2007 Ford Review

Specifications

There Is No Substitute

Cowboy friggin Cadillac. The best words to describe Fords ultimate truck, the F-350 King Ranch is undeniably one hell of a truck. Love it or hate it, this thing is the mother of all pickups.

Based on Fords F-350 Superduty, the King Ranch exudes the same toughness possessed by the regular Superduty, only in a more luxurious fashion. It still screams, “I eat Smart cars for breakfast” just like a regular Superduty, it just follows that statement with, “and chicken cordon bleu for lunch.” Handed over to yours truly at Fords 2007 model-year product introduction in Detroit, our preview tester was quite simply everything I could want a truck to be. Equipped with the 6.0L Power Stroke Turbo Diesel V8, it possessed a reasonable 325 horsepower and a totally unreasonable 570 foot pounds of torque that could quite possibly move… well, just about anything, as I discovered.

While lapping Fords high-speed test track in the King Ranch an amazing storm broke out (which would later overcome the local airport authority just in time for my return flight I might add), and howling winds meant that the lesser vehicles on hand required greater throttle openings to overcome the added resistance down the straightaway. Not so with the King Ranch; it felt like it would tear the pavement up and spit it out the back end before it let the wind slow it down, and thats in a truck with the aerodynamic efficiency of Rosie ODonnell! And even for all of Mother Natures blustering and the big Fords fighting back, the experience in the cabin didnt belie the hustle and bustle of what was going on in front of me; the engines power delivery was smooth and quiet (from within at least… I was informed the thing sounded like the Four Horsemen from outside) and ramped up just as quickly when running into the thunderstorm winds as when not, as the boost gauge communicated exponentially more and more air molecules being rammed down the rattling V8s throat.

Later that day as I sat there in my economy class seat for an excruciating five hours while waiting for the same storm to subside and allow us to take off, the thought of simply hijacking the King Ranch Id driven earlier and towing the damn plane from Detroit to Vancouver occurred to me numerous times, and had it not been for the lady next to me putting me into a coma with continuous tales about her cats “crazy antics” back home I think I just might have succeeded in doing just that. Of course, for those that dont think theyll be towing the Queen Mary (or Rosie ODonnell for that matter) or an Airbus A319 home anytime soon, Ford makes their class-leading V10 Triton engine available as well; producing 362 horsepower and “only” 457 foot pounds of torque, its a much more reasonable engine in that flooring the gas pedal at highway speeds results in the sudden acceleration of both truck and engine that the diesel lacks.

Our tester was equipped with realistically the only option for such a powerful engine in such a big vehicle: a five-speed automatic. Sure, a standard is available on lesser trucks, but lets face it, with all that power its reasonable to assume that any attempt to use the 15,000 pounds worth of towing capacity would be met with numerous destroyed clutches, and Ford knows that. Add to that the unique ability of a torque converter to multiply smooth, controlled torque, and youve got a truck that is more or less unstoppable when towing. After all, when youve got this much power and money (this thing isnt cheap); chances are good that youve got a few toys laying around that need to be towed to their places of play.

Thankfully, Fords designed the whole truck around that premise: the 5-speed “TorqShift” transmission has the requisite Tow/Haul mode that holds gears longer for more power up slopes, and it even has a built in trailer brake controller called “Tow Command” that taps into the trucks ABS system to detect low-traction surfaces and correct brake application as necessary; both features that would have been useful for the trip home with Airbus in tow.

In reality, none of this did nothing on the high-speed track though, as Ford hadnt supplied anything for us to tow, Airbus-sized or otherwise (although that would have been one cool demonstration). But the truck did show a bit of its character at the various speeds it was subjected to. First off, simply idling around the test track entrance, the diesel woke up relatively quickly, with none of the waiting for the glow plugs to heat up that old diesels required. Once alive, it was unmistakably diesel-powered, and no amount of refinement or sound deadening material could hope to quiet 570-foot pounds worth of compression-ignition. Yet while the engine audibly knocked at idle, none of the its vibrations came anywhere near my hands, feet, or derriere, and the second I tipped into the throttle, the engine smoothed out completely, with impressively smooth and even power delivery down low. Once up to speed the entertainment really began, and watching the boost gauge slowly gain ground as throttle pedal met floorboard became something of a maniacal game. Off boost, the truck is slow; theres no getting around it, but once the boost gauge registers a reasonable amount of positive pressure, look out, because things will start coming at you really, really fast, and while it LOOKS like it could eat a Smart car, chances are good itd ding the chrome grille on the way in. 

Speaking of chrome, this behemoth has a lot of it. That doesnt mean its adorned with a lot of chrome pieces, quite the opposite in fact (Fords content to the leave the bling blang to the Navigator), its got but one HUGE chrome adornment; the grille. Roughly the size of a Mini (or Smart car…), the grille could be defined as a safety feature; after all not many people are going to turn their car into something that looks like a chromed barn door coming down the road at them. But dont think its all for show because its not. That huge grille is required to allow enough airflow through the various fluid coolers that this powerful diesel requires. Unfortunately, this huge front end also causes scary amounts of front-end lift at high speeds. Nothing anyone would normally have to worry too much about, as it presented itself at about 70 mph on the wet test track. The scary part is the way it presented itself; nonexistent one minute and extreme in the next, the truck went from being able to turn to being completely unresponsive in a heartbeat. The solution? Dont be an idiot and try to drive it too fast. The only other problem I could find with the aerodynamics was the mirrors. Their huge size means they displace a lot of air, and as such were the biggest perpetrators of wind noise on my trips around the circuit.

But all that is your standard Superduty stuff. Where the King Ranch really excels is in the interior department. It is, quite simply the best truck interior Ive ever seen. With yard upon yard of special “Castano” leather, its a feeling akin to sitting in a well-worn baseball glove. The leather is really what makes this truck; its most unique feature. Sort of a mid brown, it feels incredibly thick and heavy, and has markings in it youd expect to see on an old saddle, replete with the exposed stitching to match. Unlike a saddle though, its incredibly soft, and the whole experience of it is undeniably American; and thats an experience I relish in a heavy duty truck.

Once Id finished admiring the leather and had actually climbed behind the wheel (not the easiest thing to do on a truck this big), I felt immediately at home. I know it sounds like standard automotive journalist drivel, but ever since learning to drive in a 78 Ford F-250 Custom, Ive always felt that there was no better place to see the countryside than from behind the wheel of a big, comfy, and capable truck. Low slung sports cars seem to draw too much of your attention to the car, whereas trucks always seem to simply do what you ask them, and let you enjoy the scenery in the meantime.

And when if comes to big, comfy and capable, the King Ranch takes the cake: the seating position is high and commanding, all the necessary controls are easily within reach of both arms and legs yet none get in the way, and the sense of pure unadulterated space within the King Ranchs Crew Cab is a comforting feeling. As I pulled out onto the course, the first few minutes were spent corralling the wayward front end back in line, the following few with glancing over the controls and just looking at the interior, and the rest were spent looking out the windows. Theres a particular windmill next to the Dearborn Development Center that I would have never even known existed if it wasnt for sheer height of the King Ranch.

And thats why I love this truck. Ive never felt so at home so quickly; and it wasnt just me. Other journalists echoed the sentiment, and although the mirrors wind noise was obtrusive, and the front end wandering about independent of the drivers wishes thoroughly quashed any hopes of high-speed passes, the damn thing was just great. While most trucks make the thought of pulling a luxurious fifth wheel with dirt bikes hanging off the back around the country a spine-chilling thought, the King Ranch made the notion an inviting one. Sure, some people think its a gross display of excess, and others will voice concerns about it causing Saudi Arabia to drop about a foot for every mile traveled, but when it comes to no-compromise trucks, the Ford F-350 King Ranch is the Porsche of heavy duty trucks: there truly is no substitute.