Ford F-150 Parts

IN THE BEGINNING.

The F-150 was first introduced in 1948. That makes the F-150 over sixty years old and you would never know you were driving a truck that was first conceived in the late 1940s. Of those sixty years, the F-150 has been a best selling truck for 31 years and a best selling vehicle for over twenty years. People just seem to love them!

These earlier model Ford F-150 are now collectors items and can fetch top dollar at any auto auction but most owner's do not want to let go of their classic F-150, instead they choose to show them proudly at classic truck and car shows. You will undoubtedly find some of the best kept F-150 trucks at these shows.

The F150 did not change much in it's earlier years. Changes started to appear in the second generation of Ford Trucks and that is when they got their now famous names. F-100, F-250, etc..

Today we are in the eleventh generation of Ford trucks and over those eleven generations some of the changes have been subtle while others include complete re-designs. One such re-design was introduced in the fourth generation Ford trucks and again in the sixth generation in 1973. The sixth generation Ford truck is my personal favorite and I just so happen to own one.

My 1975 F150 is all truck. It is hard to compare the driving experience to anything else but I will try. When you open the door, the first thing you notice is the roomy cab. The bench seat can easily sit four adults and the headroom would accommodate the tallest of people. When you start the truck, the engine sounds different than modern cars and trucks, in my opinion it sounds like an engine should. The starter motor doesn't sound small like it does on most import cars. The motor makes the truck come to life literally. You can feel it in the steering wheel. Your seat seems to rise and dip as you push down on the gas pedal and warm up the engine. IT'S ALIVE! IT'S ALIVE.

My truck has no power steering so the turning requires some effort at slow speeds but that's OK because these days I will take all the exercises that I can get. No one finger turning for this beast. Once your on the road, you soon realize that you are truly king of the road. These older trucks seem larger and taller giving you the best view of the road ahead. Those little import cars had best watch out because their composite outer bodies are no match for my monster of metal. You feel safer in an old truck at least I do. Old timers stop what they are doing and wave as you drive by. They know a real truck when they see it but to me one of the biggest differences in my classic F-150 and today's modern vehicles is what's under the hood or should I say what is not under the hood.

When you pop the hood and look at the engine you will be amazed at the amount of room there is. You could almost put a couch in there and sleep. Just kidding of course, but these trucks were simpler and much much easier to work on. For one, every part is within reach, secondly identifying all of the parts is very simple. This all makes replacement easy and actually quite fun.

You do not have to worry about busting your knuckles while you squeeze into the tiniest of places just to get to that one nut or bolt that no tool in your whole arsenal will seem to fit. Everything under the hood is so much simpler. You could learn quite a bit from these older trucks and the F-150 still is a great truck to this day. Unfortunately with gas prices as high as they are today, the old F-150 just is not practical unless you have deep pockets but it is still great for a casual drive.

The F-150 today is a totally different vehicle. You pop the hood and the space is tight. There are so many components riddled in a maze of wires. Just about every aspect of the modern F-150 is electronic or computer controlled. There is a computer that controls just about every function of the engine. There are several other computers as well. Airbag computers, Transmission computers and the list goes on. When your F-150 is sick and and not running properly, it is even diagnosed with a computer. The mechanic plugs a computer into a port and software interprets the signals coming from the truck's computers and alerts the mechanic to the faulty component.

The engine is not all that is computer controlled. The dashboard is now a computer. Everything form the mirrors to the seats is electrically powered. Some F-150s have built in GPS systems as well as vehicle entertainment systems such as video game consoles and DVD players. The Ford F-150 has progressed over the past sixty years but all Ford trucks have one thing in common. They need FORD PARTS.