#FordF-250

It’ll not have escaped your notice that the pickup truck segment is a murderously competitive arena. In fact, if it were an actual arena, it would be much like the Roman Coliseum — or at least the upcoming 49er/Chiefs tilt in Miami — with bodies strewn across the playing field and the crowd roaring for more.

This helps explain why the Detroit Three are intent on beating each other over the head with towing and torque numbers that have climbed to dizzying heights. For 2020, Ford has unleashed a Super Duty pickup with available four-figure torque or a monster V8 the size of which hasn’t been produced by Motown in decades.

Occasionally, the Ace of Base award will be trotted out not because a particular vehicle is the most desirable in its range, but because of the remarkable amount of kit or capability it offers for its entry level price. The truck you see before you definitely falls into the latter category.

Consider this: a base model F-250 serves up a 385 horsepower V8, 78.5 cubic feet of space in its 8-foot cargo box, and the ability to tow up to 13,300 pounds — all for less than the price of a loaded Camry.

There’s many unknown aspects of the Tesla Cybertruck, not least of which is its curb weight, but a recent letter to the California Air Resources Board (CARB) reveals that Elon Musk’s retro-futuristic brainchild might have no business engaging in a one-on-one with the Ford F-150.

According to the letter, Tesla is pursuing a medium-duty classification for the triangular pickup, placing in in competition not with the F-150, but the F-250.

There’s a new Super Duty line coming to the Ford stable for 2020, and a recall coming to owners who bought the earlier version.

On Friday, Ford Motor Company issued a recall of certain 2017-2019 F-250, F-350, and F-450 pickups to fix tailgates that might fly open at inopportune moments. The callback has been a long time coming.

If you have less than one thousand foot-pounds of torque, are you even driving a truck? That seems to be the message Ford tried to convey during its spec reveal of the 2020 Super Duty line on Thursday.

In an event held on the sidelines of the State Fair of Texas, where attendees view all things large and powerful with the same rapturous admiration as a Ziplock bag of pills discovered at Burning Man, Ford detailed the output and towing capability of its revamped, third-generation 6.7-liter Power Stroke diesel V8. A diesel, Ford was proud to relay, that tops Ram’s torquiest Cummins by 50 lb-ft.

Ford’s next-generation Super Duty line saw the light of day Tuesday, with similar (but not blinding) light shed on the automaker’s new 7.3-liter gasoline V8 — a pushrod mill that replaces the old 6.8-liter V10 in Ford’s engine roster.

For 2020, the F-250, F-350, and F-450 don upscale skins, refined faces, and revamped interiors stocked with added content, though it’s what’s beneath the hood that has everyone talking. In addition to the 7.3-liter, there’s a new 6.7-liter Power Stroke diesel on board, mated, like its gasoline stablemate, to a new 10-speed automatic.

Is Ford about to wrestle the torque crown away from Ram?

In early August, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles recalled 1.1 million Ram pickups after owners reported losing their loads, the fault of a tailgate that wouldn’t stay latched. Ford now seems to have a similar problem, only in this instance the tailgates carefully lower themselves under electric power.

A ghost in the machine? More like an electrical issue that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration wants to get to the bottom of. This week, the safety agency announced the launch of an investigation into consumer complaints related to the wonky gates, possibly heralding a recall of 2017 F-Series trucks.

Last week, Ford announced that the F-150’s new 3.5-liter Ecoboost V6 puts out more torque than V8-powered segment rivals. While that was exciting news for full-size truck buyers, Ford wasn’t done. Someone in Dearborn wants all of the torques. This morning, Ford escalated the twist wars by releasing engine and towing specifications for its updated Super Duty trucks.

Snatching the torque crown from Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, the 2017 F-Series Super Duty will be available with an updated 6.7-liter V8 turbo diesel that makes a class-leading 925 pounds-feet of torque. That beats the Ram 2500’s 900 lb-ft, when equipped with the venerable Cummins 6.7-liter inline six turbo diesel.

2015 Ford F-350 King Ranch 4×4

6.7-liter OHV V-8, turbodiesel (440 horsepower @ 2,800 rpm; 860 lbs-ft @ 1,600 rpm)

6-speed 6R140 automatic

Not tested under EPA regulations*

14.1 (Observed, MPG)

Tested Options: King Ranch trim, Super Crew cab, 4×4, 6.7-liter turbodiesel engine, 3.31 locking rear axle, Ruby Red paint, 5th wheel prep, spray-in bedliner, heated seats, upfitter switches

Base Price (F-350 XL Regular Cab 4×2 Flex-Fuel V-8):
$33,900**
As Tested:
$65,590**

* Heavy-duty pickups are exempt from EPA fuel economy ratings.
** Prices include $1,195 destination charge.

There was a time when a 1/2-ton pickup could haul around 1,000 pounds of payload and a 1-ton truck was good for around 2,000 pounds. Twenty years ago a good tow rating for a 1/2 ton truck was 7,500 pounds and 1-ton trucks were used by ranchers for hauling 14,000 pound cattle trailers around. Today things are different.

Now we have a Ford F-150 that can tow over 12,000 pounds and haul 3,300 pounds in the bed without batting an eye. In this world, we have 3/4- and 1-ton trucks boasting towing abilities that would have required a Class 5 medium-duty truck in the 1990s. It’s in this world that the F-350, F-450 and Ram 3500 now exist.

These trucks have pushed the envelope, boasting towing capabilities that 99 percent of pickup truck shoppers can’t even legally test. With massive turbodiesel torque figures, Ford and Chrysler’s latest trucks can tow 21,000 pounds more than my plain-old California Class C license allows. With the 2017 Ford Super Duty on the horizon sporting more aluminum than an Alcoa factory and Chrysler nearing the sale of their re-tweaked Cummins engine and its 900 lb-ft of torque, let’s deep-dive into the Super Duty you can buy now.