F-150 & OUTBACK 28' FORD'S REDESIGNED, BEST-SELLING PICKUP AND KEYSTONE'S EXPANDING BUNKHOUSE ADD STYLE AND FUNCTION TO FAMILY ADVENTURES

Model overhauls are nothing new in the automotive industry. It's rare, however, when an automaker's best-selling vehicle undergoes anything more drastic than a few annual upgrades. In the mantra of the backyard mechanic, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" - and Ford's popular F-150 truck hardly qualifies as being broken. America's top-selling pickup for the past 26 years, the F-150 carries a well-deserved reputation as a workhorse.

The F-150 is also one of the most popular tow vehicles ever welded together, which is why the company's announcement that it spent nearly $2 billion to re-create the truck from the frame up was cause for curiosity among travel-trailer enthusiasts. What, with the possible exception of the 2003 version's ladylike sheet metal, was so out-of-kilter with the F-150 as to warrant such a radical overhaul?

Apparently, quite a bit. After pairing the all-new F-150 with Keystone's Outback 28RSS for a romp in the woods, we couldn't find one area in which the new F-150 didn't dramatically improve upon the old version. It has more horsepower, more torque, twice the torsional rigidity, a higher payload and far greater towing capacity than the 2003 model. It's also bigger, heavier and, by all accounts, more masculine looking than its predecessor.

In fact, if we have any complaint, it's that Ford has unintentionally turned the phrase "work truck" into an oxymoron not because the new pickup isn't capable, but because it's hard to imagine anyone dropping a crate engine into the bed of our Lariat tester. Or jumping into the interior - the most luxurious, carlike cockpit we've ever seen in a truck - while wearing oil-stained jeans.

With the new Ford redefining the way we think about lightduty trucks, it was only natural to hitch it up to a travel trailer that epitomizes the current trend toward comfortable camping. Multiple slideouts, relatively high ceilings and airy, open floorplans have, foryears, been a staple of high-priced Class A motorhomes; such comforts are now available in quality trailers costing less than the tow vehicle used to pull them.