Ford's Super Duty models are the heavy-hauling monsters in Ford's full-size pickup truck line. Much like the bright orange equipment you find tearing down houses, these trucks are built, at least ostensibly, for work. Not just work, but serious work at that. The F-250 is the three-quarter-ton version, while the F-350 is the full-ton version, but as you'll quickly find, there isn't a whole lot of practical limitation to what you could do with this truck, assuming you were so inclined, which is really your choice. Just saying I haven't seen many being used for work.
Let's start off with the obvious, this is a big truck. Maybe not "big" per se, but it's certainly gigantihunormous, which I think is the best way to describe a truck that comes in at around seven-feet tall. If you're looking for the wow factor, it's got it in spades. It's easily the most intimidating thing on the road since the Ram invented rearview terror in the early 90s.
But the ride is anything but smooth. Even new pavement will leave you bouncing in your seats, but this isn't a highway cruiser. It's a truck for dealing with difficult tasks, even if the task is just impressing the heck out of your envious neighbors. Forget those Joneses; they can't keep up with this.
If you're in the market for something big, bigger, or frankly too damn big, this is a perfect choice. It doesn't scream conspicuous consumption the way a Hummer will, but then again people won't think of you as an environment destroying jerkwad either, so you get the best of both worlds, and at a deep discount over the Hummer line.
For a work truck, the height may be prohibitive. The bed comes in around chest-high on me, which would make routine loading and unloading of cargo more work than you might want, but that is not likely your first consideration with such a car.
Luckily, you get the best mirrors in the heavyweight division, with all around visibility at eye-level and peering way down to the ground below as well. It's the sort of thing that only adds a couple bucks to the sticker, but once you see how well you see your surroundings, you'll agree you always needed what you hadn't otherwise had. That makes sense, right?
Big? Oh my yes. Sheer brute force? Yep, got that too.
Plenty of power even from the base at 300hp, but for even more muscle, a 6.0-liter PowerStroke diesel powerplant is available; with 570 foot pounds of torque and 325 ponies under the hood. I tested the 4WD model with the diesel, and it was more force than I knew what to do with. I did play around with it a bit, but there's a limit to how much testing you can do short of hooking up your horse trailer. I do not have a horse trailer, but that's for the best on account of my also not having horses.
If you're just looking for towing, maybe consider the F-350, but with 15,000 lbs of capacity, you shouldn't really need it. And if it's a fifth-wheel you're hauling, you can bump that up to 18,800. Those aren't just claims, there's no way in hell it won't haul it. Either way, try a couple cranks on the brakes to make sure you're okay with the stopping power. With a curb weight of 6,395 pounds you shouldn't have a problem, but it's still a critical consideration, and among the few I was unable to test for you.
Since it's a commercial class vehicle, fuel economy need not be displayed on the sticker, so I did my own test and was surprised by what I found. I only drove in the city, and wasn't exactly soft on the pedal, and still pulled 15mpg, which is better than many mid-sized SUVs. That's remarkable for the weight, especially considering you'll have torque enough to break loose the traction controlled two-wheel drive, even on dry pavement, even when you kind of didn't mean to
I did say "kind of", didn't I? Okay, maybe I was trying, but it was a rewarding romp on the throttle.
The crew cab is plenty spacious and the interior stylish and trimmed enough to justify the price tag. It's not space shuttle cool inside, but with a base price around $33,000 you won't feel cheated. Better still, it's got options packages from blasι up to trimmed to the gills in the mid 40s and beyond, so you can make it what you want. Navigation, fancy audio and all kinds of power options are readily available, so you can figure out what makes the best match for you.
I had a 1976 Ford F-150, a trailer edition, in case you're scoring along at home, and it was a solid truck. My fear in the review was that, with the financial problems Ford's faced in recent years, the quality would have suffered. It hasn't. This is every bit the truck I expected, and if anything, the financial shortcomings and shifts in consumer tastes for fuel efficiency have led to lower prices at the sticker.
The net assessment is that this truck is not for everybody. If you live in Manhattan, you'll find this rig too girthy to do your bidding. Conversely, if you're looking to haul a half-dozen tons or so, or just make a statement, this is a face value truck that offers no apologies about what it is or what it will deliver.
