The Car Connection wanted to look at the changes Ford made to the 2024 F-150 and chose to do it through two of its more interesting models: the Tremor and the hybrid model. Benna Ford gives you the highlights of what they found.
General changes for the 2024 F-150 model line are not drastic but significant enough to noticeably improve your ownership experience. It starts with a new Pro Access tailgate design with a side-swinging door. The door covers about the middle third of the tailgate and swings for an opening on the driver’s side.
The Pro Access tailgate is a practical addition. It not only allows you to access your load without reaching over a closed gate or across an open one but also lets you access the bed while towing. The mid-door hinges are designed to hold open at 100, 70, or 37 degrees, with the smaller number set specifically for towing, ensuring it holds open without encountering any part of the trailer tongue. The tailgate drops down either manually or by power as it did before, maintaining its user-friendly nature.
A grab handle in the bed replaces the former retractable handle, and a retractable step plus a wider center bumper step helps you climb into the bed. The Car Connection summarizes these changes this way: “It’s a cleaner, more functional design that makes getting things in and out a lot easier.”
The other exterior change is a revised grille and headlight combo that wraps around the corners for a less brick-like front-end appearance. Now available is a front modular bumper that enables the attachment of accessories such as an LED light bar, an available factory-installed 12,000-pound winch, or other accessories.
All 2024 F-150s are equipped with a standard 12.0-inch touchscreen in the cabin and an identical-sized digital gauge cluster outside. All but the hybrid model now get a 36-gallon fuel tank and a standard Class IV hitch.
The Tremor is the off-road-focused F-150 that is just one step on the reasonable side of the gonzo Raptor, and The Car Connection found that if you didn’t buy your truck just to beat the heck out of it and aim for high jump records, the Tremor might be the most well-rounded choice in the lineup. The ground clearance increases by 1.6 inches over a standard F150 to 9.8 inches, and the rolling stock is 33-inch General Grabber A/TX tires wrapping black 18-inch wheels. The 4×4 system includes a locking rear differential and Hill Descent control. It also comes with Trail Turn assist, which locks the inside rear wheel to enable tighter turns, to “essentially shrink the wheelbase,” as the site describes it.
It will get you anywhere on the farm or construction site, even after a rain, and can tow up to 13,000 pounds compared to 8,300 for the Raptor. While it has an inch-wider track than a standard F-150, it is still a half-foot narrower than the Raptor, giving you a little more room in the parking spot or garage. It also costs $14,180 less. The Car Connection describes its off-road capability like this: “I tested the new model on a switchbacking access road up and down a mountain, deep in off-the-grid territory, ascending over rocky ruts and descending into terrain too tough for Subarus or soft-roaders. It impressed me enough to recommend it as the F-150 to buy. “
The F-150 Hybrid remains one of only two full-size hybrid pickup trucks on the market. All Hybrid models are 4×4 now and start with the XLT trim level. The powertrain remains unchanged: a twin-turbo 3.5-liter V6 combined with a 35-kW motor fed by a 1.5-kWh battery pack, with 430 total system horsepower running through the model line’s standard 10-speed automatic transmission for heading out to all four wheels.
The most significant mechanical news is that the belt-integrated starter has been eliminated in favor of simply starting the vehicle from a 12-volt battery and a conventional flywheel-mounted starter. It seems like a simple thing, but Ford says the change involved 300 software enhancements to make the change. The Car Connection made a note of this change: “(the previous model) could feel uncertain in low gears, as if the system didn’t know when to use the engine, motor, or dual power at once. Now, on roads leading to the highway, it felt quieter, calmer, and overall less noticeable, which is what I want out of any hybrid powertrain.”
The strength of the fuel mileage is manifest in city driving, with a figure of 22, while all other F-150s range across the teens, from 19 for the 2.7-liter 2WD to just 10 for the V8 Raptor. The hybrid highway mileage is 24 for a combined 23 figures.
The Car Connection found all of the 2024 changes to be quite welcome and summed up their experience this way: “Add up all of these small changes, and it’s easy to see how the Ford F-150 continues to lead the pickup truck segment in America.”
If you are considering a new full-size pickup truck, shopping for the F-150 has always been a must, and now it is even more so. We invite you to do just that at Benna Ford in Superior, Wisconsin.
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