,880 acres.

Ford set up four different tracks to test the F-150’s capabilities, and brought in 2009 Silverado, Tundra and Ram trucks for drive comparisons.

A few of the test courses simulate exaggerated conditions that probably do not represent roads you’ll encounter every day.

Suspension and Vibration
A section of road with large, rock-like bumps of various heights gave suspension systems a workout. A washboard segment (similar to the strips you hit if you wander off the pavement of some roads) revealed vibrations (and how those vibrations affect noise levels).

Remember that when vibrations are strong enough to pass into the cab cause squeaks and rattles and will eventually create fatigue in bushings and frame joints.

* The F-150 truck crossed the bumps with a good bit of bounce and shake, but stayed straight on the road. The washboard area created rattles in the dash and other components, but the noise wasn’t excessive.

* The Silverado stayed straight over the bumps, but with harsh jarring. The cab was noisy and a rear door rattled. Cab noise increased during the washboard test, and was accompanied by a great deal of dash vibration.

* The Dodge Ram’s rear end bounced and moved sideways. The washboard track produced minimal noise and interior vibrations.

* The Tundra traveled in a straight path, but was the only vehicle that transmitted bounce through the steering and the rear of the truck. The washboard drive produced a lot of vibration and noise inside the truck, and the hood shook.

Off-Road Driving
Ford trucks were alone on the off-road track; all were equipped with shift-on-the-fly 4WD HI range.

* In LO range (a lower gear ratio than most 4WD trucks), shift the transmission into first gear and you enter what Ford calls a crawl speed, where the truck uses the engine and gearing to hold itself back in a similar way as hill descent on other vehicles (but without using the anti-lock brake system).

* Pull out on the transfer cases shift knob to electronically lock the rear differential (can be done while moving).

* A button on the dash turns off traction control; hold the button down to turn off the stability control system for more versatility off-road (it turns itself back on if you exceed 35mph).

Bottom Line
Always try to look carefully at comparison set-ups, to determine if they are weighted towards a particular brand. And while Ford wanted its trucks to excel, the tests in Michigan seemed pretty level, with (mostly) evenly matched equipment.

The F-150’s enhanced abilities are a good indication that Ford is intent on keeping its best selling truck ranking.