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You have to feel for Ford's PR folks. Two major media events to promote the 2008 Super Duty, two days of crappy weather. But, as the professionals they are, they were able to make the most of the cold and the rain, the latter of which helped truly demonstrate the off-road dynamics of this incredibly capable vehicle.
Flashback to San Antonio, June 2007. Ford puts together a media event to unveil the 2008 Super Duty, including its poster child, the F-450. Ice. Rain. Slippery roads. Great food. Towing. Mudding. Missed flights. We walk away cold and wet, but incredibly impressed by the new truck.
This time around, we flog the trucks around the Michigan Proving Grounds (MPG) in Romeo, Michigan. Ford sold its hot weather testing Kingman Arizona facility to Chrysler a while back, so many of the components of that facility are being moved here. (they still utilize the smaller Volvo facility in Arizona for hot weather testing)
Since that last event, the competition has started to catch up a bit and Ford wanted to make sure we knew where the new Super Duty compared to the competition. In our first 2008 Super Duty review, we focused most on the driving dynamics. In this article, we are going to turn our attention to some of the competitive advantages that make the 2008 Super Duty superior for its intended purpose.
Bolts, Bolts, Bolts…
If you love trucks and truly appreciate the engineering that goes into developing them, then you simply have not lived until you've listened to an engineer speak passionately about something as mundane bolts. Ford takes their bolts seriously, so don't mess with them. In fact, they even built part of their recent ad campaign with Mike Rowe (the Dirty Jobs guy) around bolt superiority in the F-150. The leaf spring bolts on the new Super Duty are huge, much larger than the competition (see photo), which means that they resist far more stress, a necessity when your vehicle can tow nearly 25,000 pounds. Dodge's bolts failed at 286 ft-lbs or torque, GM's at 180 ft-lbs., and at 500 ft-lbs of torque, Ford's were still working. Bolts might not sound that important, but they are truly symbolic of the toughness that is built into the new Super Duty.
Breathe in the Air…
We really like Don Ufford. He loves his trucks, and it shows. As Vehicle Engineering Manager for the 2008 Super Duty, he knows this truck inside and out. He also knows the competition. And, from what we can tell, he is quite proud of the cooling systems in the new truck. He spent a good amount of time, including showing a couple of videos, talking about the Super Duty's superior cooling capabilities. This comes as a result of having larger radiators and a larger fan. (we got a great lesson on why the fan blades are offset like they are…you may already have know this, but it was news to us). Increased cooling capacity equals increased reliability when towing small or large loads. Without going too much into the numbers, the 2008 Super Duty vastly outperformed
Everything is bigger!
From leaf springs to bearings to bolts to radiators, Ford wants to get the point across that in their trucks, everything is bigger. This translates to greater tolerances and superior capabilities. Point well taken. And compared to the competition we had the chance to drive this time around (Dodge & Chevy), the Super Duty just feels tighter and inspires far greater confidence behind the wheel, be it on-road, off-road or towing.
Confidence Inspiring
While I did not want to focus this article on handling and dynamics, I think it is important to emphasize how capable and confidence inspiring the new Super Duty has become. In our last event, we were able to compare the previous generation truck to the new model and there was little room for comparison. The 2008 model was simply better in every way, from the new tow-haul mode that makes towing far less stressful (this is coming from a novice tower), to the vastly superior interior ergonomics, to what we consider to be much more aggressive styling.
Last time around, the weather limited where we could drive the trucks, with only a handful of opportunities to go off-road. And, while it may sound a bit ridiculous to consider taking a new, loaded $50k+ Super Duty into the mud, or even testing it for these capabilities, it is what happens everyday on farms and ranches all over this country. Thankfully, this time around we were able to truly see what these trucks can do, from the muddy trails and sand wash of Michigan Proving Grounds, to the ruts and bumps of Silver Creek, and the truck performed incredibly well.
Conclusion
If we had the need, the Super Duty would be at the top of our shopping list. With an incredibly user-friendly interior, gorgeous exterior styling and seemingly limitless capability for its class, how can you go wrong. We have to wonder, however, how much of the Super Duty's engineering (or styling for that matter) will ultimately trickle down to the next generation of F-150's. Ford's PR and engineering folks were a bit mum on the subject, other than to tell us to wait for the reveal in a couple months. We know that a diesel is coming, and we know that Ford has well over a year of success with this generation of Super Duty under its belt. Here's to hoping that big brother can hand down a few tricks to his little sibling.
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