Ford F-150 Overland Profile

The Ford F-series history dates back to 1948, and the F-150 debuted in 1975. The F-150’s era was a post-war era that revived and revolutionized the American truck culture to a major extent. Just when America was celebrating its bicentennial in the year 1976, the F-150 made its first year-round. 

Since then, the F-150 has gradually established itself as the untouchable heavyweight champion of the American automobile industry, not just the “truck” industry. So can a truck with such mighty records become your ideal Overland buddy too?

Read on to know more about how the Ford F-150 can empower your Overland journey with its astounding capabilities.

Models

Cost

★★★☆☆

Purchasing Cost

With regards to purchasing a Ford F-150 as a base vehicle to build your Overland rig on, you can expect to spot deals in the range of $13000 – $70825 (new or used). Now, the average you should aim to spend on an F-150 would be around $33K.

The recent years have seen a spike in the prices, especially with the higher trim levels, but not a major boost with the overall performance, looks, or value. In addition, some owners are disappointed that year by year models in the 13th generation (current) have very few distinguishing features that you can’t actually spot much of a difference between a 2020 model and the 2 or 3 previous years.

Still, Ford Motors has kept the F-150 at a competitive price tag, making it a worthy purchase. Also, don’t hesitate to buy an older model as the F-150 trucks are known to clock over 200,000 miles easily.

Maintenance Cost

The maintenance cost of an F-150 is in a pretty convenient range for most owners. The projected ownership cost of an F-150 for 5 years is slightly lower than its competitors. The fuel efficiency is very decent too. It has an average mileage of 19 mpg in the city and 26 on the highway. 

Of course, with the EcoBoost engines, you’ll get slightly better mileage, but it doesn’t make a substantial difference to your pocket. The brand new hybrid powertrain has a really impressive mileage rating of 24 mpg in the city and on the highway.

If you’re out of the U.S. or Canada, one thing you have to keep in mind when buying an F-150 is if it’s cost-efficient with your country’s restrictions and regulations.

Some countries don’t have a truck culture or the need for hauling or towing. So do your proper research on how much it is to likely cost in your place.

One year that caused numerous maintenance issues is the 2010 F-150. It had a couple of structural difficulties, which caused steeper repair bills for many owners. Make sure you ask the seller about the average monthly or yearly maintenance expenses when buying a used one.

Reliability

★★★★☆

In terms of reliability, the F-150 is extremely loved by its owners. This truck will never leave you stranded under any circumstances; rain, sleet, mud, or snow. 

However, the truck which was always looked up to as the most reliable on the market, suddenly reverse geared in 2004 and become unreliable.

The main two issues in the 2004 model were the power window regulators and plug ejection sparks. Even when Ford tried to sort it out by testing it with other engines, it persisted.

In a rush to quickly regain status, the engineering was too hurried, and it collapsed once again in 2005. But, luckily it climbed back up the charts the following year itself.

Except for just a few unfortunate years, the F-150 has always been on top of its game. The F-150 was given an overall score of 57 from Consumer Reports. People have indefinite trust in Ford for sure.

Parts

★★★★★

Accessibility

You can’t imagine America’s best-selling vehicle lacking in the aftermarket upgrades area, nor in getting replacement parts or repairs.

There is an abundance of options for you to filter out for each model year. You won’t have an issue with that as the F-150’s aftermarket support is just as good as Toyota’s.

Availability of parts is also dispersed all over the U.S. and Canada. You can make countless modifications to your F-150.

Aftermarket Upgrades

Being such a popular vehicle, there are a plethora of aftermarket parts available for the Ford F-150. Hit any trail, and you will find plenty of F-150’s with numerous aftermarket mods.

Whether you require Overlanding mods like kitchens, bed racks, or off-road mods like rock lights or Beadlock wheels, they are all available for the F-150.

Storage

★★★☆☆

Storage is passably adequate in the F-150 – though not as spacious as a Silverado. Nevertheless, the well-thought layout of storage solutions is aesthetically pleasing with lots of rear space.

In 2015, the full aluminum body was introduced, which smashed the competition in fuel efficiency, but there was a drawback.

Because of the lighter body, overload of weight can easily cause damage to the aluminum body. Thus, the F150 isn’t too impressive when it comes to payload capacity.

F-150 XLT (2003) 

F-150 Raptor (2018)

F-150 King Ranch (2021)

Comfort

★★★★☆

Comfort is always at the peak for an F-150. When comparing the F-150 with its rivals, one can easily come to the conclusion that it has really evolved throughout the years to reach a higher degree of refined comfort above its competitors.

Even in the base F-150 model, the luxurious comfort amenities will lure one into buying it with its heated steering wheels, full leather seats, massage options for both front and rear seats, etc.

Ford kicked off real comfort and luxury with the 2009 model and as of now, a SYNC 4 Infotainment 8” touch screen system is a standard feature on the base model – not something you often see with other big brands.

On the whole, the suspension enables one to have a composed ride and handle with minimal body lean.

Safety

★★★☆☆

Ford F-150 has been making a strong standpoint with ensuring its customers’ safety since 1994 when it first introduced a couple of safety features such as airbags and door side beams. After these major safety upgrades, which awed consumers at that time, the F-150 has been modified with advanced safety features year by year.

The recent 2019 F-150 truck scored a 5/5 star rating from IIHS. In addition, it has a couple of safety features, such as a rearview camera, forward collision warning, pedestrian detection, and forward automatic emergency braking.

Still, when compared to fellow rivals, Ford is a little behind the list of “standard” safety features. There are tons of other available advanced features like adaptive cruise control, active driver assist, reverse auto emergency braking, etc. but the standard list is just too short.

Other competitors like Tundra and Ram 1500 have a much better ray of standard safety features even in the base model. 

So with the Ford F-150, it’s like the more you pay, the more safety you get. Well, let’s just hope Ford brings out some extra safety features than what it has been edging for years.

Off-Road

★★★☆☆

When it comes to off-road capabilities, the F-150 Raptor eclipses all other off-roading trucks.

It has several selectable drive modes like rock crawl, slippery, mud/ruts, deep snow/sand, eco, and tow/haul specialized for assisting off-roaders and adventure seekers. The responsive infotainment system makes maneuvering through these modes super easy and quick.

It comes with wide-surfaced wheels, a well-crafted aerodynamic exterior, and tremendous hauling and towing capability. In addition, the Beadlock wheel technology enables you to drive the tires at low pressure without being worried about them coming off the rims. 

Take any page; ask anyone, the Ford F-150 will definitely be on the top 5 favorites list of all off-roaders and Overlanders.

Ford F-150 Overland Build Example

Equipment

• Roof Rack: Front Runner Ford F-150 Slimline II Roof Rack Kit
• Tent: Free Spirit Recreation Bed Top Tent
• Fridge: Dometic portable fridge
• Compressor: ARB Twin Air Compressor
• Water Storage: Wavian 5 Gallon Water Storage Can

Drivetrain

• Tires: BFGoodrich 35” KO2 All Terrain Tires
• Wheels: Method 305 NV Wheels
• Suspension: Icon 2.5 Suspension
• Front Differential: Yukon Gear and Axle High Performance Ford front differential
• Rear Differential: Eaton 913A477 Detroit Truetrac Differential

Armor

• Front Bumper: Addictive Desert Designs Venom front bumper
• Rear Bumper: FabFours Steel Rear Bumper
• Rock Slider: ADD Ford F-series Rock Slider Side Steps

Recovery

• Recovery Boards: Maxtrax recovery boards
• Winch: Smittybilt X20 12k COMP winch
• Jack: HiLift Jack
• Shovel: Krazy Beaver Shovel
• Recovery Kit: Barricade Recovery Kit T529065
• Tire Deflator: Boulder Tools Pro Tire Deflator Kit
• Tire Repair: Secureguard 66-piece Heavy Duty Tire Repair Kit

Lighting

• Light Bar: Rigid Industries 50 Inch Radiance Series LED Light Bar
• Rock Lights: YONEDA LED Rock Lights Set
• Reverse Lights: Lumenex Reverse Lights Kit
• Camp Lights: Rigid Industries Scene LED Light – 86620
• Interior Lights: iBrightstar Festoon 9-30V LED for Interior

Electrical

• Power: EcoFlow Delta 1300 Power Station
• Solar: Renogy 300 Watt 12 Volt Solar RV Kit
• Battery: Odyssey Deep Cycle Battery, 34_PC1500T

Conclusion

Reigning as the best-selling truck for over 4 consecutive decades is no easy feat. But, as a quintessential American truck, its status has had a bit of a hit in recent times.

For now, Ford debuted its electric version and reintroduced the “Lightning” model – but as we know, speed is not much of a priority in the Overland world. The Powerboost Hybrid electric model seems to be morphing as the “intellectual’s overland rig.” Let’s wait and see!

This all-purpose exploration truck has had several Overlanding-inspired additions to it recently. So, I’ll suggest you go for it. It might just be the vehicle you’ve been waiting for all along! 

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Brent

Hey y’all, my name is Brent and I have been an outdoor enthusiast since I was born…at least as far back as I can recall. I never wanted to be inside, which was pretty difficult for my parents as a kid. I got hooked on Overlanding in my early 20’s after I rolled the first Jeep I owned into a shallow ditch, and I never looked back.

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