The biggest number in the latest press release on the Super Duty is maximum towing capacity of 40,000 pounds. However, there are a few caveats to that number. For starters, it’s for the F-450. If you want to compare one-ton dually apples-to-apples, the F-350 has a maximum gooseneck capacity of 38,000 pounds, handily pipping the Silverado 3500 HD’s maximum of 36,000 pounds and the Ram 3500’s 37,090 pounds. It’s not an enormous lead, but it’s still class-leading for now. Then again, just because a truck can tow 38,000 pounds doesn’t mean every driver can. As soon as a truck and trailer’s gross combined weight rating hits 26,001 pounds, the DOT wants its driver to have a CDL. Even more impressive than class-leading gooseneck towing is that a properly-equipped F-350 dually can pull 28,000 pounds with a conventional bumper-mounted hitch. The 2024 Silverado 3500 HD maxes out at 20,000 pounds, while the Ram 3500 maxes out at 22,740 pounds, so this is a seriously hefty figure to achieve on Ford’s part.
However, Ford hasn’t released towing figures for what will likely be an extremely popular configuration, the crew cab F-250 with a gasoline engine. Considering towing in this configuration wasn’t touted in the press release, I wouldn’t be surprised if it falls slightly behind a similar 2024 Silverado HD’s crew cab gasoline-powered towing capacity of 21,700 pounds with the NHT package. Despite this, properly-equipped diesel F-250 models will be able to pull 23,000 pounds, a rather capable figure. Regarding payload, spec your F-350 with dual rear wheels, a regular cab, XL trim, two-wheel-drive, and the Heavy-Duty Payload Package, and you’ll be able to put 8,000 pounds in the back. This truck could technically haul at least one other truck, which means that the prophecy of the Ferd Fteenthousand is slowly being realized.
As for engines, the base 6.8-liter gas-powered V8 makes a stout 405 horsepower and 445 lb.-ft. of torque, four more horsepower but 19 lb.-ft. less torque than the Silverado’s 6.6-liter gasoline-powered V8, and five fewer horsepower but 16 lb.-ft. more torque than the Ram’s 6.4-liter V8. Moving up to the 7.3-liter gasoline-powered V8, its 430 horsepower and 485 lb.-ft. of torque are best-in-class gas engine output figures for now. Since the upcharge over the 6.8-liter V8 is a relatively minimal $1,705, it’s likely worth popping for the 7.3 unless you’re looking to save money.
On the diesel side of the equation, things get particularly spicy. While the regular 6.7-liter Power Stroke V8 puts out a very strong 475 horsepower and 1,050 lb.-ft. of torque, the High Output version packs 500 horsepower and a massive 1,200 lb-ft of torque, good enough to be best-in-class. It was inevitable that someone would dethrone Ram’s high-output Cummins diesel engine and its peak torque figure of 1,075 lb-ft, and Ford’s built a healthy margin. For the most part, the 2023 Ford Super Duty puts up the numbers to back up its fresh appearance and tech. With plenty of power, payload, and pulling capacity, it should continue to be enjoyed by the same core set of buyers that loved the old Super Duty. Pricing starts at $45,765 including a hefty but understandable freight charge of $1,795, with deliveries starting in early 2023, so it won’t be long before these trucks start popping up at job sites and boat ramps all over the country. All photos courtesy of Ford The brakes on my F350 are 14.25″ diameter, and the 450s are even larger. “However, it did take a little more space to stop in a four-wheel-drive F250 at 163 feet from 60 MPH, but that’s about on par with a number of small cars. … … the F-350 version has a shorter stopping distance of 147 feet in offroad tires from 60 MPH.” That 147 feet is over 50 feet longer than my Camaro, and more than 20 feet longer than say a new RAV4. 20 feet is almost 1 truck length, which could easily be the difference between pancaking the car in front or not. https://www.consumerreports.org/car-safety/best-and-worst-braking-distances-a2960086475/ I think that’s pretty impressive for a vehicle that weighs twice as much as a Camaro. Now that the 350 and 450 are safely into haul weights that required a semi 30 years ago, will there be king pin hitch and compressor conversions? Surely the air brakes could be handled by a suitably smart trailer brake controller. When I bought my 2019 Super Duty, the starting price for an XL was about $35K (with inevitable hefty discounts below sticker on all models). Nonetheless, these trucks are seriously awesome for doing work. Also, in the interest of full disclosure: I actually dig a lot of trucks and am totally fine with people owning stuff like this if they genuinely need the capability…it’s the proliferation of Brodozers that’ll never see anything but tarmac and grocery runs that really grind my gears For example, with my F250, I can legally tow a fully loaded trailer with a GVWR of 15,000 lbs., since the GCVWR would be 25,000 lbs. However, if I towed the same trailer with an F450 (GVWR 14,000 lbs.), it would be illegal since the GCVWR of the would be 29,000 lbs., even though both truck and trailer combinations would be approximately the same weight. I’m sure the laws are written to make compliance easier, but it still strikes me as odd that I can legally tow more with my F250 than I could with an F450, since it is presumably safer to tow a heavy trailer with a dually F450 than an F250. https://youtu.be/8Nho44lGVV8 I just don’t understand these high-strung HO diesel engines that seem like they are ready to pop. How long is an engine like this going to last? How often will you need to service the injectors? The DPF? What I would rather see is a smaller, less stressed diesel with a large assist motor and battery pack. say 30kwh and 150 hp. Pair that with a 5 liter 300 hp and 500 lbs-ft diesel. Something powerful, but not overstressed. You could probably net around 450 peak power, and around 1000 lbs-ft peak torque, but you can run PHEV for around-town efficiency sometimes, small diesel cruising efficiency engine sometimes, and big diesel performance sometimes. Yes, this setup would be expensive, but honestly, is it going to be that much more expensive than these HO engines? How about an injector service? Also, people popping for these HO engines don’t care. Gas engines always have to run at 14.7 to 1 air to fuel ratio. This is regardless of if the power is needed or not. So if the power isn’t needed, adding fuel would make the engine spin up to higher rpm. As it does this it would bring in more air, which means to maintain 14.7 to 1 ratios more fuel is needed to match this new air. Then the engine spins faster. So to stop this a throttle blade is needed, that way we can add more fuel without the engine speeding up. Then it can idle without speeding up. A diesel is totally different. Instead of heating up when lean, diesel gets cooler when lean. So no throttle blade is even needed. It’s much simpler, to keep the engine at idle RPM all we need to do is keep removing fuel (leaning out the afr above 14.7 is totally okay). The issue is that gas engines when the engine size is increased, bring in more air than is needed at low load such as idle which is why they need more fuel. A diesel actually doesn’t need to do this. A small diesel at idle will use exactly as much fuel as is needed to idle. A larger diesel will use roughly the same exactly amount of fuel. Even though it’s bringing in more air due to being larger it simply runs leaner. The only loses from bigger engines with diesel are the frictional loses from more cylinders with larger bore and strokes. This is not the case with gas. Gas engines can’t run leaner which means they area wasting fuel all the time. They even enrich under load to cool down and fight knock when diesels don’t have to since keeping the fuel stable isn’t a problem and they can’t knock. Most people though just fall into the bigger is better. The HO diesel option costs as much as a Mitsubishi Mirage and seems to be more for bragging rights than anything else. The number of people who want to tow 30-40,000 lb with a Class 3 truck has to be vanishingly small. In the end, it is their money to waste or not, I have things of my own to worry about. The gas engine will tow 20,000 lb all day long, it will just be loud while doing it, which bothers some people more than it should. Does it gulp fuel? Yes. Does it still come out cheaper than buying a diesel truck? Also yes. Is 410hp plenty for making it up the Sierras at the same speed, or faster than, traffic? Absolutely yes. Does the L94 mind sitting at 4500RPM and 3/4 throttle for almost an hour while doing so? Not one bit. If they’re moving equipment within the company, the laws are a little vague and they probably skirt the outside of legality without too much oversight. My state for example excludes non commercial use of a RV (motor home or trailer). I would still take a course on how to move a beast like this as I have enough problems when I had a small utility trailer. I ended disconnecting it, moving it by brute force, then drive the truck up to get it. That is not an option with a 5th wheel. A larger travel trailer can use a battery operated mover to get it into the final position. If I ever got one of these, the pull through parking would be a major requirement. Given the option of backing a little lawnmower trailer into a parking spot with my pickup or backing in one of the semis on the farm, I’ll take the semi any day. As for the trailer mover. Those look good for final foot or small adjustments. Also if you store the trailer in a tight and straight spot. Hook it up, pull the trailer past obstacles, hook to truck. Wow, that is some magic bumper. Probably a few inches above where the receiver hitch lives.
