If you’ve already bought a Ford F-150 and it’s the extended cab instead of the crew cab model, then you’d better be aware that it’s not as safe.
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) tested both variants and discovered the crew cab passed the tricky small overlap crash no problem, whereas the extended cab didn’t.
The latter is apparently missing some key chassis braces which are only fitted to the crew cab. These seem to have a dramatic impact on whether or not you’ll still have your feet and lower legs in the event of a real small overlap-like crash.
In the extended cab, the pedals moved 1 ft or some 30 cm, yet in the crew cab the body was able to absorb the damage and leave the passenger compartment intact.
So, if we’re talking about the crew cab model, then that is rated a Top Safety Pick, whereas the extended cab isn’t.
Ford was made aware of the problem and it’s apparently analyzing whether it can make the extended cab just as rigid as the crew cab. The only problem is they should have been like that from the get-go; the fact that safety credentials can vary so much between different variants of the same vehicle is a tad disconcerting I think…