Ford F-150 XL: Nice Work Truck, Basic, Plain, Did the Job

If there's one thing about the Ford F-150, it is an excellent pickup that is available in just about any configuration you might want.

Ford salesperson

We had the chance to drive most of them a couple of years ago when we spent some time selling them at a local Ford dealership. You can have just about any item you want installed, including a rear entertainment center. F-150s are available in:

• XL - Work truck configurations - basic truck, nothing else

• STX

• XLT

• Lariat

• FX4

• SVT Raptor

• King Ranch

• Platinum

• Harley-Davidson Edition

The cab styles run from the regular to the SuperCab and SuperCrew. The regular cab features what you think of when you think of a pickup a plain bench seat.

Three styles

The SuperCab is an interesting model because it looks like a two-door but when you look inside you see two full seats and that's because the rear doors swing outward from handles that are in the door panel.

The SuperCrew is the standard huge cab model with four full doors and all the power goodies you can name including: brakes, transmission, steering, side view mirrors, pedals, in some cases, seats and moon roof.

Engine choices are all V-8s. The XL that this review covers was equipped with the 4.6-liter V-8 which was more than enough for the couple buying it.

To say that this XL was a base vehicle was putting it politely. It was a two-wheel-drive (rear) model, equipped with a standard transmission (floor mount) and crank windows. About the only two amenities the buyer would have were air conditioning and an AM/FM/CD entertainment system (that's what it came with).

Basic work truck

There was really nothing special about this vehicle. It handled like a pickup, the ride was harsh, especially over railroad tracks and rut and lightly loaded it did tend to skitter from side to side on rough surfaces.

Thanks to the 2008 restyle the roll-center was lowered so even though you could feel the live rear axle tramp every time you hit the gas and bumps at the same time, the 2008 F-150 XL, regular bed (with factory liner), the pickup remained stable and easy to handle. Fortunately, even though this was a two-wheel-drive work truck, it did have power steering and brakes and the four-speed manual was pretty positive in its throws.

Overall, we liked the XL, but would have liked it even more if it had had an automatic and maybe a four-wheel-drive package. The $21,000 suggested price was nice and made perfect sense in a vehicle that is slated to handle work chores and little more.(Source: author test drives)