First Look: 2024 Ford F-150

In Detroit, the Truck Wars never sleep. All the players enjoy nothing more than beating each other over the head with power outputs, towing capacity, and what they think is the Next Great Gadget™. For 2024, Ford is re-upping the F-150 with a midcycle refresh – and answering GM and Ram with an innovation of its own.

It’s with no small amount of irony that the open bed (y’know, the whole reason a pickup truck was invented in the first place) has been one of the last areas to receive massive amounts of development dollars. Everything from new tiedown solutions and power ports to measuring tools and origami tailgates has been high on the All New lists over the last couple of years. 

In that arena, Ford is introducing the Pro Access Tailgate, which sounds like a VIP ticket to the exclusive corner of an NFL stadium parking lot but is actually a response to Ram’s Multifunction Tailgate and GM’s MultiPro Tailgate. Ford’s take is to essentially split the ‘gate 20/60/20, with the center section swinging out like a barn door or the hatch on an old-school Crown Vic wagon. Three detents help users keep the thing getting away from them: 37 degrees is enough to reach yer gear (or the plugs on a Pro Power Onboard generator) but not hit a trailer jack, 70 degrees allows for some access in close quarters, and 100 degrees maxes out accessibility. Here are some photos so you know what we’re on about.

We’ll reserve final judgment until we try the thing for ourselves but, at first blush, this seems to be useful. It’s not always easy to reach awkward items in the bed whilst standing at the bumper – think kid’s bikes and stuff – so the center section helps solve that issue. It doesn’t look like there is extra bracing in the bed like with Ram’s barn doors, and slicing the tailgate 20/60/20 makes for a symmetrical appearance at the rear (that off-center line on the 40/60 Ram tailgate drives me bonkers). And, of course, the whole thing can be dropped like a normal ‘gate. We look forward to sampling one in person.

Also back in the open bed are new storage boxes, up to one on each side of the bed just aft of the rear wheel. Accessed from inside the bed via removable plastic cover, trucks with a Pro Power Onboard generator will get a storage box on the passenger side while trucks without the genny will get another storage box in place of the Pro Power unit on 5.5-ft and 6.5-ft beds. More covered and lockable(ish) storage never goes astray.

As for power, it’s status quo in terms of what’s on tap under the hood but worth noting the 2.7-liter EcoBoost is now the standard engine. Also, Ford is putting a huge push on their hybrid offering. The starting MSRP of PowerBoost, showing up on XLT through Platinum Plus, will now match the starting price of the 3.5L EcoBoost gasser. Given the hybrid provides a maximum of 430 horses and 570 lb-ft of torque, not to mention a standard 2.4-kW Pro Power generator with the option of upgrading to a 7.2-kW honker, the choice going forward is easy. The take rate on the hybrid is currently 10 percent; Ford hopes to double that number.

Alert readers will have noticed ‘Platinum Plus’ is mentioned above. That’s the new top-dog trim in town, replacing the Limited and permitting Ford to hammer more P L A T I N U M chrome letters onto the hoods of F-150s so equipped. This thing will have a unique interior color combo, though every truck will now get the 12-inch capacitive touch infotainment screen as standard gear. This is in addition to another screen of equal size sitting ahead of the driver as a gauge cluster, meaning even XL workhorses now have more digital real estate than your author’s living room had as a kid.

Making use of those screens are the Pro Trailer Backup Assist option, onboard scales which do a decent job of estimating how much payload you’re heaving aboard (including tongue weight), and Pro Trail Hitch Assist. The latter uses the rear camera and bumper sensors to line up a trailer’s ball with the truck’s drawbar, controlling speed and steering to stop at the right place. Luddites and masochists can turn all this off if they so choose. Despite having over two decades of trailering under my belt, I’ll take all the help I can get thankyouverymuch.

The styling tweaks we forecasted yesterday have come to pass and are shown here in a variety of trims. Raptor models get similar treatment, and the Tremor on these digital pages bears a winch and bumper which are described as a dealer-installed option. Also, some formerly optional items – extended range 35-gal fuel tank and a hitch, for example – are now standard. For now, towing maxes out at 13,500 pounds, and payload tops out at 2,455 pounds (obviously not in the same body configuration or trim) but there’s every chance in the world Ford will pull a rabbit and increase those numbers before trucks hit dealer lots. That’s the same reason why they’re playing cards close to their chest regarding power output.

There’s plenty more – but that’s the gist of it for now. We’ll pick through the materials and post a follow-up of other items that jump out at us. Pricing for the 2024 Ford F-150 will be released closer to its on-sale date.

[Images: Ford]

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