If you don’t have a six-horse trailer, a super-huge travel trailer, a 36-foot boat or 6,000 lbs of hay or construction materials to haul, you need not read further.  The Ford Super Duty Series is for serious trucking, not your run to the Home Depot or daily commuter F-150-type driving.

The Super Duty Series has been around for a while, but the outgoing model was falling behind the competition compared to the recently restyled rivals from GM and Dodge. 

For the 2008 Series, almost every piece of sheet metal except the truck bed is new.  In fact, even the tailgate on the cargo bed features a clever optional tailgate step. Lower the tailgate and the single step slides out of the top.  An attached pole assists as a grab handle by folding up and snapping into place.  The step can handle 1,000 pounds of weight, the grab handle 300 lbs.  Once seen, it causes one to wonder why no one thought of this clever idea before.

From the front, the massive-sized truck looks even larger with an exaggerated grille featuring four large horizontal and two vertical openings and a large “Super Duty” stamped across the top. Stacked headlamps and a prominent 7-inch “Blue-Oval” complete the strong look.  The headlamps and bumper are positioned four inches lower than on the previous models to keep the lights out of the eyes of oncoming drivers. The repositioned bumper is safer in a front-end crash, where the previous positioning allowed for the truck to plow over the top of a lower passenger car.  Thank you!

Super Duties come in three models:  F-250, F-350 and F-450, with each level ratcheting up in cargo ability and towing capacity.  The F-450 can carry more than three tons of materials, or tow a trailer weighing up to 24,500 pounds - more than 12 tons. Capability like this will never be found in a conventional pickup truck.

Four trim levels are available including the base XL with vinyl seats, hose it out flooring and black painted grille and bumpers- a strictly commercial use vehicle.

XLT adds chrome trim, cloth seats, and more creature comforts like air conditioning, CD player, power windows/locks/mirrors and cruise control. 

FX4 off-road adds larger wheels, all-terrain tires, skid plates, fog lights, an overhead console and leather-wrapped steering wheel. 

Lariat adds power leather seats; dual-zone climate control; steering wheel, audio and climate controls; wood grain trim; privacy glass; polished wheels; and a sliding rear window. 

My tester for the week, the King Ranch package, is an upgrade to the Lariat and offered only as a crew cab. It is the luxury-sedan of the group with a tu-tone exterior paint scheme and Chaparral-leather covering the four captain chairs, center consoles, armrests and steering wheel.  And as if we might forget, the word “Super Duty” is stamped on the dash and floor and “King Ranch”, the name of the legendary 825,000-acre Texas cattle ranch, is embossed on the center console.

Trucks are important in Texas, where they account for one out of every four vehicles sold.  My King Ranch tester was trimmed in rich cattle-dark brown leather and tan seats, dash and steering wheel and polished faux wood and chrome trim.  Heck, just sitting behind the wheel made me feel like a wealthy Texas cattle baron.  Even the best luxury sedans have little over the plush interior of the King Ranch.  Fit and finish were excellent and everything was laid out and executed extremely well.

But all the plush, pampering amenities inside won’t sell a truck that doesn’t haul. To that end, Ford offers a choice of three engines: the smallest and standard 5.4-liter gasoline 300 horsepower V-8, the optional 6.8-liter 362 horsepower V-10, and the new 6.4-liter PowerStroke turbodiesel 350 horsepower V-8 with a whopping 650 lb-ft of torque.  Ford says about 75 percent of Super Duties will roll off the assembly line with this engine.  The only transmissions offered are the standard 6-speed manual or optional 5-speed automatic. 

As with most heavy-duty trucks, the Super Duty does not require EPA fuel economy certification, and the best I averaged was just under 13 mpg on a mix of highway and city driving. 

My tester came equipped with a long list of optional equipment including the King Ranch package, navigation system, DVD entertainment system, larger tires, adjustable pedals, satellite radio, rapid-heat cabin heater, telescoping power glass mirrors, power moon roof, off-road package, and many others.  When all was said and done the total MSRP:  $57,225.  Expensive yes, but this monster-sized truck had everything.

The cabin was noticeably quieter than the last generation Super Duty we tested.  The better, quieter diesel engine ride and handling seemed much improved.  This can probably be attributed to the rear springs being lengthened by 8-inches and mounted farther forward to reduce axle hop. 

Safety equipment includes antilock brakes, dual front airbags, and child-seat LATCH anchors.  Neither side, nor side curtain airbags are available.

While not meant as a daily driver, my week behind the wheel was seductively addictive giving me almost a sense of invincibility and I didn’t tow or haul as much as a box of flowers from the nursery.  The view from behind the wheel is commanding and it’s much easier to drive than one would think, its Godzilla size only seemed intrusive while parking. 

While still holding the distinction of the largest-selling vehicles on the planet for 30-years running, the F-Series of trucks is facing increased competition on all fronts.  Ford sold 800,000 F-Series trucks in 2006, about 40 percent of them Super Duty, but that total is a whopping 100,000 fewer than 2005. 

Based on my week behind the wheel, Ford Super Duties are still king of the big truck class.

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