Ford Super Duty
Not all trucks come with 4×4, but the ones that do, don’t necessarily need to crawl over boulders or spit up mud and water past the windshield. Some of the world’s greatest 4×4 monsters are instead capable of rescuing semi’s stuck in the snow. Some are simple brutes with more torque than your typical built pro mod. Some have tow ratings that would make a wrecker blush. We’re talking about the biggest of the brutes: The Ford Super Duty.
Introduced in 1998, the F-Series Super Duty (as it’s officially titled) marked the first addition of a modern heavy-duty pickup to the classic 90’s F-Series of Ford trucks. Original gross vehicle weight ratings exceeded 8,500 pounds thanks to the continuity of the venerable, torquey Ford PowerStroke diesel. Discerning Ford historians will note the Super Duty name was adopted by Ford back in 1958, with the introduction of the 401, 477, and massive 534 cubic-inch motors – the biggest motors ever built by the blue oval.
Keen to live up to its reputation as a civilian hauler, the Super Duty came with the industry’s first: Two massive ring-style front tow hooks. The first Super Duty trucks shared almost no components with the F-150, with the first available engines including a 2-valve 5.4L V8 and 6.8L V10. The first available 7.3L PowerStroke boasted a whopping 500 torques; an upgraded and smaller 6.0L PowerStroke would increase that figure to 560 torques in 2003, and 570 torques in 2005.
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The Super Duty’s suspension matched the brutish characteristics of its oversized powerplants, with the first models featuring huge 3” leaf springs and staggered shock absorbers. Dana 50, Dana 60, Dana Super 60, Dana 80, and eventually massive Dana S 110 axles were optioned. Manually locking hubs were provided by Warn.
In short, the first generation of the Super Duty could use peer power to plow through just about any terrain. Today, the latest Super Duty is the monster all other companies are struggling to beat. With a 7,630-lb. max payload, a tow rating up to 34,000 pounds, and a gross combination weight rating of 42,800 pounds, the new Super Duty easily outclasses any other truck available to a civilian buyer.
Getting these numbers isn’t easy – unless you sport a PowerStroke. The new 6.7L turbo diesel optioned in the 2018 Super Duty pumps out an insane 935 torques. This makes the new Super Duty one of the highest-torque vehicles to ever be produced, to be beaten only by niche hypercars like Bugatti and Koenigsegg. A high-strength steel frame and 8.2” ground clearance, coupled with locking diffs and massive axles make the Super Duty one of the most capable of the best off-road vehicles of all time, based on brute force alone.
