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.
Needs smaller wheels, thicker sidewalls FTW
“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.”
I think you meant “a lot”.
I feel like a lot of people are complaining about the power level without realizing how quick these things are from the factory, the fat crew cab is a mid 14 second truck and for another 10k it’ll run low 12s or better
4WD? That’s just dumb, and probably why it’s not lower. Maverick Lobo for me.
It absolutely isn’t, especially with the power that can easily be made with the Coyote. There’s a reason everyone is joking about these trucks being the Mexican GTR
Only 22 inch wheels? Surely we can do better. After all Class 8 semis are rolling on 22.5 inch and 24.5 inch wheels.
I understand crewcab because they want these to sell in volume. I still wish they had done “custom intake and exhaust” to give it 15-20 hp and tq (which they could do with a software tweak) but if you’re going to cut the payload and towing that bad, just drop it 2”. And what’s the mandatory 4×4 about? Unless it’s a full time sport AWD system, it should be RWD if they want it to be a sport truck. Heck, the old FX2 was more sport truck then this.
Why would you want it to be slower? Just put it in auto 4wd and embarrass some people at stop lights
I think Ford made the right call with not adding any engine performance bits. It’ll keep it more attainable, and you can always have the performance bits added when purchasing with a warranty.
Looking at the pic of the two trucks, the F150 is a behemoth, but I guess there’s no way around that. This to me seems like a F150 with a sport tuned suspension.
Cowardly. No color, wheel gap still large enough to shove a watermelon in, four doors, and no extra power.
That Syclone/Typhoon vs Ferrari article was burned in my brain for a while, it was called “From Shreveport to Maranello” and even though they did it slightly tongue in cheek, it was still quite a blow to the entry-supercars of the era (even though many mainstream cars today are now just as fast)
How subtle is this factory mod? Because I’m just seeing “a truck” with some ground effect hubbub. Perhaps a pic of the Lobo next to a bog standard F-150, for comparison? Because, like, I was expecting something that looked cool and all I’m seeing is “a truck”.
Fail. Street truck equals single cab, RWD and actual lowered suspension.
2 fewer doors, 2″ lower, and a foot longer bed and I’d be hooked. Realistically, a regular cab wasn’t going to happen. But an extended cab with 6 1/2′ bed would have been sweet. Who knows, maybe if it sells well.
You could always just buy a regular cab short bed, order the fancier lights/grill and install them. Plenty of people already do this with Lariat front ends and interior bits on regular cab XLs. It’s not rocket science.
Plenty of people are already out there doing that with regular cab XLs. The built not-bought aspect is sort of what makes a street truck cool anyways, so why bother as a manufacturer? The FP700 package with warranty is already a huge win.
Also disagree on the AWD. 4wheel traction + factory V8 + supercharger/turbo + light weight is what makes these aluminum F150s absolute weapons. These trucks will run in the 9s.
Agreed. However this truck won’t be AWD. It’s just a regular 2 spd transfer case like on a regular F150. That’s pretty much useless for the street.
Thats actually not true. All 4×4 F150s have the same basic 2H, 4H & 4L functionality, but Ford uses a more sophisticated transfer case with clutches on the front output shaft for the off-road packages, as well as the Lariat trim and above. These clutches are computer controlled and can modulate the torque sent to the front axle. On my 2021 Lariat this is accessed via 4A, or one of the ‘drive modes’ including ‘Sport’ which is suggested by Ford for high speed driving on pavement and other high traction surfaces. The Lobo is based on the lower STX trim, but a quick google suggests it will in fact have 4A, and therefore the better transfer case.
Regardless, all the guys running 1000hp blown coyote drag trucks are just mounting four slicks, putting it in 4H and sending it. Yeah it’s probably hard on the CV axle, but last time I checked, you don’t have to turn very much on a drag strip.
“Pickup trucks have been modified for the road since immemorial, from when the first gearhead started tinkering on his Model T pickup.”
Actually, pickups were invented by tinkerers. The early ones were usually built by farmers slapping a box on the back of an old car frame. It wasn’t until 1925(!!) that Ford offered a factory-built light truck option, coining the term “pickup” in the process.
Interesting! good to know!
I’m all for this. The article title is a little confusing though. A “leveled” suspension in the truck world means lifting the front end up and leaving the rear suspension stock in order to get rid of the nose-down rake that most trucks have from the factory.
Yeah, this is usually called a reverse level.
The Maverick Lobo has gobs more charm than this. It doesn’t get any additional hp like the F150 Lobo, but it does get the trick differential and suspension bits that make it very fling-able. At least give the F150 an LSD and some stiffer shocks.
Needs more low. Also, in the Maverick, the Lobo is a top of the line model, but in the F150, it’s just above fleet status.
But hey, if you put a cap on it and sell frozen junk food to kids during the Summer, you could make some extra money as an ice cream man. That’s what dreams are made of.
Just above fleet status is the only thing about this that’s appropriate. Although, since it comes with no actual performance improvements, fleet status plus the 5.0 is still the right choice (and the choice that allows a single cab short bed).
This thing is such a joke; if I were to see one on the street I would have assumed someone just put some aftermarket wheels on their F150. Major demerits for:
-“Lowering” the truck by applying a leveling kit; still enough wheel arch for me to put my head inside.
-No regular cab short box option (not surprising, just disappointing).
-4wd only!? Heck, at least do AWD if RWD is off the table
-The same 5.0 that can be found in any regular old F150.
Feels like a bunch of fan-fare for a not even a half-hearted attempt. The street trucks of the past featured in the article all shared a lot of things in common:
-Either big cubic inches or forced induction. 454SS and SRT10 both went with cubes. Lightning and Syclone touted forced induction. Ford could have crammed the 7.3 in the Lobo and actually have something appealing or at least used a higher power variant of the 5.0.
-Lowered enough that you’d need a jack or ramps to get under the chassis.
-Regular cab short box, every one of them.
Yeah, this feels more like just another wannabe tactical appearance package for Fudds who moved to the suburbs. This could’ve been so much more.
It has to many doors to be cool, thumbs down.
Looks nice, but they definitely could have taken it further. Ex.: drop it several more inches!
Not a knock against the truck but wow that studio lighting is not great. I think the lobo package looks pretty neat with the additional comments that have already been said (lower, 2WD only). Curious if they do the Ranger next.
To be fair, the best lighting studio in the world won’t make black on black on black any easier to look at.
I kind of wonder if the reason for not installing the Supercharger from the factory is really just to avoid the fuel economy and emissions penalty? The thing is still under warranty after installation, has been for years now. It seems like a good way to go around the greenies and still sell these. I also think the vanilla base and then add as you go at the dealer is not the worst idea. Right Slate?
The really fun party trick is to find a just off lease or 30k fleet work truck, preferrably an extended cab versus Crew maybe with some remnants of decals having been removed, but perhaps still sporting an ugly ladder rack or topper and then dropping the supercharger on that and then go hunting in your sleeper truck.
I feel like Toyota’s X-Runner was a better setup than this.
RWD, properly lowered, and added frame bracing (and an optional 6MT and false hood scoop).
As an X-Runner owner, ya damn right, but the 6MT wasn’t optional. The only options afaik was the color and even then you only had 3 choices: black, red, or blue. The fake scoop is pretty lame, can’t deny. Though I remember a forum post where a guy put in the work to make it functional.
IIRC of that era Taco, there was a lot of hood swapping going on.
People who had the scoop that hated the wind noise trading with people who loved the look but didn’t realize/care how loud it might be at speed.
I have the fake scoop on my 4Runner. Looks cool (subjective), but the sun glares off it like a mofo.