Believe it or not, for 1996 this truck was actually decent in crash tests. It passed the NHTSA full frontal crash tests with flying colors (as did the OBS Chevy truck, as well as the 1994-1996 F-150). It badly failed the offset crash test, but no pickup trucks were designed to protect people in offset crashes at the time. The 1994-2001 (2nd gen) Dodge Ram did slightly worse. The 1998 Ford Ranger and Toyota Tacoma were the first pickup trucks to provide decent protection in an offset crash, and those designs came out nearly two years after the 1997 F-150, not to mention they were compact trucks, not full size. In the 1990s two years was a long time when it came to offset crash safety, as it was just coming on to manufacturers' radars. We've come a long way since; as I post this comment, the 1997 F-150 went on sale 28 years ago today. January 25, 2024 1:06 am
