Old F-150 performs one last glorious stunt before heading to the junkyard.
This week’s Freaky Friday video comes to us from the YouTube channel or Canadian motocross racer Mark Freeman and it features a 10th generation Ford F-150 taking to the skies. While we feature a great many jumping truck clips, this one is unique in that there is no driver, meaning that there is no concern as to what happens to the half-ton Ford after it leaves the ground. That is fortunate, too, as the forces created when this truck hit the ground most certainly would have beaten up on the driver.
The Last Flight
The details on this Ford F-150 are short, but we can tell by the appearance that it is from the 10th generation of the F-Series, running from 1997 through 2003. It is an XLT model with four-wheel-drive and it sounds like it is powered by V8 engine, but that really doesn’t matter here, so long as it has enough power to propel itself into the air.
We know that this F-150 is on its way to its final resting place, but before being sold to the junkyard, the owner decided to have a little fun. Evidently, they did a burnout that is not included in the video, then they took the truck up the hill, facing a big jump for one final stunt.
Driverless Jump
Needless to say, jumping a stock F-150 this high in the air without any safety equipment could pose a real threat to the wellbeing of the driver. To prevent risking injury to anyone, the driver jumps out of the truck as soon as it is headed down the hill, towards the jump. As the truck leaves the jump, we can hear the engine revving, suggesting that the accelerator has been pinned down.
As the driverless Ford hits the jump, it is slightly off-center, so it rolls a bit to the passenger’s side, but it slams down safety on the other side. It’s the ground so hard that the airbags deploy and the truck’s momentum instantly stopped. Had there been a driver in the truck for this stunt, even with a helmet on, the impact of the jump and the force of the airbags would have made for a bumpy landing. As for the truck, it appears to have stood up to the hit quite well.
However, with some American ingenuity and a hat-tip to common sense, the guys in this video figured out a way to launch the old F-150 into the air without hurting anyone.
"Before I was old enough to walk, my dad was taking me to various types of racing events, from local drag racing to the Daytona 500," says Patrick Rall, a lifetime automotive expert, diehard Dodge fan, and respected auto journalist for over 10 years. "He owned a repair shop and had a variety of performance cars when I was young, but by the time I was 16, he was ready to build me my first drag car – a 1983 Dodge Mirada that ran low 12s. I spent 10 years traveling around the country, racing with my dad by my side. While we live in different areas of the country, my dad still drag races at 80 years old in the car that he built when I was 16 while I race other vehicles, including my 2017 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat and my 1972 Dodge Demon 340.
"Although I went to college for accounting, my time in my dad’s shop growing up allowed me the knowledge to spend time working as a mechanic before getting my accounting degree, at which point I worked in the office of a dealership group. While I was working in the accounting world, I continued racing and taking pictures of cars at the track. Over time, I began showing off those pictures online and that led to my writing.
"Ten years ago, I left the accounting world to become a full-time automotive writer and I am living proof that if you love what you do, you will never “work” a day in your life," adds Rall, who has clocked in time as an auto mechanic, longtime drag racer and now automotive journalist who contributes to nearly a dozen popular auto websites dedicated to fellow enthusiasts.
"I love covering the automotive industry and everything involved with the job. I was fortunate to turn my love of the automotive world into a hobby that led to an exciting career, with my past of working as a mechanic and as an accountant in the automotive world provides me with a unique perspective of the industry.
"My experience drag racing for more than 20 years coupled with a newfound interest in road racing over the past decade allows me to push performance cars to their limit, while my role as a horse stable manager gives me vast experience towing and hauling with all of the newest trucks on the market today.
Slideshow: Called the Fortress, the 850-horsepower pickup combines Raptor underpinnings with military-inspired features, survival equipment, and a starting price of $285,000.
You must be logged in to post a comment.