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Ford decides side-opening tailgate is good on a truck

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#21 ·
Personally, I think it's the worst tailgate design of the Big Three. Ram's I think is the most functional with its barn doors, and GM's is overall pretty nice with the split horizontal tailgate. I'm biased, but I prefer Honda's, which yes, is reminiscent of Ford's Magic Doorgate, but in fairness, Ford themselves could've done that with their trucks for decades! Instead they had to reinvent the tailgate here.

I do appreciate the Tailgate Wars going on though. And in the case with GM, I did like how they have a built in storage cubby in the tailgate for the new Colorado. Not big mind you, but for say tie-downs, and other misc items for the bed? Could be very useful.

Now the question is what will Toyota do?


nimajneb said:
My parents had a Chevy Celebrity wagon when I was young, I have some fond memories of riding the back in those apparently quite unsafe rear facing seats.
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I mean, sure. You'll see your life literally flash before your eyes as the Semi slams into the back of you with its high-beams flashing, and the horn blowing. Nice touch I'd say. Keeps everyone on their toes with risk assessment.

But seriously, as a kid, my parents had the Buick version of their Station Wagon with the infamous 350 Diesel. But hey, it got over 25mpg they said despite it sounding like a school bus. I, too, have fond memories riding in the rear facing seats
 
#22 ·
Was just reading about Ford's new F-150s and this part caught in my local newspaper caught my attention:
"That process led Ford engineers to invent a new tailgate that opens like a refrigerator or swinging fence gate. That makes it easier for truck owners to quickly check on payloads, gain access to tools at the rear of the truck, and generally not have to reach over the tailgate to grab something. The tailgate also opens downward in traditional fashion with one press of a key fob. "It's another example of the best never rest," spokesman Mike Levine said at a September 12 Ford event prior to the Detroit auto show. "This tailgate ends the tailgate wars."

They say imitation is the best form of flattery but looks like they could a least acknowledge Honda's already won the "tailgate wars."
 
#28 · (Edited)
[Edit: This thread was combined with another so my comments below now seem out of place/redundant in the conversation. The thread I replied to only contained the original post immediately above. The thread was titled “Ford Copies Ridgeline.”]

I wouldn’t say they copied Ridgeline, necessarily. Ford had 2-way tailgates on many of their station wagons back in the ‘70s.

If anything, this new Ford tailgate seems like a better design than Ridgeline. I would prefer to have a 2/3 section that swings rather than the entire gate. It would be very welcome when trailering.
 
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#29 ·
christopher.comfort5 said:
Seems like they went to great lengths to "sort of" fix a problem that doesn't exist. The reason it's so short is that you''re supposed to be able to open the door if you're hooked to a trailer.
View attachment 442536 hhhhhhhh
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Trailers come in many shapes and configurations. I would expect the Ford short gate to open when hitched to some trailers, but it would be unreasonable to expect it to work with all.
 
#30 ·
I think this would be a very useful design in general. But, I wonder why they hinged on the curb side of the truck instead of the driver's side? I'd rather approach it from the curb side and not have to approach it from the side of that truck that would generally be more exposed to passing traffic. Perhaps to give priority to driver access rather than passengers I suppose.

Steve
 
#31 ·
The far back seats in the old Ford station wagons faced sideways, not rear facing , at least in '72. Honda implementation of a 2 way truck tailgate was not a 'copy' of anyone. Nobody had done it in a truck. As already noted, a full size truck swing gate is too large to be practical and if said truck lacks a rear trunk like a RL has, not much point. You could also say early 2000 Odysseys 'copied' that early 70s Ford wagon's flat in floor folding rear jump seats. It was a reapplication of a known concept - however every other auto mfr on the planet had that same information and did nothing with it until Honda did. Now it's the standard. Innovation can and often is, applying previous design and knowlege to current problems.
 
#32 ·
David Jones said:
The 2016 F150 (bought new) I traded for my 2023 RTL had the 2.7 Ecoboost. For the 108,000 miles I owned it, it was completely trouble free and returned an average of 21.5 mpg over those miles. GREAT engine.
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Change is hard, and I am having a hard time thinking they can get 325 HP (and 400 lb torque!) out of a 2.7 liter engine without wearing it out prematurely. I suspect that careful engineering, the right materials and well-formulated synthetic oil make it possible. But it is still amazing.
 
#33 ·
longboat said:
They've also dropped max payload and towing in order to offer a larger gas tank.

tfltruck.com

Video: New 2024 Ford F-150 Adds New Style, New Tailgate, Loses One Engine Option, & It Tows Less Than Before

The wait is over, the refreshed 2024 Ford F-150 makes its official world debut. Here are all of the official specifications, new features, and what's missing. L
tfltruck.com tfltruck.com
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having owned at least 5 F150's I can say they need all the capacity they can get in their fuel tank, the 3.5 eco was the biggest guzzler I ever saw.
 
Discussion starter · #34 ·
john brown said:
having owned at least 5 F150's I can say they need all the capacity they can get in their fuel tank, the 3.5 eco was the biggest guzzler I ever saw.
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I was following an F150 King Ranch yesterday. It must have been an EgoBoost because it took them 30 seconds to accelerate to 55mph from every stop. I'm sure they were trying to stay out of the turbo, with gas hovering around $4/gal now. I would hate having to drive that way.

Everybody brags about the F150 getting great mileage, but they don't mention you have to drive like you have a full cup of coffee sitting on the dash in order to get that MPG. Heck, i could get a couple more MPG out of the Ridgeline if i drove like that. ;)
 
#35 ·
wh500special said:
I think this would be a very useful design in general. But, I wonder why they hinged on the curb side of the truck instead of the driver's side? I'd rather approach it from the curb side and not have to approach it from the side of that truck that would generally be more exposed to passing traffic. Perhaps to give priority to driver access rather than passengers I suppose.

Steve
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I also questioned the hinge position on the Ford minigate, but you’re probably right in that it serves the driver walking around to the back of the truck. However, if one pulled an RV behind the truck to camp, at camp a person is always living on the passenger side of the vehicle. In that situation the hinged door would be very inconvenient as is.
 
#36 ·
There is no way a 2.7 twin turbo slogging a 5000 lb truck around can be anywhere near as reliable , nor as cost effective to maintain, as a naturally aspirated 3.5 in a considerably smaller vehicle. MPG real world is yet to be proven out, also. I do know if i am loafing along 55 to 60 mph on country roads, I get 30 mpg in the RL. My first knowlege/experience with any two way tailgate was in our massive '69 Ford country squire wagon. Ford never implemented this in a truck platform - before Honda did, far as i know....
 
#37 ·
I wouldn't buy a Ford vehicle if they were $10k cheaper than the competition. Seeing some horrible problems with people around me that bought one, no, no thank you. If I needed a half ton truck, I would pick up the nicest V8 Tundra I could find and put up with the crappy interior but have a driveline that can run on sand for 500k kms.
 
#39 ·
Wife had one as a work truck for about 7 years, 2013 F150 with a 5L. She is very good about maintenance, thing was never used hardcore offroad or to tow/haul, just driving around to different places on the pavement. Bloody thing needed cam phasers done twice, the exhaust manifolds like 3 times, had a sparkplug crack, all sorts of issues with the 4x4 engaging and then not coming out, tranny started to shift weird...and this was all before 170k kms, about 100k miles. No, no thank you. I had two GM trucks of two different generations go twice that distance with little to no problems.
 
Discussion starter · #40 ·
A co-worker has a 2014 F150. Almost all of his HVAC blend doors have gone out. He's replaced the motors on six of them so far, and has done the work himself (Ford's labor was over $1k just for two of them). He's a Ford fan, but is getting a little soured on the brand.
 
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