Ford F-150 2021–present · Maintenance schedule & cost to maintain

Ford gives the Raptor R its own numbers and they are not close to the rest of the truck: 11.5 quarts of Motorcraft 5W-50 full synthetic (Ford WSS-M2C931-C) against 6.0 quarts of 5W-30 in a 3.5L, plus a Motorcraft FL-2087 cartridge that matches neither oil filter on this truck's parts desk. Nearly double the oil, at a grade that costs more per quart.

Ford gives brake fluid a calendar and no odometer: its own one-row table reads "Every 3 Years" with the note "Do not exceed the designated time for the interval," identical in 2021, 2022 and 2023. At average truck mileage the first one lands around here. No distinct severe number is published. Brake fluid pulls moisture out of the air whether you drive or not, so a low-mileage truck is still on the three-year clock.

Every 30,000 mi or two years, from Ford's Raptor-only special operating conditions chart in the 2022 and 2023 books. Ford's off-road examples are specific enough to test yourself against: continuous deep sand or dune running for more than 25 minutes in four-wheel drive above 90°F, desert running above 55 mph for more than an hour, or sustained 90 mph in four-wheel drive at those temperatures. A Raptor that lives on pavement is on the normal 150,000-mile line instead. The 2021 first-printing book has no Raptor section at all.

Two separate Ford rules land on the same number. Its severe tables put plugs at 60,000 mi for trucks towing a trailer or car-top carrier, and for extensive idling or low-speed driving as in delivery, taxi, patrol or livery, in all three model-year books. Separately, the normal chart footnotes a shorter plug life to "vehicles with pickup bed power outlet," the Pro Power Onboard generator: 55,000 mi in the 2021 book, 60,000 in the 2022 and 2023 books. Everything else runs 100,000. The EcoBoost job costs more than the V8 job because the turbo plumbing has to come off first.

Ford's normal chart carries a 60,000-mile belt inspection and a 100,000-mile belt replacement, both footnoted to vehicles with the pickup bed power outlet. On every other truck the first inspection is at 100,000, and Ford's note there says "After initial inspection, inspect every other oil change until replaced." Ford writes "belt(s)" because the count differs by engine, so price the job to your engine rather than to "F-150."

Ford publishes no replacement mileage for pads. What it does publish is an inspection at every single oil change: "Inspect the brake pads, shoes, rotors, drums, brake linings, hoses and the parking brake," on the normal chart in all three books. That inspection is the interval. A half-ton that tows or runs loaded works its front brakes harder than any car, so first pads commonly land well before an unloaded commuter truck would need them. Have them measured rather than assumed.

Ford sets no replacement mileage. This is wear, and on a truck it arrives sooner when the bed carries weight or a trailer rides the hitch. The interaction that costs people money: worn dampers let the tire bounce and scallop the tread unevenly, which looks exactly like an alignment problem and is not. If a shop blames alignment for cupped tread without putting hands on the shocks first, it is chasing the wrong cause, and you will buy the alignment twice. Budget an alignment straight after replacing either end.

Only 4WD trucks have driven front half-shafts; a 2WD F-150 has nothing here to wear. Ford puts "Inspect the half-shaft boots" on its every-oil-change list in all three books, which is the only schedule this item gets. Once a boot splits, grease leaves and grit enters, and the joint is on a countdown, which is why shops replace the assembly rather than reboot it. Flung grease also lands on the inner face of the front rotor and pad, so a sudden pull to one side under braking is worth a boot check before a brake diagnosis.

No Ford interval. Rubber bushings wear on load and on the calendar both, and unpaved roads or a salted winter climate pull the window in. Typical replacement lands around 100,000 miles on decent roads, sooner on rough ones. The interaction: worn bushings let the arm move under load, so an alignment done before the bushings are replaced will not hold. If a truck has been aligned twice and still wanders or eats an edge, the bushings are the usual answer, and doing them second means paying for the alignment twice. Clunking over bumps and vibration through the wheel are the tells.

Ford publishes no mount interval and no generation-specific mount defect is verifiable for the 2021–2023 truck, so treat this as ordinary wear: rubber and hydraulic mounts degrade with age and torque load, and high-torque engines and stop-and-go duty pull the window in. What you notice first is a clunk shifting into drive or reverse, vibration at idle in gear, or a lurch under throttle. The cascade is the reason not to defer it: a torn mount lets the engine move, and that movement works on exhaust connections and flex pipes, hoses and wiring, and on the remaining mounts, which now carry load they were not designed for. Skip one mount and the later bill is two mounts and a flex pipe.

Ford's normal chart puts plugs at 100,000 mi for every engine in this truck, unchanged across the 2021, 2022 and 2023 books. That is the number only if the truck does not tow, does not idle for a living and does not have the Pro Power Onboard bed outlets, all three of which pull it back to 60,000. The 5.0L V8 is the cheaper version of this job; the 2.7L and 3.5L EcoBoost cost more because the turbo plumbing comes off to reach the plugs.

Two different rows land here. On a truck with the pickup bed power outlet Ford replaces the belt at 100,000. On every other truck 100,000 is the FIRST inspection, and from then on Ford's note is "inspect every other oil change until replaced," with no replacement mileage published at all. So this is a look-at-it visit for most owners and a parts visit for generator trucks. Replace on condition, cracking, glazing and rib wear, not on a number Ford never printed.

Ford's chart says 150,000 mi in all three books, but the 2021 book footnotes that row "Non-hybrid vehicles only" and the 2022 and 2023 books drop the qualifier entirely, so a 2021 PowerBoost was given no scheduled transmission service at all and a 2022 or 2023 PowerBoost was. No severe-conditions row shortens that interval for an ordinary owner, towing included. The one exception is scoped to police work: the Driver Training and EVOC table in the 2022 and 2023 books calls for changing transmission and transfer case fluids annually. That is the honest picture, and it is why independent shops that know the 10R80 commonly service it at 50,000–70,000 miles on a truck that tows rather than waiting for Ford's number. The fluid is Mercon ULV, which Motorcraft's own page names for the F-150 and Raptor 10R80 and tells you not to substitute Mercon LV for.

Ford lists all three at 150,000 mi, with the front axle and transfer case footnoted four-wheel drive only, then all but withdraws it a page later in the same chapter. Under Exceptions the 2021 book reads "Axle(s) and transfer case, four-wheel drive vehicles, fluid changes or level checks are not required unless a leak is suspected, or the assembly has been submerged in water," and the 2022 and 2023 books reword it to put the four-wheel drive scope first, without changing what it asks for. Read the scope: that exception is written for four-wheel drive trucks, so a 2WD owner has a 150,000-mile rear axle service and no exception to lean on. The specifications chapter adds that Ford's rear axles carry a synthetic lubricant that does not require changing unless the axle is submerged. Practically, on a 4WD truck with no leak and no water crossing this is optional; after either, it is due now whatever the odometer says.

The longest number on this ledger, and it is Ford's: first change at 10 years or 200,000 mi, then every five years or 100,000 mi after that. Identical in the 2021, 2022 and 2023 books, and no severe-condition coolant row exists in the gasoline schedule. So a coolant flush quoted at 60,000 miles on this truck is a service Ford is not asking for. What does need attention long before then is the fluid's strength and level, which Ford has checked at every oil change and every six months.

Not a Ford mileage item. Get one after new tires, after shocks or struts, and after any control-arm or bushing work, or part of the money you just spent on those goes straight back out through uneven tread. On top of that, an annual check is reasonable, tighter if the truck tows, runs unpaved roads or rides on a lift. Most F-150s only need a front, two-wheel alignment, because the solid rear axle has no adjustable rear geometry, which keeps the price below a four-wheel job on an independent-suspension vehicle.

This generation runs from a 2WD XL work truck to a Raptor R, and the right tire is different for each. A highway all-season is correct for an unloaded commuter: better wet and wintry grip, quieter, longer tread life, and no capability given up because none is being used. A truck that tows near its rating needs LT construction or a high-load-index XL P-metric, which is a load-rating question and not a comfort preference. An all-terrain earns its place only on a truck that actually leaves pavement. The mismatch costs in both directions: an aggressive all-terrain on a pavement truck wears faster, runs louder and stops worse in the wet for capability never used, while highway tires under a loaded trailer are being asked to carry weight they were never rated for.

Calendar, not mileage. Three to five years is the working life, so load-test from year three and replace by year five rather than waiting for a no-start. Ford's own parts tables give the sizes: BAGM-48H6-760 (BCI group 48/H6) standard on the 3.3L, 2.7L, 3.5L EcoBoost and 5.0L, with BAGM-94RH7-800 (group 94R/H7) optional on most and standard on the PowerBoost and Raptor. Ford also warns that a truck with Auto-Start-Stop must get "one of exactly the same specification." Warranty terms genuinely differ by retailer inside the same brand, so compare length and whether it is free-replacement or prorated. Match the group size and cold-cranking amps first.