Five Things You Probably Didn’t Know About the F Series
Manuel Carillo III
F150online
The Ford F-Series pickup is embedded in Americana like amber waves of grain cultivated on Midwestern soil. It’s ridiculously popular. In it’s long reign as america’s most popular truck, the F-150 (and the entire F-series) has gone through a lot of changes. Here are some fact from the F-series past that you might not know.
image [Cars.com]
Notice How it’s Called a Tundra, not a T150?
Look closely at the placard next to that "Tundra" pictured above and you might notice it reads "T150". You can also see the T150 logo emblazoned behind the cab on the roll hoop/bed arch. Toyota said the T150 name was not intended for production. At any rate, some lawsuits were threatened on both sides of the Pacific — Lexus wasn’t thrilled about the Lincoln LS — and you can begin to see why the Toyota truck is now called "Tundra".
image [Velocity Automotive Journal]
Softness is Engineered into the SVT Raptor’s Frame to Keep You Safe
Back in 2011 Ford F-150 SVT Raptor owners were up in arms about bent frames resulting from high-speed off-roading. A sign of weakness? No. An example of safety? Yes.
Here’s SVT’s Chief Nameplate Engineer, Jamal Hameedi explaining how the Raptor keeps you safe when you exceed the vehicle’s limits:
"That energy has to be absorbed somehow, and we actually went through a fairly detailed FMEA [Failure Mode and Effects Analysis], so if you do happen to far exceed the suspension’s capability, the safest thing for that vehicle is for the frame to yield. If you had an infinitely stiff frame, then what that would do is, the rear of that vehicle ““ the suspension ““ when that axle is going up so hard, so fast, it would ‘donkey kick’ the rear of that truck really high into the air. That’s a very undesirable condition."
This video is a great example of how safe the Raptor is when the driver isn’t so safe.
