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Watching CNN today they did a little promotion for Ford. Ford says large vehicles sales are being crushed by fuel prices. So the fix is to make a slightly smaller Ford F150 pickup. I am not in the auotmotive industry so this is just my opinion. The F150 is the best selling truck worldwide I certainly wouldnt change it. When the fuel prices stabilize or fall they will then have too small of a truck for buyers.

Id rather see them work on a hybrid Focus, Lithium Ion technology, or join up with perhaps a small startup company that offers an all electric vehicle. Gleen some info from the smaller companies and run with it on a larger scale when they find a good platform.

What do you think of Ford shrinking the F150? I really believe people who want this type of vehicle will be back once the fule situation stabilizes and Ford maybe screwed agin.

It's not just the best selling truck. Here in Texas, it's the best selling vehicle overall! A slight reduction here would make more difference overall than a huge increase in a Focus. I think it's a great idea and a move in the right direction.

Besides, how big was the F150 20 years ago, when it was still the best-selling truck? SMALLER than it is now, that's for sure.

I'm sure the reduction in size would be marginal. Ford knows a lot of buyers want a truck bigger than a Ranger.

What I'm also hoping they do is make the F-150 more attractive to Heavy Duty (F-250) and Super Duty (F-350) truck buyers. Top of that list would be availability of a Diesel engine -- preferably a 6cyl -- in the light duty class, and for less than the outrageous prices ($6k and up) that the Big 3 charge for diesels in the HD/SD class.

There's an enormous number of these monster trucks on the streets around here, which not only endangers the rest of us (at over 8000 pounds each) but costs society an enormous amount of fuel. I'm hoping high fuel prices will cause a significant number of those folks to reconsider whether or not they really need heavy duty and think about going F-150 for the next purchase. To make that attractive, especially with diesel prices 90c higher than gas prices, we need a smaller diesel engine.

Yes several of my friends drive large trucks. They like the lift kits, duellies, etc. They have good jobs but even with good jobs some are spending $200 a week just to get to work! So now they are considering driving a 4 cylinder beater to work and save the big trucks for weekend fun...LOL. Yes most of them drive F series trucks too

Technically, the F150 is the highest selling vehicle in the entire world.

Just two quick observations from my work place: First, just today I noticed that one of my coworkers had traded his F150 for a Nissan Maxima--he said "What I save on gas makes the car payment." Second, if you really need to work out of the back of a full sized pickup like I do sometimes, they've been making the full sized pickup boxes too high for my (6'2") convenience over the past four or five years. (It couldn't be that I'm getting older:eek:) You would hope they've been doing some market research.

I guess the taller trucks would be handier if you had things to compensate for.

The F150 is the best selling truck worldwide I certainly wouldnt change it. When the fuel prices stabilize or fall they will then have too small of a truck for buyers.

Id rather see them work on a hybrid Focus, Lithium Ion technology, or join up with perhaps a small startup company that offers an all electric vehicle. Gleen some info from the smaller companies and run with it on a larger scale when they find a good platform.

What do you think of Ford shrinking the F150? I really believe people who want this type of vehicle will be back once the fule situation stabilizes and Ford maybe screwed agin.

I think that with fuel prices going anywhere but down, Ford's smartest move is to downsize the F-150. I wouldn't worry about them having too small of a truck if fuel prices stabilize, since high fuel prices should make people who don't need such a big truck move to smaller vehicles, and those who really do need such a vehicle will be helped by having a more efficient one. Toyota's monstrous new Tundra couldn't have come at a worse time. It was meant to be bigger and badder than the big 3's trucks and now is falling far short of what many thought when it was introduced. What Ford really needs to do is update the Ranger to make it more attractive to those who could get by with a much smaller truck with a 4 cyl and a stick.

I was able to get 28mpg on the highway in my dad's 4cyl Ford Ranger a few years back... That was well before I found this website and tried to save gas.

I was able to get 28mpg on the highway in my dad's 4cyl Ford Ranger a few years back... That was well before I found this website and tried to save gas.

I achieved 23 MPH with the 4.0 liter six Ranger. LONG before hypermiling!

Hi All,

Well, the F150 is the standard. I do not think it should be downsized. There are real working people that need a real working truck.

If they want to keep selling overpriced analyst-alternatives to commuters, well then they should come out with a new vehicle between the Ranger and the F150. Something like the Toyota ABAT concept, or a micro version of the Ridgeline. But, I think this is just so much manufacturer lust. The sole passenger commuter needs to get into a non-truck vehicle.

A belly pan, and suspension/tire air diverters will help the FE of the F150 too. A side tilt bed cap will help too. Rear lift bed caps have limited functionality on a long bed. These things need to tilt up from the side. To do that right will probably take a company like Ford. There is a Navy grad student who did an aero analysis of the ideal shape that gave significant improvements. That should be applied.

Hi All:

___Not that this matters and I have not found the doc showing the change but I just read yesterday or the day before that the newly designed 09 Ram weighs a whopping 80 some pounds less than its predecessor? Still looking but 80 pounds is not going to do much …

___I am with Donee on this. A more aerodynamic F150 would do wonders for its FE in terms of the dyno testing anyway? Include a lower and far more aerodynamic bumper Fascia, lower the vehicle an inch or two to cover up more of the tires, underbody cowling and of course a Tonneau cover as std. equip. Some work on the B-Pillars could probably prove to be a nice investment as well?

___Good Luck

___Wayne

The F150 has grown, I'd like to see it shrink back down. I'd love to see a 6 cylinder diesel in them, with a choice of manual or auto trans. Donee makes some good points too. Heck I'd like to see a Ranger size truck with a small 4 cylinder diesel - heck the engine that's in the iCDTi has MORE than enough guts... Thinking about it, I'd bet that it would have enough guts for an F150, even for heavy work like pushing snow.