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The 04's look tougher than the 97-03, thats for sure. But I'm still not crazy about the big boxsides. The stepsides look good, but a fleetside is akward. Actually, the 03 bodystyle was carried over to 04 as the "Heritage" model, just so everyone knows. However, the 04 MUCH safer to ride in compared to the 04 Heritage, which as I said before is a 03 model.
I may be going against the grain here, but I like the 97-03 style, the 04-05 are too bulky looking to me, the older ones are too "truck like" in their interiors. I have a '03 King Ranch SuperCab, and everytime I look at it I think it's really a fine styling job. And, since I use it more as a car than a truck, the interior features mean a lot to me. In fact, the King Ranch leather seats and moonroof are the reasons I bought the Ford over the Chevy.
If I had a truck that I drove as my main ride every day I would probably appeciate the nicer, more "car like" interior and ride of the '97-03. But mine is only driven when I need to tow or haul, or get into gnarly ground where I don't want to take the car, so the more "trucky" the better for me.
I just remember driving my father-in-law's mint '96 and then getting into my old well worn '91 and thinking "what a piece of crap this is". Now I drive his '04 Heritage and then get into my '95 that is still in decent shape and think how light and cheesy feeling the '04 is. My '95 feels heavy and solid. It's the way the doors shut, the way it rides and so on.
It's certainly nothing personal to anyone who has or likes the '97-'03 style, purely a preference thing towards the truck.
If it was something I drove every day and did very little "truck" things with it I would probably prefer his.
My favorite is '73- '75 and on through to '77. Both front ends look really similar.
And a close second is '92-'96. I don't like the "jelly bean" aerodynamic look of the later 90's. And I don't like the new look that's ALL Grill. The grill doesn't make the truck.
92-96 F-Series are the best lookin' Fords that have been around in a while....When they changed the body style after that, they looked like Tauruses or Contours on steroids.....not a good look.
ggarahan, you bring up a good subject. ANY girl who drives a ford truck will catch my eye and earn my respect. I work at Ace hardware and this girl comes in there, she is 16 and has a 78 f-350 with a 460 and a 4-speed . it has 38" tires on it and a skyjacker lift, not to mention straight pipes . in my neck of the woods, a girl driving anything but a soccer mom mobile is rare. she picked this truck out herself and paid for it. and just think we are the same age (what, are those wedding bells i hear??) I don't think she likes me though. Oh also we will have one more thing in common when she has enough money to buy the Harley she wants. even though i have a yamaha, i'm savin for the harley. if anyone knows of a shovelhead wideglide in michigan that needs nothing but engine work let me know
sorry about the 's, i couldn't hold back
Last edited by Cool1996; Nov 20, 2004 at 09:32 PM.
First 92-96 F series , I have a 96 F-150 in the driveway. Next the 78-79 I have a 79 Bronco in the back yard. However by the end of this month, beginning of the next I'm going to order an 05 Super Duty, can no longer wait for rebates.
I like 1980 to 1986. Theres more interior room in those years compared to my 95 F150. 92-96 models have the dash way to close to your legs and takes away leg room. I like the exterior of the 80-86 better than that of the 92-96. I do like the 73-79 from the way they look just somethings like the big radiator hump under the hood gets in the way. I like the way the 80-96 has the hood separate from the fender. Also unique to the 80-86 is the shape of the fenders compared to that of 87-96.
1979 is in my opinion the best year FORD has made a truck, after buying my new one in 79 I did'nt think FORD was still making truck's. 1980 went to the dog's with that squared off front end, talk about going ugly!
[QUOTE=stmatt]First 92-96 F series , I have a 96 F-150 in the driveway. Next the 78-79 I have a 79 Bronco in the back yard. However by the end of this month, beginning of the next I'm going to order an 05 Super Duty, can no longer wait for rebates.[/QUOTE
Sound like a Ford truck addiction !! ( no known cure )
I have allways thought that the XLT trim and two tone paint on 72-78 were what set them apart. But I think the best, STOCK, truck I have seen is a mid 90s F250 4x4 excab that is two toned a turqoise color with white down the side.
I have a 01 SD that is Torador red with a silver stripe along the bottom and I have never liked the silver. I would like to see ford change the color and trim options on the newer trucks.