2018 Ford F-150 King Ranch – The Ultimate F-150?
Yeah I know it is 2019, well past new car introduction. The Ford
website (www.ford.com) doesn’t show any 2018s although there may be a few
on some dealer’s lot. In fact my local dealer, Tracy Ford, has a fair number of
‘18s.
Why there is a 2018 in the press fleet in mid-January 2019 is beyond
me. (As I was writing this a fellow
writer posted that he was driving a 2019 F-150 4X4 SuperCrew.)
Regardless the F-150 King Ranch 4X4 SuperCrew was my ride for a week.
My only real regret is that I didn’t have anything large to move.
Speaking of huge the test F-150 4X4 King Ranch SuperCrew, while not the
largest F-150, is 231.9” long (just under 20’) on a wheelbase of 145”. (The
longest SuperCrew sits on a wheelbase of 156.8” and is 243.7” long.) It is
77.2” tall, 79.9” wide excluding the mirrors, and weighs 4,867 lbs. An
important measurement is the height of the open tailgate – 35.7” (almost two
inches lower for the 2WD).
The interior of the King Ranch is a mixture of Southwest and high tech.
The seats are leather in a style that would look right in someone’s ranch
house. They could be a bit more rustic looking in my opinion but that’s just
me. Overall the cabin was a nice place to spend some time but it was almost too
pretty to get dirty. (Again that’s just me; if you can afford a King Ranch you
probably don’t worry about it getting dirty.) The high tech comes with Ford’s
centerstack with its eight inch screen and connectivity.
Getting in and out is made easier with the automatic retractable
running boards. Open the door, any door, and the running board folds out and
down. The running board is wide enough that it was easy to use. I do wonder how
well in would work when covered with ice and snow but it was find here in
California.
Under the hood was the tried and true 5.0-liter, OHC V8. It is rated at
395 hp and 400 lb-ft of torque. If you want more power there is a high output
EcoBoost 3.5-liter V6 that has 450 hp and 510 lb-ft of torque (2019 specs). The
only transmission available is a 10-speed automatic. For the most part it
operated smoothly but now and then it seemed like it couldn’t quite figure out
what gear it should be in and shuddered.
Fuel economy for the 4X4 is rated at 16-mpg city and 22-mpg highway
with a combined of 18-mpg. The digital readout showed I averaged just under
18-mpg. Ford offers different fuel tanks; the standard tank holds 23 gallons
while the optional tank holds 36! With the optional tank this truck could
travel around 700 miles per tankful!
Perhaps the biggest downside for me was that I never came even close to
getting a full load of just over a ton. Without a big payload the F-150 4X4
King Ranch rode like a truck. The luxury interior muted the truckness some but
it was still an empty truck.
The 4X4 with the 5.0 and the test trucks. 3.31 rear axle ratio can tow
9,000 lbs. Go for the 3.73 ratio and that grows to 10,900 lbs.
There was one little nit for me to pick – the parking brake. It is electronic
and although I at first did not trust electronic parking brakes they have
proved themselves. I thought I found the e-brake switch on the console; there
was a switch that without my reading glasses on looked like it said “Park”. It
did but not for parking brake but to tell me how much room there was on the
right side of the truck. I finally found the e-brake way down where the release
handle for a mechanical e-brake would be – in the dark!
The answer to the title is, No the King Ranch is not the ultimate
F-150. Astonishingly the F-150 King Ranch is not the most expensive F-150.
Above the King Ranch is the Platinum, Raptor, and Limited. Regardless the test
’18 F-150 4X4 SuperCrew King Ranch had a base price of $55,025, and an as
equipped price of $65,675. (A comparable 2019 has a base price of $57,410 using
the ‘build it’ feature of www.ford.com.)
I would imagine that you could get a pretty decent discount on a 2018
if you haggle. Trucks are hot right now but no dealer wants too many of last
year’s models sitting around.
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