When Ford introduced the Maverick Lobo a few months back, it signaled something big: the street truck is back. And now the meat-and-potatoes F-150 is finally getting a taste of that special sauce. Ford just announced the F-150 Lobo, and it has a 5.0L V8 like the Lord intended. If you check the Lobo box, your F-150 will get a factory dropped suspension, dual exhaust, and some sinister-looking aesthetic enhancements in the street truck style. I recently got to check out a Lobo and chat with some of the good folks at Ford about it. Here’s what I learned.
It’s been a couple of decades since street trucks were hot on the scene, and we should all be excited for their return.
Pickup trucks have been modified for the road since immemorial, from when the first gearhead started tinkering on his Model T pickup. The ’50s brought us the T-bucket hot rod, and this continued until the oil crisis in the 70’s threw a wet blanket on all things horsepower. Things started to pick back up in the late 1980’s, when the oil embargo that neutered our huge American V8s was in the rear view mirror. Ford unleashed a new department called SVO (Special Vehicle Operations), which was heavily involved in motorsport, and kicked out a special turbocharged Mustang. There was something in the air other than cocaine and CFCs.
Chevy replaced the square body with the smoother-looking C/K in 1988. According to PowerNation, a certain Boyd Coddington working with a chap named Jesse James started giving these trucks the hot rod treatment, slamming them to the ground and increasing performance. Many cite this as the birth of the modern Street Truck. Famously, Eddie Van Halen saw they were tapping into something new that was about to erupt. He commissioned a C1500 that set the mean streets on fire with an LT1 V8 and an independent rear suspension so the rear axle wouldn’t jump over bumps. He called it the “Van Hauler,” a name only Van Halen could pull off. Street trucks had the best of both worlds. The right-now acceleration of a hot rod and the unchained practicality of a pickup truck; all without paying big fat money.
Chevy dropped its first factory street truck in 1990 with the 454 SS, a beastly thing with a 7.4L V8. The nutcases at GMC released the Cyclone and Typhoon, which blew up the scene a year later, making headlines about beating a Ferrari to 60 mph.
Ford joined the party with the F-150 SVT Lightning sporting a naturally aspirated 5.7L V8 in the first generation and a supercharger in the second gen.
After the Lightning fizzled out, Dodge brought the street truck era to a proper end with the Ram SRT-10, sporting the glorious 8.3L V10 and six-speed manual transmission from the Viper. Definitely went out on a high note.
For some reason, after the SRT-10, truck makers started focusing more on luxury and off-road performance. Prices on top trim pickups exploded, as they were decked out with all the trappings of a luxury car. Trucks like the Ford Raptor or Ram TRX were off-road focused, with chunky tires and trick, long-travel suspensions. This allows them to launch off jumps and soak up bumps without breaking a sweat, but that softness compromises on-pavement performance. Hopefully the Maverick and F-150 Lobo is a sign that street trucks are coming back.
Drop It Like It’s Stock
Checking the Lobo box on your options sheet, you’ll be buying an STX trim level F-150, just above base spec. This is a SuperCrew pickup with four doors, a 5.5 ft bed, 4×4 and the 5.0L V8. It would’ve been cool if it came in the 2-seat, regular cab configuration like the original sport trucks, but no luck. At least you can bring a couple of friends to comfort you while you lament the proportions and how reclining seats made this generation soft. But single-cab pickup trucks are the exception to the rule these days, so it makes sense Ford stuck with a popular and practical configuration.
To help with those proportions, the Lobo rocks unique 22 inch gloss-black wheels, and the rear suspension is lowered by two inches giving it a noticeably more aggressive demeanor. The ten-piece ground-effects package helps visually lower the truck further, giving it a stance that’s notably sportier than stock. The headlights, grille lights and taillights are unique as well, imparting the Lobo with a signature look, even at night.
A vented, cowl hood hints at the beefy 5.0L V8 with 400 Hp and 410 lb-ft of torque. Payload and towing capacity drop a bit from the stock STX, from 2,230 lbs payload and 12,900 lbs towing down to 1,450 lbs payload and 7,900 lbs towing for the Lobo. Still, compared to the F-150 Lightning from the early 2000s, that’s 40 more horsepower, 650 more pounds of payload and 2,900 pounds towing capacity — plenty enough to do truck stuff like towing your latest marketplace find.
Paint It Black
Completing the look are blacked-out grilles, badging, and other accents. Unlike the Model T, you can choose other colors besides the sharp Agate Black Metallic on the truck shown here. You can also spec the Lobo out in Atlas Blue Metallic, Carbonized Grey, Oxford White, and Rapid Red Metallic Tinted Clearcoat. In case all these updates don’t tip you off, there is unique Lobo badging on the fenders.
On the inside it is standard F-150, which is still a nice place to be. The STX trim comes with most of the creature comforts and technology you would want. Compared to the stripped-down street trucks of the ’90s, it might as well be a spaceship. Since its a crew cab there is plenty of room in the back for three of your friends to hit the local cruising spot.
No Extra Power, But There’s Always The Supercharger Kit
The Ford folks made clear that they spoke extensively with truck enthusiasts. They recognized that so many of us are souping up our trucks, not necessarily to hit the trail, but for the streets we drive on every day. Ford acknowledged that the street truck market has been underserved for over two decades and they are working on changing that. They built the Lobo as a complete foundation from the factory for owners to customize further and make their own.
It was slightly disappointing to hear that there were no go-fast bits as part of the Lobo package. Besides the suspension drop and dual exhaust tips, it is mechanically the same as the F-150 XLT under the modified exterior. If you want more go to match the show from the factory, you can always spring for the nutzo FP700 supercharger kit for 700 warrantied horsepower.
The Lobo package adds $4,675 to the F-150 XLT price, for a total of $57,800 MSRP. For a package that includes custom wheels, suspension, a hood, upgraded lighting, and a 10-piece body kit all painted and installed by the good folks at Dearborn Truck, that’s not a bad deal.
If you add the FP700 supercharger kit it’s an extra $9500 plus a few grand for installation, and you are still undercutting the Raptor’s price by almost $10k. That’s more power and much cheaper than the Dodge Ram SRT-10 when it came out. That may be the ticket to the ultimate factory street pickup truck.
I asked the Ford people if any other vehicles were getting the Lobo treatment. They were coy, saying that was obviously classified information. I personally think a Bronco with the Lobo treatment would be sick, but I’m not an off-road guy.
Having owned a Chevy C10 pickup slammed on airbags, lowered trucks have always had a place in my heart. The Maverick Lobo is a compelling package, and I think this F-150 would make a great starting point for someone’s fast pickup build. I’m also glad Ford went with the 5.0L V8 instead of the EcoBoost. It will be interesting to see if Chevy and Dodge throw their hat in the ring as well. Here’s hoping these Lobos aren’t lone wolves, and more street truck goodness is on the way.
The Lobo will be available at your local dealer in the fall of 2025.
All photos by the author except where otherwise noted.
Hopefully, this one is just successful enough to make Ford want to try harder on the next one – more bodystyles, 2wd, actually lowered, etc. It would be neat to see dealers actually pushing the supercharger option when they get these in stock.
Thats what I’m hoping too. They did more to differentiate the Maverick Lobo from stock. They might be dipping their toes in the water at this point.
The severe reduction in weight capacities seems pretty unnecessary too. Those numbers – especially the towing – seem pretty low for a full-size truck. It’s not like this thing is slammed with barely any suspension travel. Maybe most buyers won’t know/don’t care, but, that would make this a no-go for me.
If they want to sell this in Mexico, are they going to call it the “Ford Lobo Lobo”?
Asking only because I’d find it very amusing if they did that!
Ford Dos Lobos
Ok, now THAT’S a winner right there!
“Inside you, there are two wolves…”
I was wondering that as soon as I saw the headline!
They’ll give it the ol switcheroo and call it the Lobo F-150
Lobo-150? Lobo Wolf?
Unnecessary bigness has completely ruined pickup trucks for me and I’m all for trucks getting lower. Maybe (hopefully) this will be the start of a trend that results in trucks getting back down to a more useable and convenient height.
As the owner of another Ford street truck, I think they’re missing out on several things. First, they should have dropped it lower. 2″ in the front, and 4″ in back. Also, make it 2WD for burnout and weight reasons. Also also, the exhaust should be a side exit. More power wouldn’t have hurt, either. I do like the column shifter, though.
“….and the unchained practicality”
I see what you did there. Bravo. Anyway I’ll begrudgingly admit that I like this. With most full sized trucks these days being lifted several inches from the factory and decked out in off road equipment that will never be used by 99% of owners, a big truck that’s unapologetically street focused is neat to me.
I think there’s a level of honesty to this package that’s refreshing. It says “I just bought it to drive on the street and hear cool V8 sounds”. Unlike some other street trucks it’s also not as compromised when it comes to being able to do Truck Stuff. 7,900 pounds of towing capacity and 1,450 pounds of payload is enough for just about everyone who doesn’t use their truck specifically for work.
Anyway, I like it. I don’t think I’d buy it, but I like it. That being said not offering this in rear wheel drive with a manual kind of seems like a miss to me. And it also could’ve used some actual suspension and brake upgrades. But then again I guess that’s what the Raptor is for.
Manual, Flare side bed and RWD would be neat to see, but very few would actually buy.
Realistically though, if they can make the stock 4×4 system work with 700HP and not break, that would make this quite literally the best Lightingish thing in a very long while.
This feels like the spiritual successor to the GMT800 Silverado SS, as far as sport trucks go (fine, but mild).
Also, I’m not against the V8, and the supercharger kit will help, but I still kind of want the Ecoboost option with Group B blowoff valve noises.
I disagree. The GMT800 Silverado SS was much more differentiated from a standard Silverado than this is even if it was much more mild than the SRT10 and Lightning of the time. The 6.0 from the SS wasn’t offered in other Silverados, same with the the full time AWD setup (even though 2wd models eventually became available). Sure, it was basically slapping the drive train of an Escalade / Yukon Denali into a Silverado, but at least it was substantially different than a standard Silverado. Ford basically slapped a cheesy body kit with the most insignificant lowering kit generic 22″ wheels and is calling it a day. This seems like the weakest attempt at a street truck since the 2014 F150 Tremor.
But the key thing with the SS, it was still a lot faster than a non-SS Silverado. I’m betting the Lobo will be about as fast as the normal 5.0 F150s to 60, which is about 6.0 seconds according to C&D, but slower than other 3.5 EB and Hybrid models. Oddly enough, it’s not all that much faster than the GMT800 SS from over 20 year years earlier which C&D managed to get to 60 in 6.3 seconds….
The GMT800 Silverado SS had mechanical differences that weren’t available on any other Silverado. This Lobo only has unique cosmetics.
Street truck huh? A Subaru Brat is more of a street truck than this junk.
It frustrates me that between the Lightning and the Expedition, they have an IRS solution for a “street” truck. Yet refuse to use it.
Can we just get a hotted up Expedition? GM has the Escalade V, Dodge has the Durango Hellcat, the Germans have a ton of them, where is Ford with their hot SUV? I guess the Explorer ST kinda counts, but it seems very mild compared to almost any other brands flagship, hot SUV.
I’m not interested in yet another $120k SUV. The Durango Hellcat, Escalade V, and all the German performance SUVs have the same interest for me as a C8 or 911, cause I’m just as likely to ever be able to afford one.
It looks like a regular F-150 owned by a guy that thinks buying tires 3 sizes too small for his truck is the ultimate money saving hack.
Looks good especially with the unique headlamps. $5K seems a smidge pricey though but having a factory warranty and certification are worth a good deal.
Ranger Lobo is the next logical choice. Bronco Lobo would negate the Bronco’s off-road nature, so I disagree with the author about that. Super Duty Lobo is plausible since they had a Harley-Davidson edition or two for that model.
A Miata or a 911 can’t haul 1450 pounds in its trunk, nor tow nearly 4 tons safely, nor does it have a back seat. There’s a niche for this.
Sure I get that, but this truck is not fast, nor low, nor sporty in any way. It’s got an appearance package.
Full disclosure, I think a large portion of people who buy trucks do not need a ginormous truck and I will die on that hill, a hill overlooking the apartment complexes filled with new trucks.
I quite agree. It’s not any sportier than any other F-150 (maybe it has stickier tires?) and even a mild power bump would be SOMETHING. But by the same token the F-150 with the 5.0 does have sufficient power to get most drivers in trouble. Maybe it’s a good thing that the folks who might buy one of these don’t automatically get more power? Probably also why it’s 4WD instead of RWD-only.
I love the Raptor, but that’s the fun kind of stupid, loud sport truck you just have to love. The old Lightning was cool. This just does nothing.
Since when is 0-60 in the 5s “not fast”?
I agree. I meant compared to stock, it’s the same engine.
Oh. Carry on then!
I grew up when lowered trucks were a thing in Mexico, my dad bought a 91 GMC Sonoma and he lowered the truck, put some 80s Camaro wheels on it that were polished back to new condition, black paint, I wish I had a picture of it. The biggest sound system it could fit, we couldnt use the backseats anymore because of the subwoofer lol and an exhaust to make it loud but nice at the same time.
My dad almost divorce my mother when she made him sell that thing because of gas prices, my dad now has parkinson with some dementia but he does not forget that truck. Now I understand why I bought a black Ford Ranger, it was my childhood making the decision.
That ride height is hilariously high. May as well be on stilts.
If they’d ACTUALLY made it low, I’d be interested. I’m not looking to off road, and at 5’7″, I’d love a half ton that’s actually easy to load up the bed.
Basically, drop shackles in the back, big rims to try to fill the giant wheel wells, and a 2010’s blackout package. Use the name for the F150 from Mexico and bam, new ‘sport’ truck.
-Bring the wheels on it as close to the wheel wells you can get while still keeping suspension travel.
-Use the Lightning rear suspension with the Expedition rear end and axles.
-Ground effects lighting and a growly exhaust
-Firm dampers tuned for the street.
Did they even do drop shackles, or just remove the blocks?
Blocks are only on 4WD models and removing them drops 1in. Ford Performance drop shackle drops it additional inch and gives the 2in drop. It’s exactly what I have on my 150. Makes it perfectly level with the front without affecting driveshaft angle enough to cause vibration.
I see what you did there with all the EVH song references when describing Eddie’s truck…..
Glad somebody noticed! 😀
Yes, that was fun and masterfully executed. I don’t usually bother to read reviews and I’m glad I did–but now that you’ve set the bar, I’ll be watching for your byline, so Game On!
Actually, now that the article has been up for a while and the comments are on the second page (nice job!), at the risk of deflating the joke, I’m curious how many references are in there. I count 10:
Famously, Eddie Van Halen saw they were tapping into something new that was about to erupt. He commissioned a C1500 that set the mean streets (&) on fire with an LT1 V8 and an independent rear suspension so the rear axle wouldn’t jump over bumps. He called it the “Van Hauler,” a name only Van Halen could pull off. Street trucks had the best of both worlds. The right-now acceleration of a hot rod and the unchained practicality of a pickup truck; all without paying big fat money.
What am I missing?
That’s all of them! Once I started I couldn’t stop haha!
“Lowered,” but you could still fit a small family in the wheel gap.
If you can’t measure the gap with fingers on one hand, I wouldn’t consider something “lowered”. LowER than stock, sure but that isn’t saying much.
If you showed me a press picture of a regular 150 next to this and asking what I thought this was, I’d never in a million years think it was a street truck. A Lightning, this is not.
It has the same wheel gap that my 2018 FX4 with the off road package and a leveling kit had.
Nice! Reminds me of the Nite Edition.
Just no. Dropping V8s into S-10s and Rangers was common practice in the 80s. 2WD shortbed trucks were also commonly given performance mods before compact trucks became a significant thing. This popularity is why companies started selling stuff like the Li’l Red Express and then Syclone, 454SS, Lightning, etc.
Reality show hacks like Coddington and James were the last dregs jumping on the bad wagon to make quick money selling derivative garbage.
The little red Express was built before the S-10 and Rangers were even thought of.
Hence the part where I said
That’s what I get for replying before coffee.
Risky!
Yep. I should’ve known better.
I always saw the modified Rangers and S10s called mini-trucks and were considered a separate thing, although I could be wrong. Also this was long before reality shows existed, it would be interesting to compare their work then to now.
Mini-trucks became the de facto street trucks because they were inexpensive, and young people could get hold of them. In the 80s, mini-trucks with a V8 dropped in were a fairly easy swap and made them instantly an interesting performance bargain, and filled the void left by stuff like the Warlock and Lil’ Red Express going away. The GMC Syclone and Chevy 454 SS both came out in about 1990, largely to take advantage of the popularity of the mini-trucks. A bit of a cycle of factory vs modified, but they have always been around.
Not actually low.
Not Actually Fast.
Crew Cab.
110% Failure. Ford is a joke, as are you Steve, for pretending this is a street truck and going along with the marketing and pushing it like it’s a street truck.
I’ll give you the first statement, but not quick (assuming that’s what you meant rather than fast)? C’mon, it has 400 hp and will do 0-60 in the 5’s. That’s quick.
I think the point was not faster than stock. The article says same output as a normal model.
They lowered it like half an inch, probably did a fake exhaust split at a muffler by the rear axle, and that’s really it.
Chill out, it’s not that deep and it’s way too early in the day to be getting this worked up over a truck
Sorry, sick of reading ad’s instead of articles.
I did complain that it doesn’t come in a single cab and has no power upgrades. Single cabs make 3% of truck sales, so I could see why they went with the crew cab if they wanted any success selling this package. I think with this they are dipping their toe in the water. In an ideal world this kicks off some competition between Chevy, Ford, and Dodge like we saw in the 90s.
Greg, I appreciate you being a part of this community. You could spend your time anywhere, but you spend it here, and we’re grateful for that. That said, calling one of my writers “a joke” because he likes a truck and you don’t is a little much. Especially if that writer mentioned all three of your critiques in the piece.
Again, I’m happy you’re here, and love hearing your opinions on things (I agree this could have been much cooler than it is, and so does Steve!), but let’s disagree a little more…gracefully. Steve is as legit as they come (did you read his insane deep dive on engine sound?!).
I came in hot, I’ll tone it down!
Nothing wrong with coming in hot, long as you’ve got some carbon ceramics to slow you back down, and you clearly do. Thank you!
Were hot rod pickups ever rare?
Not in Texas.
Ran across a stock body pickup in Memphis that admitted to 1200 HP.
That was years ago.
So…….. It’s an appearance and reverse level package, available only on crew cabs, with a completely stock 400hp F150 tune coyote. Could they not have at least put the Mustang cams/tune in it for 450hp? Really it should have the 500hp Dark Horse cams/tune at a minimum if they’re advertising it as a sporty vehicle, and it really needs to have a single cab. All of these propositions would be completely parts bin for Ford. It’s not like single cab f150s aren’t in production, and it’s not like Dark Horse motors aren’t rolling off an assembly line already.
They could not have put less effort into the idea.
This is essentially a standard blackout package that fell out of fashion years ago.
Fell out of fashion? Have you seen many new pickups lately?
How about, “became so common that they aren’t special years ago.”
Young bucks like Chrome again, the circle is complete. Totally blacked out ain’t cool and hasn’t been for about 2-5 years depending on where you look.
Because you see a lot of OEM’s doing them now, it’s “played out” and not unique.
*just letting you know about internet facts, might not equal real world facts.
Are these the same people wearing baggy jeans again?
I never did like the blacked-out look and welcome chrome back into the world. Hopefully bicycle components will follow suit.
That would’ve been cool obviously, but when you put a different engine, or even the same engine with different power levels in a vehicle there’s a whole host of regulatory/compliance testing you have to do (I know as I used to do it at Ford). So they might not have wanted to put that much money into it this early in the game. Hopefully if this is successful enough they’ll release a more complete package with more power.
You sure it’s lowered? Looks stock to me. Now, that second gen Lightning on the other hand, that’s a lowered truck.
more gimmicks on existing products from ford…
No disrespect, you having owned a C10 on bags especially…
This is not ‘lowered’. It it leveled.
It has <6’ bed and 4 full doors. And black wheels. Ugh, ugh, ugh on every topic.
Maybe my age is showing but I hate this attempt.
And also the first gen Lightning pic… that body roll… lol. That was worth the click.
But for real. I absolutely hate this. Buy the fleet rubber floor single cab with supercharger and diff option for some real street cred.
Questioning the 4×4, could’ve probably got it as low as the Maverick with 2wd. And at least could’ve made it a supercab instead of crewcab.
Also naming the lowered trims Lobo may be slightly racist. Lobo is a F150 in Mexico, so the lowrider Maverick and F150 in the US are the “Lobos” cause lowrider scene is primarily latino? Am I reading too much into it? Or are they trying to be funny that the lowered ones are “Low…bos”? Should we be pronouncing them low boys?(bois?)
Also also, did they mess up with calling the EV Truck the Lightning and now they can’t use that for the V8 street truck again?
If only there were more names available for cars to make this all easier to keep track of, oh well guess all the names have already been used.
I wouldn’t call it racist…I’d call it marketing. There is no hate going on here.
I know exactly one person who was stoked for the Maverick Lobo and the dude grew up in Mexico. LOBO is a cultural thing for the Latino community and is held in high regard.
The 4×4 part is what really baffles me. Like, why? It makes no sense.
And, yeah, it should a regular cab too.
They said its homage to the trucks of Mexico, the street truck scene is quite big there.
The Reveal should have been a 2 door Truck.
Buy a RCSB, buy the unique Lobo parts, have them installed, and there ya go.
That would’ve been nice. 2 door trucks only make up like 3% of truck sales these days so I see why Ford didn’t go that way. Would’ve looked much cooler though.