2008 Ford F-250 Super Chief Review

Specifications

The Super Duty pickup truck is big in every sense of the word. It’s movedalong by big engines, rides on big wheels held up by big suspension components. It’s a big step up to get inside the big cabin. It tows and hauls loads that can only begin to be described as big. The bottom line for Ford is that the Super Duty is a big deal. And it’s big business for this brand. No surprise then that the new generation of Super Duty is a big step forward.

For Ford, it’s business as usual even with the new generation truck. As before, its job is out not only to turn the biggest, but also the best product amongst the industrial strength pickup trucks currently on sale. Ford has proven its worth and earned its dues through delivering strength and durability over the years, therefore to keep its leadership status and to keep up with customers’ demands the blue-oval boys are one-upping their own personal best by introducing the brand new, “record-breaking” F-450, the biggest of the big. Prior generations of Super Duty were available in F-250 and F-350 guise, with the F-450 in its past lives being a full commercial vehicle designed for use as a moving van, tow truck, or any other workhorse. For 2008, it’s arrived in the stable with a pickup truck bed, and is available with the biggest configuration possible with dual rear wheels and Dearborn’s mightiest engine.

Some trucks are big, some trucks are scary looking, the Ford Super Dutyis not only both of these, but it looks to be constantly sizing up everything that comes its way. Even behind the wheel of a Super Duty, if you see one in the mirror, first instincts say to get out of the way. What makes it such an imposing truck is the sheer size of its grille. Its competitors try to mimic the look of a big rig, but the Super Duty practically is a big rig, particularly those models with the rooftop amber lights. And if size alone was not enough to reinforce the Super Duty image, Ford has stamped the name in bold block letters at its nose and tail. Ford did take into consideration the discrepancy between the size of man and the size of the machine, and put in some clever features to make interaction between the two easier. Hefty running boards and strategically placed grab handles make getting on board easier, while the amazing built-in tailgate step ladder with collapsible grab handle takes the embarrassment out of climbing onto the truck’s bed.

No matter the toughness or appearance of thatouter skin, it’s the inner strength that counts for the Super Duty and in that respect, it does its job and it does it well. It carries, it hauls and it tows - a lot. The optimal towing Super Duty, a two-wheel drive F-450, can tow a maximum of 24,500 lbs with a fifth-wheel trailer, and a still astounding 16,000 lbs using a conventional hitch. Those numbers are simply unfathomable from a vehicle that can be purchased off the same lot as a Focus or Five Hundred. Its payload is an equally impressive 6,000 lbs, which is just as much as what a midsize pickup truck can tow. Yes, this is true strength. The smaller 350-series truck is still a workhorse beyond most peoples’ needs, capable of towing 18,800 lbs on a fifth-wheel, and 15,000 lbs on a standard hitch. It also retains the F-450’s payload rating.

What makes the Super Duty truck so capable is a backbone that’s made from a combination fully boxed frame for the front section of the truck, with a 6.7 mm C-channel frame for the bed, one of the sturdiest in this field. It’s from this that some of the beefiest components in the industry are hung, be it the twin-piston brake calipers, the extra long variable load springs or the staggered shocks. This kind of support is needed for the vehicle itself, let alone the kind of stuff that it’s going to be moving around.

For 2008, the Super Duty trucks are offered with three engines, a 5.4-liter3-valve V8 engine from the F-150, a torquey 6.8-liter V10, and by far the most important, the state of the art Powerstroke turbodiesel. It’s a monstrous improvement over the outgoing 6.0-liter 325-hp, 570 lb-ft unit in just about every way imaginable. Ford’s passion about being a technological innovator has its ups and downs, particularly in reliability and refinement, but with this new engine Ford seems to have tested every last aspect to perfection. At 6.4 liters, and with 350 horsepower and 650 lb-ft of electronically limited torque, this big new V8 turbodiesel sounds like it’s all about cubes, but it’s one of the smartest workhorses around. The only component shared with the old engine is the camshaft; everything else is brand new. However, for the leaps and bounds this engine makes over the existing one, it doesn’t so much walk away from the competition as match it in terms of output. Though Ford’s powerplant is more efficient, it’s only equal to the General’s 6.6-liter Duramax in torque and has a minor horsepower deficit.

To meet the smothering emissions standards, Ford applied every trick in thebook to help bring the tailpipe emissions down to compliant levels, and it’s using the kind of tech on high-performance diesels sold in Europe. The particulate filter involved here traps the harmful emissions giving the Super Duty a tailpipe that’s just as clean as a gasoline car. It requires the use of Ultra Low Sulphur Diesel, though. Billy Joe Bob won’t know what a Piezoelectric fuel injector is, or about its capability of injecting multiple times per combustion cycle, but it’s fundamental to the engine in much the same way that common rail fuel injector or lag-minimizing dual sequential turbos are. He probably wouldn’t know what those are either.

No mistakes will be made with the diesel. It’s not at the samelevel of refinement as the kind of engine one would expect from an E320 CDI, but for a truck it’s amazing. What’s more is that the diesel’s off-beat rumble isn’t accompanied by soot, smoke or even the faintest whiff of crude, unrefined compression ignited dino extract. On the highway, it’s phenomenally quiet to the point where it’s easy to forget exactly what’s going on under the hood. It flattens any hill and shrinks the payload and towing mass down to nothing. And for those who care to know, Ford claims that the 0-60 mph time for this truck is about a second quicker than the outgoing model, which ought to be in the 8.3 second range, which is staggeringly quick for something of this size and stature. The big diesel is mated to a revised five-speed automatic transmission that features a stronger torque converter and gears that are capable of dealing with such high loads. The gas engine can be had with the Torqshift automatic, or a six-speed manual gearbox.

Unless you have unresolved ego issues, the Super Duty trucksaren’t vehicles you are going to buy unless you need them to haul or tow. The Ford is the only truck in its class with Integrated Trailer Brake Control which does away with the need for an aftermarket control unit. Using a digital processor, it links the trailer to the truck’s ABS system giving better control, not to mention an easy to use display for altering trailer brake bias. The results are amazing: these trucks also don’t “porpoise” under heavy loads, the unwanted situation where the vehicle dives and raises while making its way down the road. For those who tow on a regular basis, you’d have to be pretty dead set on the styling or features of another vehicle because Ford’s figured out everything. Towing is also made easier thanks to the PowerScope power extending mirrors, and all that additional accelerative and braking power. These towing aids are available on all Super Duty trucks, not just the F-450.

Yet somewhere in between the tough as a bunker Ford has snuck in a surprising amount of comfort and refinement, something learned from the F-150 project. Quiet Steel is used as a barrier between the cabin and the engine, keeping the noise out, while better insulation in the doors and pillars subdues wind noise to hardly believable levels. Conversations can take place at normal voice levels despite the distance which sound must travel in the cabin.

Ford mostly had the upper level Lariat and King Ranch models on hand forthis first drive, which is just fine as these trucks possess the automaker’s best truck interiors to date. The King Ranch is the most impressive, with its burgundy colored, worn-in look Chaparral leather that’s rich and soft to the touch, like a saddle, wrapping each of the four individual bucket seats, the yard-wide arm rests and the steering wheel. This leather-clad living room on wheels also gets its fair share of glossy accent wood. Compared to the Ram or the Silverado, the Super Duty disguises its industrial roots better, so much so you that it’s possible to feel bad for drudging muddy boots and rain soaked clothes inside. But even without the leather and wood, for the type of truck that the F-450 is, it’s very well finished. Rough edges still exist, starting with the dash plastic that’s a little more brittle than I would have liked, and the drop-drown bins from the overhead console that seemed as if they’d break under the pressure of the first day on the job, but the rest of the cabin makes up for its few week points. While the luxury trim is nice, it’s amazing how well Ford can carry the rugged look. Super Duties heading for a life of hard labor are more than up for the job with durable cloth and vinyl seating, deep twin storage bins for each door and an armrest large enough to swallow a laptop or two. Its ethic is even reflected in the “hard hat” ridges on the dash top and steering wheel.

Pat Schiavone, chief designer of Ford’s trucks (including the Super Duty)wanted to really change the way that people view its products. Though work on the Super Duty trucks began well in advance of last year’s show stopping Super Chief concept, this is the mentality that Ford is striving to achieve. If a company such as Cadillac can make the ultimate sedan represented by the Sixteen, and Ford the ultimate sports car with the GT, what’s to stop someone from making the ultimate pickup truck with similar attention to style, detail and quality? Pardon the painful pun, but it’d be one bold move, but one that summarizes Ford’s leadership in this field. Buyers would easily drop a quarter million dollars on a vehicle of this type, simply because nothing like it has ever been created. The Super Duty might not be at that stage yet, but you can tell, the progression over several generations shows progress.

But for now, it’s back to reality. Ford offers a variety of different bodystyles and beds with the Super Duty, but one thing’s for sure, it’s hard to wrap your head around how large these cabs are. The Super Crew is comparable in size and space to oh, the average New York City apartment. Even with the power-adjustable driver’s seat and pedals, plus the tilt and telescopic steering column, you can’t help but feel tiny when behind the helm. On the plus side, it’s a cinch to learn the controls for this truck thanks to excellent ergonomics and clearly placed buttons - very important when most of your concentration goes to making sure those dually fenders don’t scrape other vehicles in traffic! My only complaints reside with the seats. The integrated headrests are angled too far back to be of any use, therefore driving the vehicle means holding your neck and head forward. Also, with a truck of this price heated seats should be available throughout the range, not just on the King Ranch, and they ought to have multiple settings as with the regular F-150, not just an on-off switch.

Heavy duty vehicles generally do not fare well on empty loads mainlybecause they are designed to perform optimally under high loads with tires so stiff they may as well be solid, and springs of equal stiffness. While the new trucks are anything but supple, they’re a marked improvement over anything else on the market. On roads around San Antonio, the F-350 and F-450 just eat up the miles, without punishing their passengers too much. Part of this has to do with the variable load rear springs that have been redesigned, adding an extra eight inches (203 mm) of length; when the truck is weighed down by a heavier payload or trailer, additional leafs on the spring push down, giving the truck the needed support when necessary. Speed bumps and other sharp, disruptions will instantly remind you that this is a big, heavy-duty truck, but other than that I could imagine towing a gigantic Airstream or a couple of horses for days on end with low effort and high comfort. I think that’s what Ford had in mind with these trucks, and has succeeded well on execution.

For something that rivals a stretch limousine in road space, the larger crew cab dually trucks aren’t as difficult or as intimidating to pilot once you get snug inside and familiar with the controls. The steering is heavy and has seriously slow reaction, but the truck goes where it’s pointed and tracks straight on the highway. That’s about as far as my test went, being that this is not something you toy with. And thank goodness it has reverse sensors, as without them it would be like parking a cruise ship unaided. Front parking sensors could and would be a nice option.

It came as a surprise to find that the F-450 has the smallest turning radius of any Super Duty truck as well, thanks to its trick front axle. Copperfield didn’t have anything to do with this, but rather Ford’s wide-frame monobeam suspension - more or less a gigantic beam that’s 6.5 inches wider than the 350 - grants the ability to point the front wheels 45 degrees at full lock, dropping the radius by five whole feet (51.5 ft vs. 56.5 ft).

After playing with these trucks through Texas Hill Country, on and off the road, towing loads that would buckle other heavy duty trucks, there is absolutely no way to be anything other than impressed by these beastly machines. However awe-striking these machines are, it does make you wonder when it’s necessary to draw the line between the ultimate in capability and sheer excess. Surely, many of these vehicles will be put to good use, and I can agree with the idea to create more civilized trucks… but the F-450, especially in King Ranch trim… oh, what the hell. When you’re out to make a big impression, you may as well go all out.

Ladies and Gen’lemen, it’s official: trucks don’t get more awesome than this.