Rhino Linings Article

Ford had redesigned its F-Series pickup truck as an early 1997 model, when it had been the top-selling vehicle of any kind for close to 15 years. The F-150 pickup came with rear- or 4-wheel drive, in regular-cab and extended-cab body. This extended cab was called Super Cab, the latter had a passenger-side third door, plus a 3-place rear seat that folded to create a flat, steel cargo floor. Short-bed models had a 6.5-foot cargo bed; long-bed models held an 8-foot bed.

Ford named its flat-side cargo bed the Styleside. The Flareside model, with a flared-fender cargo box, was only available in a short-bed form. There were three engines available: a 4.2-liter V6, an overhead-cam 4.6-liter V8, and a 5.4-liter V8. A manual shift was standard with the two smaller engines, with the automatic transmission optional. Automatic was required with the 5.4-liter V8. All models had dual airbags, along with a key-operated dashboard switch that deactivated the passenger-side airbag. Rear-wheel antilock brakes were standard, with 4-wheel ABS standard on Lariat models and optional on other F-150s.

Although there were few changes in the 1998 model F-150, The 1999 saw the introduction of a four door Super Cab model. This was a major improvement in the eyes of many F-150 Super Cab owners. Needless to say, it was awkward at best for the driver to have to walk around the truck to remove something large or bulky from that back seat area.

In 2000, we saw the introduction of a new heavy-duty F-150 model. The Lariat got standard 17-inch wheels and had turn-signals mounted on the outside mirrors for safety.

The 2001 model year saw the introduction of the new Super Crew cab in the F-150. Previously it had only been available in the Super Duty formats. Another great addition was 4-where antilock disc brakes became standard.

With the 2002 model year, the F-150 added a new FX4 off-road package. Mid 2002 saw the Ford Harley Davidson model released as a Super Crew cab with 20-inch wheels. Also arriving on the scene was the new S.V.T. Lightning which was a high performance 2WD regular cab model F-150 with a 380-hp supercharged 5.4 liter V8.

In 2003, Ford turned its attention to sound deadening the F-150 and a rear window defogger was added for the first time. There also was the addition of the Heritage Edition for the XLT Super Cab.

The 2004 model year saw Ford rename the 1997-2004 version of its full-size pickup the F-150 heritage. This allowed them to start selling the new models simply the F-150. The Crew Cab bodystyle was dropped and this left only the regular and extended cab models in the Heritage Line of Ford Pickup Trucks.