Best Used Ford Full-Size Truck - F-150, Lightning, F-350

Full-size trucks are the most important component of a domestic automaker’s portfolio. For years these hard-working, strong and sturdy vehicles have financed Ford, General Motors and Chrysler through their consistent sales and high profit margins. This has been especially true over the course of the past decade as trucks began to display increasingly greater amounts of luxury and driver comfort, along with a correspondingly higher price tag. Pickup trucks also benefit from strong fleet sales to companies and organizations needing vehicles which can pull heavy duty day in and day out.

Pickup trucks are generally stratified into a few different categories. The most basic vehicles, single cab jobs configured with a long cargo bed and a V-6 or small displacement V-8 engine, are intended to fill the low end of the market. These are the trucks purchased by city works departments, farmers and others who need to take care of light hauling and delivery. Their interiors tend to be barebones, reflecting their low cost, low option philosophy.

The next stratification is aimed at the driver who needs their truck to have good all around performance so that they can tow a camping trailer to the mountains on the weekend as well as seat more than just a single passenger. Most often sold as four-door extended cabs with powerful V-8’s under the hood, these trucks have nicer interiors which can be optioned out to the max. These luxurious trucks are frequently used as daily drivers and often have 4-wheel drive installed to help pull through mud, snow and the occasional off-road trail. At the high end of the spectrum are performance trucks which turn up the excitement with special engines and more street-oriented suspension systems.

The final major category of full-size truck takes the utilitarian aims of the work truck and cranks things up to 10. With ultra-heavy frames, dually rear wheels and optional turbo-diesel and V-10 engines, these trucks are at home towing cattle trailers weighing well over 10,000 lbs. These trucks are for buyers who need the safest, most capable working rig on the market and are willing to pay a sizeable amount for it.

Ford has long led the industry with their extensive range of full-size trucks, dominating the sales charts for over twenty-five years and forcing other car companies to change how they approach the market. This article lists three of the best full-size used Ford trucks currently available and rates them according to their capabilities, performance and design.

1999 – 2004 Ford Lightning

The idea of a high performance full-size pickup truck seems like an odd one to many automotive enthusiasts. After all, with their hefty mass and tall stance pickup trucks aren’t known for their cornering prowess or inspiring acceleration. That all changed in 1999 when Ford introduced the very serious Lightning. Based on the F-150, the Lightning succeeded where other previous sport trucks had failed by focusing on the entire package and not just shoehorning a large engine under the hood of a stock pickup.

That doesn’t mean that the motor found in the 1999 – 2004 Lightning isn’t the most impressive piece of the vehicle’s performance puzzle. Initially rated at 360 horsepower and 440 lb-ft of torque, the supercharged 5.4-liter V-8 received a 20 horsepower bump in 2001, along with 10 extra lb-ft of twist to make the truck’s blistering acceleration even more impressive. The Lightning can hit 60 miles per hour in just 5.2 seconds, surprising many a sports car off the line, and the truck made excellent use of wide 18-inch wheels, thick sway bars and a lowered suspension.

Not available with 4-wheel drive, the Lightning is a lightweight when it comes to towing and hauling – payload capacity is a scant 800 lbs on early models. However, the Lightning was never intended to punch the clock for a living, but rather to eat up the quarter mile and provide muscle fans with a unique, fun platform that matched the F-150’s good looks with a healthy dab of power. The Lightning is available in a limited palette of special colors that distinguish it from the standard line of trucks, along with its ride height, clear tail lights and stepside box.

The 1999 – 2004 Ford Lighting has held its value well, making it a safe choice on the used market for those buyers concerned with resale. The Lightning is fast turning into one of the most collectible trucks ever to wear the blue oval.

2004 – 2007 Ford F-150

It’s never easy for a company to approach one of their best selling models with the aim to re-design it and introduce significant changes and improvements. There is a strong temptation for automakers to simply rest on their laurels and ride the current vehicle as long as possible. Ford recognized that no matter how good the F-150 was, the competition was constantly getting better, and that in order to survive the truck would have to continue to evolve.

Many feel that the 2004 – 2007 Ford F-150 is the most attractively shaped, capable version of the pickup ever released. With a wide range of styles starting out with a basic two door and moving on up to the four-door King Ranch luxury editions, the F-150 offers something for every full-size truck buyer. A V-6 and two separate V-8 engines are available, beginning at 202 horsepower for the 6-cylinder and topping out at 300 for the 5.4-liter V-8. The truck is offered with both a 5-speed manual or 4-speed automatic, depending on the drivetrain configuration. 4-wheel drive is also in the cards, along with off-road and towing packages.

The passenger compartment was also upgraded to match the new-look exterior. Leg, shoulder and elbow room are spacious compared to the outgoing model, even in the rear seat thanks to an improved chassis. Ford has also found room to outfit the truck with optional overhead storage bins. Lower trim levels find themselves stuck with vinyl seats and a plastic interior, but other models offer standard air conditioning, a CD player and nicer seats. Leather captain’s chairs and interior accents are also available.

The 2004 – 2007 F-150 is the ultimate expression of Ford’s willingness to re-invest in one of their strongest vehicles in order to make sure it provides the durability, power and utility drivers need in a full-size truck. This value is built in to every used F-150 and helps it to stand out in a class filled with tough options.

2005 – 2007 Ford F-350

The Ford F-350 is a full-ton truck designed to pick up where the F-150 leaves off in terms of towing and hauling capabilities. Part of the Super Duty line of pickups, the F-350’s main focus is on towing, and this is reflected in the fact that this second generation of truck has a stiffer frame and larger brakes than the outgoing Super Duty model. The Ford F-350 is offered in four-wheel and two-wheel drive editions, and dual rear wheels are also an option to help spread out the load across the rear axle and suspension.

The engines offered in the F-350 are definitely geared towards providing heaps and heaps of torque in order to help move even the heaviest of loads with authority. The base engine is shared with the F-150 and provides 385 lb-ft of torque from a 5.4-liter V-8. The next step up is a much larger 6.8-liter V10 that produces 457 lb-ft of torque. A 6.0-liter, turbo-diesel V-8 engine was available until the end of the 2006 model year, and it produces 570 lb-ft of torque. Each engine can be matched with either a 6-speed manual transmission or a special 5-speed automatic that can use a Tow/Haul mode, which increases engine braking on steep grades and maximizes low-end torque delivery. The F-350 has an incredible maximum towing capacity of 17,000 lbs.

There are over 60 possible configurations available for the 2005 – 2007 Ford F-350, in terms of trim, bed length, interior appointments and powertrains. Many Super Duty trucks are used as a sort of mobile office for contractors and others who routinely use their trucks in field work, and as such they are outfitted with a sizeable number of comfort options like power leather seats, cruise control and adjustable pedals.

The 2005 – 2007 Ford F-350 is the king of the used full-size truck mountain, and its rugged construction and excellent durability have made it a popular pick for used truck buyers.