Super duty isn’t a single truck so much as it is a single idea that covers a range of trucks.
Several years ago, Ford saw there was a large gap in gross
vehicle weight ratings between the existing one-ton and medium-duty trucks with a gross vehicle weight rating, or GVWR, of more than 22,000 pounds.
GVWR refers to the maximum loaded weight of a vehicle, including fuel, fluids and full payload.
Enter the new F250 with a GVWR of more than 8,500 lb.
Read Also
Agriculture needs to prepare for government spending cuts
As government makes necessary cuts to spending, what can be reduced or restructured in the budgets for agriculture?
This became the first of a series that included the F250, F350, F450 and F550 super duty pickups.
All are intended to fill that gap in various stages.
These trucks were based on the same extra-large platform so no one could mistake this truck for a regular F150.
The trucks are about eight centimetres wider than the F150.
In addition, styling cues such as the dip in the belt line to imitate the window lines of class eight trucks give a distinctive side view.
The front end continues this distinctiveness by being more traditional and less aerodynamic than the F150.
Underneath, Ford did all the right things to keep the heavy duty image working.
The frame rails are steel C channels without a bend or curve, just like on a class eight tractor unit.
This doesn’t sound like much until you install a truck box without needing to make extra blocks or braces.
The C channel also provides an out-of-the way place to put the fuel lines, hydraulic lines and wiring, while keeping things accessible.
The idea of building a truck to suit the job continues for 2002.
This year there are three engine choices, two transmissions, three cabs, seven wheel bases, single or dual wheels, and a choice of two- or four-wheel drive.
On major components alone, this gives you more than 200 possibilities not including all the different GVWRs that the truck can be built for.
I drove a 4×4, F350 super crew cab with a regular truck box and a F550 with a general purpose box (grain box to you and I) and a hydraulic lift.
The F350 was pleasant to drive and hid the fact that it could pull a 35 foot fifth wheel trailer with ease.
My only problem, loaded or empty, was making sure I left enough room on the sides for the dualie fenders.
Those duals may contribute to the truck’s stability, but they sure are wide when you aren’t used to them.
The F550 was totally different.
There was no doubt in my mind that this was a serious work truck.
Empty, it bounced the driver around a bit when going over bumps or potholes too fast.
Touching the brake pedal too hard meant having your face planted in the front windshield.
Fortunately, the brakes were easy to modulate so errors were rare.
Loaded, the ride smoothed out as expected, but I had to be extra vigilant when on the road. I was surprised to see the number of car drivers who cut off loaded trucks. Braking distances, even with four-wheel disc brakes, are long.
After all, you can only stop so fast with 18,000 lb. pushing you along.
Power for my two trucks came from Ford’s Power Stroke diesel.
This engine is only a few years old, yet is now considered old technology.
Direct injection helps get the power output up to 250 horsepower and 505 lb. feet of torque when mated to the automatic transmission. Manual transmissions have a slightly higher power rating.
Both trucks I drove were automatics.
I am sure Ford brings on engine power a bit slower in the automatic to help prevent drive line problems.
The truck won’t win a drag race.
One of the automatic’s best features is that it can be ordered with the provision to fit a power take-off.
The way this unit is mounted on the side of the transmission means the truck can still be ordered as a 4×4.
Hydraulic controls can be mounted wherever a customer wants them.
Technology to fit a pto on an automatic has been around for years, but its time has finally come.
There are an increasing number of people, rural and urban, who no longer like using a manual transmission and in some cases have never used a manual gear box.
