In the world of American pickup trucks, the Ford F-150 sells more units every year than any other truck from any other automaker – and has done so for 49 straight years. For good reason, too, as Ford’s expanding lineup of configurations caters to every potential buyer, from construction and farm work to luxury urban life and hardcore desert runners. The Super Duty models, F-250 and F-350, then up the size and capability with bigger engines, more towing capacity, and beefier components that can handle a lifetime of abuse.
Admittedly, West Los Angeles might not top the list of greatest places to drive a Ford Super Duty pickup truck. But I recently spent a week adjusting to life with an enormous F-350 equipped with just about every option possible: the beastly “Godzilla” V8, a cowboy-inspired King Ranch interior, and the off-roading Tremor package. Short of a Raptor R or Ram TRX, my F-350 at just into six figures represented just about the most expensive pickup truck available for sale right now in the USA.
The King Ranch package prioritizes luxury living in pickup truck form, far more than dune charging in the desert. But the Tremor treatment also introduces fairly legitimate off-roading features, including 35-inch Goodyear Wrangler DuraTrac tires, a suspension lift, and skid plates, plus a 12,000-pound Warn winch snugged into the front bumper. So naturally, amid my daily driving, I also headed out to a tough trail that I know well to test whether such a huge, kitted-out truck can keep up with a rugged, adventurous lifestyle.
At over 22 feet long, the F-350 with a spacious Super Crew can fit five adults comfortably. But the solid axles and suspension components lean toward heavy-duty towing just as much as the King Ranch package smartens up the interior. All as the gargantuan 7.3-liter Godzilla V8 bellows and roars at any rpm, never needing turbos or a supercharger to thump out ungodly torque everywhere throughout the rev range.
Though 430 horsepower and 485 lb-ft of torque might not seem too impressive on paper, especially in a truck that weighs well over 7,000 pounds, the 10-speed automatic transmission’s gear ratios keep the powerplant right in its happy place. As specced – without a “dually” rear axle – this truck can tow up to 19,500 pounds or haul just under 4,000 pounds in the 6.75-foot bed. Luckily, my tester’s classy shade of greenish-grey, which Ford calls Marsh, helps to tone down the sheer presence, if that’s possible given the size.
From the inside, resplendent in rich Java leather contrasting hides and plenty of knurled metal, all the tech and creature comforts help to make life in such a behemoth much more palatable. I spent every minute behind the wheel with the ventilated and massaging driver’s seat running. But almost more importantly, Ford clearly hopes to help anybody just climb right in – stepping on those automatically retracting running boards – and actually drive this titanic truck with ease, so steering and suspension setup purposefully reduces truck-like driving dynamics by keeping body roll and front-end trammeling to a minimum.
<- Gallery ->
Utilizing tech seamlessly also makes negotiating tricky environments a cinch. I fit into surprisingly tight parking spots, after a few tries sometimes, by using the multiple camera views available on the 12-inch center touchscreen as well as the large side view mirrors. Really, the only reminder to the mammoth size was constantly looking down upon the roofs of every mid-size SUV creeping through LA traffic.
The F-350’s front hood also slopes forward more generously than many 1500-class American pickups, even, which further contributes to more confidence while driving – either on-road or off. At six-foot-one, I typically scoot a full-size truck’s driver seat a bit forward and up anytime I go four-wheeling, to better keep an eye on upcoming obstacles. But once I arrived at my usual test route north of LA, in the F-350, I never needed to.
With the gauge cluster set to a dedicated Off-Road Mode screen, pitch and roll readouts flank tire pressures, the latter of which I spent most of the morning watching quite closely. I only aired the Goodyears down to 30 psi in the name of safety and a bit more compliance, which helped the suspension eat up the worst of ruts and bumps, but still, I drove slowly and steadily rather than hauling up the hill as quickly as possible. After all, not too many other rigs would have been able to help me out if anything went wrong!
Picking the right line in the F-350 meant keeping the rear axle path in mind, but generally, if I pointed the steering wheel at an obstacle and let a front tire climb up and over, the rears followed in track. This trail lacked any truly tight pinch points, though. Instead, I spent most of the ascent looking for increasingly difficult places to pose with a wheel (or two!) off the ground. To my great dismay, the Tremor’s suspension lift and those big tires meant I never got a chance to hop out (again, via the running boards) and shoot that perfect dramatic moment.
I also kept a close eye on Godzilla’s fluid temps while climbing up the steepest aspect of the trail. A cold morning, as I headed up into a cloud bank, likely helped, but the Godzilla engine never showed a sign of strain, staying right in the center ranges for coolant, engine oil, and transmission temps. I never even needed to activate low range because sticking in first gear via the gear selector stalk kept me right in the power band while trundling right up the hill. Only the deepest rut I spotted, and where I purposefully tried to dip tires into, full of orange and grapefruit-sized stones, required turning on the rear locking differential to escape.
Hence why so many off-roaders love solid axle articulation, which worked wonders for such a monstrous truck despite the relatively firm ride. Solid axles typically require a tradeoff in driveability terms, though. But on the F-350, perhaps less than expected. Back at highway speeds, and with the tires inflated to 60 psi, the suspension worked more smoothly to keep the F-350’s driving manners civilized. Navigating through the midday lunch rush required no extra thought; in fact, I mostly reveled in the surprising fidelity of the Bang & Olufsen sound system while cruising around town. If only a few days let me fully adjust to driving a truck this sizable, I figure Ford nailed the brief.
Fuel economy, which I definitely should have expected, stands out as the F-350’s major Achilles’ Heel – especially with the Godzilla V8 and given the current global climate. In my week with the truck, I never cracked into double-digit mpgs. And the truck’s onboard computer reported a lifetime of just below 12 mpg average, which comes pretty close to the consumption of the 720-horsepower Raptor R. But compared to that high-performance and head-turning machine, the F-350 with King Ranch and Tremor packages comes across as a much more restrained, rational choice.
With options, my truck totaled up to an MSRP of $100,630. But either with or without the King Ranch package (which starts at $78,075 versus a base Crew Cab Lariat at $63,035), or even doing away with the Tremor’s off-road goodies ($4,450 plus another $4,375 for the 12,000-pound winch), I wound up very impressed by the F-350 as a whole.
Little details like retracting foot steps at all four corners of the truck bed, lane keep assist that gently nudges the tires back into line, camera views that don’t turn off as quickly as those from most other manufacturers – everything purposefully makes life with the F-350 much more approachable.
The fact that the Super Duty trucks don’t come with Ford’s semi-autonomous BlueCruise hands-free driving software likely comes down to the liability of letting such a heavy rig pilot itself. And unfortunately, the Warn winch in the front bumper appears to (for me, anyways!) block the sensors for adaptive cruise, too – a feature that would make road-tripping in the palatial F-350 even more palatable. For anyone who drives long distances, I’d definitely recommend splurging for the Power Stroke turbodiesel ($10,495) for the improved fuel economy, plus the absurd 1,050 lb-ft of torque and improved potential for toy hauling.
Either with the Godzilla or the diesel, though, the F-350 stands out as the absolute pinnacle of American pickups, ready for anything the world can throw at a truck.
Images: Michael Van Runkle
