2006 Ford F-150 Review

Specifications

A Hog and The Truck: A Match Made In Heaven

Hows this for automotive pop culture: the Ford F-150 has been Americas best selling truck for almost every year of the past three decades, and the worlds best selling vehicle for 23 of those years. In its 55 years in existence, its sold over 29,000,000 units, which makes it the second most popular vehicle of all time. Thats a pretty decent resume for any vehicle, and certainly for a workhorse. Things have inevitably cooled off in the light truck segment in recent months, but the F-150 is still the king of the pickups. And theres no better way of flaunting its dominance than to once again team up with the king of all things two-wheeled, the Harley-Davidson motorcycle company. Ford and Harley-Davidson are a long-running item. Since 1999, theyve teamed up to produce over nine different truck models, not just limited to the F-150. There have been Super Duty F-250s and F-350s too.

From any angle, the Harley-Davidson Edition F-150 is a good looking truck. This years edition is only available in one body style and one configuration, which ought to cut back on confusion. Its the SuperCab, which has two proper doors and a pair of rear-hinged access doors that sit in front of a 65″ bed. It isnt just big on the outside, mind you, as the interior is vastly roomy in all directions. Even the rear-hinged doors arent small, and the rear seats are big enough to accommodate three full-size adults in a decent level of comfort, plus the rear bench seat flips up to uncover additional storage area. Just like a normal F-150, its also a very practical vehicle when it comes to being a pickup. The bed isnt just long, its deep, and despite being the biggest in its class, the tailgate is easy to lift - even with one hand - thanks to an ingenious torsion spring.

The handsome facial features of the standard truck have been modified to include a monochromatic gloss black paint finish. The headlamp bezels have been done over in black too, contrasted only by massive 22-inch wheels, the chrome billet grille and a blue-outlined red stripe that runs from aft the window line to the edge of the bed. The only thing that might make this truck even better are a set of straight pipes, or sidepipes that exit right before the rear wheels.

Even to the untrained eye, its easy to spot a Harley-Davidson truck. If the special exterior finish doesnt give it away, the numerous Harley crests liberally scattered inside and outside, on the body panels, will. They can be found just about everywhere, from the top of the windshield to the wheels, to the fenders and tailgate. Staff writer Jonathan Yarkony and I played “count the badges”, and we came up with ten - and thats before we got inside. Oddly, one of the badges that adorned the passengers side front fender read “LOBO”, as opposed to “F-150″. Research showed that trucks exported to Mexico are sold as Lobos, which, incidentally means “Wolf”. The more you know…

Short of the Cadillac Escalade EXT, Fords own Lincoln Mark LT and the King Ranch variants of the F-150, the Harley has by far the best interior of any pickup truck Ive come across. Its overall design is more or less the same as any of Fords top-line trucks, although its look is cooler, more casual and more urban. The first thing I noticed when I climbed aboard was the smell. Its rich and perfumed with the smell of tanned leather. The seats arent so much buckets as they are aniline leather-trimmed La-Z-Boy recliners, each adorned with a zinc, die-cast Harley logo. Theyre extra big and extra wide, fitting given that the F-150s interior isnt so much a cabin as its a living room.  But theres more; the cowling for the instrument cluster is wrapped in leather and stitched at the edges, instead of the usual plastic, and so is the mammoth center armrest and the steering wheel. In fact, if this truck had any more leather, itd moo.

The rest of the interior appointments didnt disappoint either. Accompanying all those leather-trimmed features is piano-key black trim as well as a unique gray gloss patina that features tiny little Harley-Davidson crest logos, and a nice big plaque attached to the ash tray lid that shows the vehicles VIN number. The chrome-ringed, silver-faced gauges, which mimic brushed metal and are labeled in the H-D font are supposed to look like the dials found on one of their bikes. In truth, they look cool, but are hard to read during day-night and night-day transitions due to dim green illumination.

At its heart though, the F-150 is still a workhorse, and thats something worth praising. Of course it hauls and tows just as well as any F-150, but something you might not be aware of are the buttons on the stereo and digital climate control, which are clear and concise, plus large enough to be used when wearing gloves, and you couldnt ask for a bigger, heftier shift knob. The upgraded CD-6 stereo system with optional Audiophile speakers and subwoofer is surprisingly good too. Its got plenty of power to drive every last note in a song home, but not at the cost of clarity or bass-heaviness.

The Harley-Davidson F-150 gets big respect in general, but its the urban downtown core where the special edition pickup attracts the most attention. Around my area, trucks like this are a bit of a rarity, the choice of transportation being more plebeian than showy, and certainly lacking the visual presence of anything like the H-D F-150. Nevertheless, people are slowly drawn towards it, not because its so large that it could have its own gravitational pull, but more like magnetized zombies. I cant remember when I was testing something that caused so many to stop in the middle of crosswalks, giving big, approving thumbs up, and never from a pickup truck.

Unlike the motorcycle, this four-wheel variant doesnt make the lumpy “potato-potato-potato” sound that a vee-twin Harley might, but its exhaust plays a tune thats unique just the same. The sport-tuned pipes are louder and throatier than a stock F-150, but to Harley riders who like to have their Hogs audible from a mile and a half away, its probably a touch too quiet. For the rest of us, however, its a sound so positively rorty it could make a Mustang V6 wet itself. Bad to the bone, and then some.

Driving through traffic, waves a huge magnifying glass around the fact that the F-150 is a machine of epic proportions. From up here it feels as if youre using every last inch of the roads width, mirrors extending well into the next lane, like a big, all-American linebacker trying to fit into a tiny European or Asian elevator. Therefore, if theres one additional option thats just about impossible to live without, its the reverse sensors. Merely the fact that youre so high up in the air means you cant see anything below the height of the tailgate, which is just about everything on four wheels except for other pickup trucks and big rigs. Give it more space and the H-D F-150s true colours fly. Its amazing how Ford has completely transformed the experience behind the wheel of a modern pickup truck. The ride, even when unloaded isnt at all bouncy, and the frame doesnt quake - a testament to its ultra-rigid fully-boxed chassis. The rack and pinion steering has a hefty feel and it does an excellent job at making the F-150 feel less truck-like than youd expect. I wouldnt exactly call it nimble or light on its toes, but its certainly easy to manage.

Id also be willing to wager some money that the Harley-Davidson version is the best handling truck in the F-150 range. Getting the H-D label added to the FoMoCo pickup also tosses in various suspension components that are sport-tuned, plus massive 22-inch alloy wheels that are shod with low-profile Pirelli P-Zero tires - the same type you might get on a Porsche or a Ferrari. Those are true, blue P-Zeros, not the P-Zero Scorpion off-roading tires. Grip levels dont quite reach gum-to-shoe levels, but the thin sidewalls avoid flex and give the truck surprisingly crisp handling. They dont ruin the ride either. If anything, the sporty H-D package complements the excellent road manners; the low-profile tires dont flex under cornering, and the outboard-mounted shocks enhance overall stability.

The Harley-Davidson F-150 is available with a choice between rear-wheel drive or all-wheel drive, which is controlled through a little rotary knob on the dashboard that gives the driver a choice between 4Hi and permanently locked. The choice is really up to personal preference, as with 2WD you can haul more stuff and pull really mean looking burnouts, which will no doubt impress certain types of Harley owners. But then again, slipping and sliding about in snow and wet weather definitely isnt impressive, something that would happen with an unloaded bed far too often if the optional Traction Assist is not equipped. So, in my books, all-wheel drive wins. If you happen to live where snow doesnt fall, then you might consider the rear-drive truck.

If you werent yet aware, its highly likely that the F-150 Harley-Davidson may experience a loss of grip even with those big, fat tires if the traction control or AWD isnt ticked off the build sheet, as its powered by Fords 5.4-liter Triton V8 engine that makes 300 horsepower and 365 lb-ft of torque, making it the most powerful engine currently available in an F-150. Ford adapted a three valve-per-cylinder head design, similar to the one Mercedes used a couple of years ago in order to improve breathing and combustion over the typical two-valve design. It also features variable valve timing, something that isnt exactly commonplace on GMs Vortec or Dodges HEMI V8.

Impressive this may be, but it lacks the punch of the ultimate H-D truck that left the factory back in 2002. That particular vintage featured a 5.4-liter V8 (a two-valver) that was assisted by a supercharger to make 340 horsepower and a tire-melting 425 lb-ft of torque. Essentially, it had the engine of the gussied-up F-150 Lightning and boy could it ever haul. Though most Harley riders dont buy their bikes for their speed as much as their cruising capabilities (although in drag racing events the large displacement twins do very well), itd still be great to see a little extra distinction in the form of additional power.

Though the F-150 has more than enough power to suit most people, theres always that one nagging problem: fuel consumption. After driving around in town for an afternoon, plus a little bit of highway driving, I had emptied the majority of the tank. Never has so much fuel disappeared under such light driving conditions. Its difficult to wrap my mind around the fact that even as trucks are getting more luxurious, more capable and so on so forth, that theyre just so thirsty. It may not hurt at the moment as the price of gas has stabilized at well below $2.20 a gallon in most states, but Ford is really going to have to do something, particularly if the F-150 is going to remain as the cornerstone of the company. But as frustrated as I was putting all that fuel into the tank, the sound it makes echoing off the pumps and adjacent buildings when I turned the engine over is almost worth it.

At the time of writing, Ford has announced next years Harley-Davidson truck, and though hard to believe, its going to be bigger and badder than the one Im touching pen to paper about. Ford is expanding their lineup of Harley-Davidson trucks to include both F-150 and F-250 models. Next years F-150 is more or less the same as this years, but for the addition of the SuperCrew bodystyle with four proper doors, and a choice of black or Dark Amethyst paint. Things are a little different on the bigger version, although in many ways its more of the same: big and lots of chrome. It does have the customizers trusty tribal flame painted onto the lower rocker panel, instead of the faded stripe, and the box is available in 6-3/4 or 8 lengths. Theres also greater colour selection: black, blue or gray. And just to make it a little more practical, it has four proper doors and is powered by a 6.0-liter turbodiesel V8, instead of the 5.4 Triton of the smaller F-150, that drives all four wheels by default.
 
Back to the current truck, theres something different about the Harley-Davidson edition that separates it from other varieties of F-150.  I am not a truck person, and, until the day I need one for hauling, towing, or moving heavy loads, I probably wont truly appreciate the difference that body-on-frame construction or a live rear axle will make when dragging or carrying tons of weight. Yet even though I dont consider myself a real truck fanatic, nor even a motorcycle fan, I really do like the Harley truck because its got character, personality and pizzazz. In the end, its a finely executed special edition of an otherwise first-rate pickup.