Bullnose cues on new Super Duties

I'm not sure if anyone has really paid attention to these newer trucks lately, working for Ford myself I see them daily and it struck up a conversation with myself and a few fellow employees who are big into Bullnose trucks as are we here on the Garagemahal. These guys worked for Ford since the bull trucks were around.

The first thing we noticed is that the bodies don't hang nearly as low to the ground as they did before. Excluding the front end which as always is as big as a whale, the body as a whole seemingly has much more ground clearance.

The frames, while some are partially boxed, have gone back to the 7" rails very similarly modeled to the last generation 92-96 trucks which were, obviously based on the bullnose frame.

The tailgate, on 2017 models and up had gone to a starkishly similar design to our tailgates...however the newest 2020 takes that to a whole new level. While the Raptor has gone back to the "FORD" letters on the gate, these are actually embossed tailgates.  Not only are they embossed but they also bear an even sharper resemblance to the bullnose tailgate in the body lines.




The ends of the bed corners are squared off like our trucks, and the hoods have embossed letters as well.

I think however, the biggest change is the redintroduction of the pushrod V8, namely a 445 ci one at that. I have confirmed that the new Godzilla 7.3 gas motor was HEAVILY designed around the Windsor and FE engines. 6 bolt, crossbolted mains, fully forged bottom end, cast iron block etc. And, not for nothing, I've driven one, and it absolutely BLOWS the 6.2 out of the water.


So this leads me to beleive, have Ford really come to their senses are started giving people trucks that people want to buy again? It seemed like we were in a rut for a while, and while others might say other wise I am absolutely not a fan of the Modular engines what so ever. I just feel like they haven't really built a true "truck" if you will since the 90s, and maybe the first generation Super Duty.

I will say, this is the first time Ford has caught my attention with a truck since the last 1997 F250 rolled off the line. Enough to the point I've considered spec'ing one out.

Whats your guys thoughts?

The 2015+ F150 and 2017+ Super Duty are the first Ford trucks I've liked since 1996.

The two things that will always keep me from purchasing a new one is the lack of a manual transmission, and the ridiculous amount of garbage they tack onto these trucks.

I hadn't noticed the similarities, and I've had mine parked side by side several times.  But I see what you are saying.

As far as liking the new trucks, I really like my 2015.  And the EcoBoost engine is a serious winner.

I agree with the fact these trucks are the first I've liked since then. The Ecoboost has been great, the 5.0 has been good but I don't like the 5.4 or 4.6 at all.  But this new 7.3, I feel is a force to be reckoned with. It's the modern 460 in my opinion.

The F150s have pulled a few cues too, the beds are also squared off and the wheel arches aren't too dissimilar to the bullnose arches.

Even the basic body line done the side of the truck isn't all that far off.

Angelo Voltura wrote

...but I don't like the 5.4 or 4.6 at all.  

lol. We bought a bunch of those 2004-2008 F150 4X4's at my work back then. The first one was an '04 with the 5.4 and it was a pile of junk. I think we put two engines in it. The 4.6 equipped trucks on the other hand, were all good. Mine was an '06 F150 4x4, and I put over 200,000 miles on that truck, and that 4.6 was almost 100% reliable except it did blow a spark plug out one time...lol. I limped it to the dealer thinking the engine was blown, and they fixed it quickly and cheaply. That truck also had a massive single fuel tank. I routinely put 35-36 gallons in it, and I could get 500 miles with it on the highway if I drove it easily. I was doing about 5000-6000 miles between oil changes, sometimes more, and that engine always purred like a kitten. It was gutless, but it did work well.

To be honest, I haven't been much of a fan of the F150 trucks since the Bricknose era, until around 2015 or so...some of that gen (13th?) are really sharp. I'm speaking of cosmetic/curb appeal here, nothing else.

I'd love to have a new (or newer) pickup, but it doesn't make much sense for me currently as a personal daily vehicle or work vehicle.

I haven’t seen much on them yet.

But, you caught my attention with Godzilla gas motor! I like big V8 American muscle doggonit!

Chevy came out with that 8.1, which I was told was a big 454 that idled well. Poof it was gone, same with the 460.

I like torque!

I have the 3.5 Ecoboost in my 2015 also, Gary, have you tried stepping on it in "Sport" mode?
Wi-fy poo did it while I was not there..... All she said was "too much pedal", scared the crap out of her
She not used to leaving some tire on the street.....

Never did really like the 97 "bubble" trucks with the rounded edges/contours.. Trucks look soooo much better with hard lines....

reamer wrote

Trucks look soooo much better with hard lines....

I agree, didn’t realize how much better I like my 86 over the 94 I had.

Looks-wise I liked my '95 SCSB and my current '97 CCSB pretty well.  But I did like my '85 RCLB better.

Looking at those pictures of the '20, I guess I can see some similar cues.  But I still don't like the looks of the newer trucks.

On the engines, I had a 5.4L in my '08 F-250 CCSB.  Especially paired up with the ZF-6 that was a terrible truck motor.  It couldn't hold 70 mph on a slight hill in 5th gear, let alone 6th.  It would MAYBE have been a fun engine to toss around with a smooth shifting top-loader.  But with the worst shifting dump truck transmission I've ever driven that was completely out of the question.

Now I have the 6.8L V-10 in my motorhome backed up with the 5R110W "5 speed" trans (actually 6 speeds, but with 1.09:1 and 1:1 being two of the ratios, at least it's smart enough to only use one of them).  That combo works pretty well, but I still don't really like it.  It has lots of power and gets reasonable mileage (~8 mpg in a 28' motorhome).  But it makes that power above 4,000 rpm, so it's awfully "busy" sounding a lot of the time.  And there's no way to put the trans in 4th, so frequently it ends up hunting quite a bit between 3rd, 4th and 5th when I'd rather it just stay in 4th for a while.

The new 7.3L gasser sounds like a much better choice, especially if the mileage isn't worse (I know, it probably will be).  But that probably won't matter to me anyway, because I really can't see myself ever buying a truck newer than '97 unless I have to because you can't buy gas or diesel fuel anymore.  And I hope this motorhome lasts me for 10 - 15 years, at which point the 7.3L will probably be history.

Ron - Yes, I've gotten on it in Sport mode.  With my wife, son, DiL, and granddaughter in it.  Did it just to show my son.  He was impressed.  

And, I routinely use Sport Mode when merging onto 169 North from 71st South in Tulsa.  Two lanes merge into one before you get onto 169, and then that lane exits pretty quickly.  So you frequently have to worry about someone beside you thinking they are going to be the one to have "the lane".  In Sport Mode there's been no issue.  

And, don't miss that I have the Max Tow package, so I have 3.55 gears.  Not the 3.23's most trucks get.  I had a loaner one time that had the 3.23's and it took me a while to work out why it wasn't as quick.

The new trucks these days has so much stuff added to them that has pushed the prices up in to and sometimes beyond luxury car prices. You can't even just buy a basic stripped down work truck anymore, or what I would consider a basic work truck, no air, hand crank up windows, no power anything. But wow, the features that you get with all that technology is really impressive. A new truck is way out of my budget and they don't really appeal to me but to each their own as they say.

With all of the standard features they are putting on new vehicles, you'd think a mandatory dash camera would be one of them with the way people drive these days. Haven't seen it yet.

Yep, that's one they've missed so far.

I think a lot of manufacturers have started looking at this. Especially VW.

Ford has a stripped package now called the Cattleman, AM/FM Radio crank windows etc.

The other problem is the trucks are getting too big. The ranger looks to be the same size a bullnose.

They need to bring back basic packages, with options that don't required you to go to the next tier package, and allow engine options across the board.

I should not have to buy the top tier package just to get a diesel engine. Give me a truck closer to the size of the bullnose, with a option for gas of diesel with cruise and air and I am good. And keep the price under $15,000.

The problem is the price will never drop that much. Not in today's market at least.

I agree, unfortunately manufacturers will never bring back vehicles that the majority of the population can afford as long as they can rake in the large profits that they are currently are enjoying. That extends into most companies, look at the oil industry and their profits and huge annual bonuses they reward themselves with while they claim to be operating at a loss.

"Today's market" isn't the main thing keeping truck prices above $15,000.  It's 35 years of inflation!  I ordered my '85 F-250HD new.  Base list price was $11,348.72.

I added XL trim ($364), cassette stereo ($400), trailer towing package ($380), 2-tone paint ($303), speed control ($185) and a handful of lower priced options to bring it up to ~$14,000.  But with no AC, carpeting and so forth it wasn't exactly a well-equipped truck.

We haven't been close to a $15,000 work truck for a while.