Art Mechanica

Few things automotive are as versatile as a pickup truck. SUV's keep things like small furniture dry in back, but you can't practically use one for hauling brush, firewood, or gravel. With a pickup, if you require dry then you add a cap over the bed. As a little kid, I thought pickups were adventurous. My uncle John raised cattle and a few pigs in Missouri, and he took me out with him to slop the hogs once in his early fifties F-100. He told me to step out and climb up into the bed from the side step, and then he pulled the truck into the pen to unload feed. I remember his caution to stay in the bed so the hogs couldn't "tear you up". Then he pulled out of the pen, the truck jostling me slowly on the dirt path. From there it would be back in the cab to go on to the next chore. He was both hardworking and easygoing. I liked and admired him, and from those vacation trips to see him I came to like motive machinery that could be used with such pure versatility.

I've owned a few pickup trucks, most of them mentioned on this website: '58 GMC, '94 Dodge Work Special, 2003 Dodge SLT 4x4. Obviously, I've driven others as well. Each of them had strengths and weaknesses as applied to ordinary driving and actual hard work. All could haul furniture, tree limbs and firewood, rocks, or equipment from town to town. You learn as you go, and I've learned what you cannot safely ask of a 1500 class truck. What follows is an extensive review of the 2008 Ford F-250 Super Duty XLT equipped with a 6.4L Powerstroke diesel.

The task is this: tow a fully-loaded 5,000 lb. GVWR horse trailer over hill and dale without any propensity for mishap or strain. A 5,000 lb. trailer is quite a load, but nothing like trying to yank around a CAT 'dozer on a flatbed. With a weight distributing hitch, this trailer size is well within the technical tow ratings of just about any full-size 1500-class pickup. As I've found, technical ratings are quite different than real-world towing, despite salesmen's assurances and advertising hoopla. Contractors and landscapers have known this forever, but it's taken me this long to catch on.

Now, just for comparative amusement, the ancient '58 GMC could have pulled such a trailer at low speeds. Its little 258 c.i. straight six (80 HP) had oodles of low-end torque, and its suspension was rock-hard. The clutch and three-speed were solid as well. It would have done okay down rural roads at moderate speeds, like 45-50 MPH tops. Not too good for use today of course, because of the manual drum brakes. Expectations are much higher these days.

The '94 Dodge Work Special with a 3.9L (239 c.i.) V-6 5-speed has a huge 11-inch clutch, but also has a mandatory tall axle ratio that promotes gas mileage. The engine has always been problematic, with one cracked cylinder head and enough "normal" valve noise to fool several people into asking whether it's a diesel. You have to shut the engine down to be able to order at a drive-thru. The engine once kicked out a comparatively stout 175 HP, twice that of the larger GMC, and it was a jackrabbit by comparison. There never was any bottom-end torque however, and the factory recommends against pulling even a light 1,000 lb. trailer for fear of trashing the driveline. That begs the question of what Dodge thought "Work" was at the time. That caution is moot though - from day one, the propensity of the fuel-injected engine to spit and stall below 2,000 RPM under load makes launching offroad with 1,200 lbs. of cargo a losing proposition. The long-duration horsepower-oriented cam combined with a tall axle just can't cut it. A 5,000 lb. trailer? Never pull it out of the weeds. Not gonna happen. Nuh-uh.

So let's get to the more serious machinery. The 2003 Dodge Quad Cab 4x4 has a 5.9 L (360 c.in) engine and automatic transmission. Rated to pull any trailer up to 7,000 lbs. plus, it will pull a 5,000 lb. trailer using a properly adjusted equalizing hitch, but struggles to do so. Mileage with that load is 5 MPG. The rear end sags despite proper tongue weight, and the combination has a spooky tendency to wag the truck's rear end at highway speeds as if the trailer is too heavy for the suspension. You can live with that as long as every steering input is slow and smooth, but the gas engine's powerband is too biased toward horsepower at the high end. The Dodge's cruise control is sloppy, and rolling hills cause the speed control to lag way behind. In essence, speed slows well below that set, and then overcompensates by throttling up and downshifting to attempt to catch-up. With a limited ability to apply throttle, that catch-up never happens until after the top of the hill, at which time it doesn't back off until speed is well over the set speed. You can assist uphill with your right foot, but it's always too little, too late. Gassing it well before the base of the hill helps on a short one, but then begs the question of what cruise control is for. In short, towing through mild hills consists of a roller coaster ride of overspeed followed by a straining engine crawling uphill. If the momentum lost is sufficient, the cruise control shuts off and the rest is up to you. Its trailer rating limit is a technical number not related to its desirability for trailering work.

I know, more recent 1500-class pickups have upped the ante as a knee-jerk response to Ford's weight capacity ramp-up around 2003. Boom! Now, current light-duty pickups boast of 10,000+ pound trailer limits! F-150's are now hauling what it took an earlier F-250 to handle. That's great for overall trailering and load-carrying safety. The only difficulty remains the engine choices. Power has increased too, but notable gains in low-RPM grunt, where the serious work takes place, hasn't.

Back to the Dodge, this "straining engine" problem is common to larger gas engine pickups that boast of high horsepower and "passing power" or drag race performance. Put a heavy trailer behind, and these vehicles invariably have to downshift and wail away to overcome normal terrain. They do the job at the cost of your frayed nerves, and even a two-hour tow can be wearing. Crawl it through a lumpy pasture, and you'll find yourself gassing it to get over minor bumps only to tap the brakes to slow it an instant later. For this reason, backing in to hitch up can be a dicey affair as you lurch and brake repeatedly. Actual mileage empty for the Dodge is 10 around town and 13 highway on midgrade gas.

The Super Duty diesel uses a 6.4 liter version of International's turbodiesel, producing an incredible 650 lb./ft. of torque and 350 horsepower. It's equipped with two turbos inline - one variable vane type to begin compression and the second to reach full pressure up to about 30 PSI. More correctly, the first turbo is undersize and spools quickly to aid low-RPM power and minimize turbo lag. The second turbo heaps on the coals at full tilt.

Ford's implementation bristles with electronics for control and engine protection. One interesting geekoid detail is that when using the cruise control uphill or against a headwind, engine power is initially increased by inching up blower pressure. The tachometer stays locked at the same RPM. If that measure fails to hold road speed, more boost is added up to 30 PSI maximum. You can monitor the level of engine output (and fuel mileage) simply by checking the boost gauge. The transmission will downshift to provide a mechanical advantage only when absolutely necessary, and because power is produced at low RPM, shiftpoints are quite low even at full steam. It feels stout.

The primary upgrade from the F-150 is the Super Duty's higher weight capacity. This involves thicker frame material that is also fully boxed in front, higher capacity drivetrain and suspension, and bigger brakes. The big beam front axle on the 4x4 is suspended by coil springs, with long leaves used in the rear. The stiffer frame is immediately apparent on a drive over choppy pavement. Instead of a feeling that the wheels are wobbling loosely under a twisting Jell-O frame, the F-250's frame stays stiff while the wheels move and lift it as one rigid piece. With the optional 10,000 lb. GVWR package allowing a 2960 lb. payload, higher rate springs produce a ride that's very firm but not a kidney crusher even with the snowplow prep package added on top. A few owners have claimed temporary payloads of 4,000 pounds without difficulty. I believe it.

The tradeoff of these packages is that the stiffer springs noticably compromise offroad grip. A stiffer suspension is less flexible and makes the tires less able to follow undulations on the ground, decreasing overall traction because the four tires become so unevenly loaded. The addition of a limited slip rear differential helps, but doesn't eliminate the problem. The F-250's rear diff appears to be set "soft" and often won't engage when both rear tires are on slippery surfaces. Doing without the high-payload package would be better for uneven muddy earth, and the F-150's softer suspension would be better still. Fortunately, high load-capacity pickups aren't expected to do offroad hijinks, but merely to get their heavy cargo onto and off of sloppy worksites. For that, the Super Duty works fine given the notable limitations of the pavement-oriented "All Terrain" Continental Contitrac tires in mud and snow. When the combination doesn't work (and it usually has so far), there are two truly massive steel towloops projecting out of the front bumper. Still, if you need more grip in bad conditions, the tires should be the first item swapped out. 

Not that the Ford isn't willing to pull the immovable: put it in an impossible traction situation, like yanking that trailer up a 30-degree loose gravel grade, and all four wheels will slowly grind away as the torque converter connects at just above engine idle. With so much low-end torque, it makes wheelspin look very easy -  because it is. Wheelspin in this diesel even feels different: your only hint of slippage under a crawling pull up a grade is that the vehicle itself progresses more slowly or stops. The diesel engine continues to burble happily away at the exact RPM you set earlier, and the tires rotate just as before, but it's up to you to notice that the scenery isn't moving as fast. Contrast that with the gas engine's need for more throttle as load increases, followed by a sudden RPM rise as the tires lose their grip and spin in a frenzy. Now, getting truly stuck isn't particularly humorous, but you will smile in astonishment when tire slippage occurs in the Ford, simply because of the pure absence of the usual signs of strain in doing so. Absolutely nothing has changed, and suddenly you're noticing that hey, those bushes are barely moving!

In my opinion, selecting 4WD-Low in such situations is a formality for decreasing driveline strain and wear. In practice, it does that, but the Ford doesn't seem to care. The 2003 Dodge gasoline 5.9L cared very much about whether you selected 4WD-Low or 4WD-High, but the Ford's truly wretched excess of engine torque (650 lb./ft. beginning at 2,000 RPM) makes it hard to discern any difference between the two settings offroad. I hate to think how much this thing could pull on clean dry pavement. As one long-term owner commented about his F-250 4x4, "It'll pull Hell off its hinges." Take a look underneath at the size and strength of the various frame and suspension pieces. The photo shows the heft of the various front-end control rods and linkages. It's a pleasant surpise to find that "Built Ford Tough" isn't just Marketing hype. This puppy looks to be capable of taking on serious abuse without a whimper.

Now I've mentioned this F-250's trailering weight limit of 12,500 lbs. In fact, that tow rating is limited by the standard factory hitch, not the powertrain or suspension. Order the optional 15,000 lb. hitch and you're ready for more. In my view though, the simple physics of using any bumper hitch for that much trailer weight is undesirable except for occasional use. Making the 12.5K hitch standard is a good idea. Even so, I can't help but think that this Ford could easily handle substantially more with a bed-mounted fifth-wheel hitch. At some stratospheric point, I'd worry about about tire load limits, not the mechanicals. The powertrain and suspension are that good. It would be easy to put too much weight in the bed and get away with it.

My actual fuel mileage is 10 MPG hauling, 12-14 empty around town (13.5 under the same conditions as the Dodge 5.9L), and 15-18 highway depending on headwind. 50-60 MPH seems to produce the best mileage, allowing the truck to stay in high gear and lock up the torque converter. I was told by other owners that mileage can be expected to improve once it breaks in, and that proved true. Considering the weight and prodigious power available, discovering such good fuel mileage is a halleluja moment. Cruising on the accursed tollway, you'll giggle like a three-year-old as the onboard averaging MPG meter temporarily tops 22. That's only a momentary number of course, but it's still something. My daughter owns a Camry and is horrified at that mileage, but maybe if she strapped a second Camry to her roof, she'd understand. It's a rush.

One feature unique to the Ford is the optional tailgate step. Decades ago, Jeep offered the J-10, a pickup built from the ground up as a 4x4. For cab and bed, it was as low to the ground as any 2WD pickup on the market, making usage very convenient. Jacked up 4x4's became the aesthetic rage, however, and today's adapted 4x4's also offer greater suspension compliance than before. The result is cargo beds and cabs so tall that step rails are needed to get in. Today's "stepside" or "flareside" beds are no help. They're simply useless styling exercises. If you load and unload cords of wood as I do, and are old and decrepit as I am, Ford's tailgate step is handier than a rat trap in a crowd of pickpockets. Gone are the days of clambering awkwardly and painfully up into the bed to retrieve all the cargo in the center that you otherwise can't reach. Just yank out the center section of the tailgate lip protector and let it swing down. Flip open the step extension to provide a wider step surface. Unlock and swing up the rigid pole built into the tailgate's inner wall, and presto - you can step neatly and safely up into the bed with no more strain than entering the cab with its step rail and assist handles. It takes less than five seconds to set, and makes bed entry so easy that you'll no longer have any excuse not to clean the bed of all those cigar butts and empty beer cans. It's an innovative little feature that makes a big, big difference in usage. The rigid tailgate liner panel protrudes around the pole to protect it when stowed, and it's surprising how little impedence the protrusion creates when sliding heavy loads on and off over it. Further, Ford's "lift assist" in the tailgate makes closing that 90-pound panel a one-handed affair, too. With this setup, life is good.

The F-250 Super Duty has a blocky, massive styling appearance that befits a 6,000 lb. vehicle. The XLT model comes with a good collection of work-oriented equipment and comfort amenities too. The Supercab features rear clamshell doors offering easy entry and exit from the rear seat. Legroom is good enough to comfortably fit five adults even for longer trips, though the driver may need to be closer to the controls than preferred. The bottom of the dash protrudes back at the center and cuts kneeroom enough to make that position impractical for adult use, as if the trans tunnel didn't do that already. The interior styling is exceptionally clean and simple, with very good controls and ergonomics. Fit and finish are excellent. My evaluation rig has a beige interior light enough to show every mud stain coming, but is is a welcome departure from the usual light or dark grey choices once enforced on hapless customers. The truck's mechanical aura is carried into the interior air vents, which are surrounded by chrome gear rings. The presentable cloth upholstery doesn't hold dog fur like earlier incarnations, and the front bucket seats have side bolstering suitable for a three-ton sports car.

A sports car it isn't, but it's neither clumsy nor a slouch on the road. Steering tightness and tracking are commendably precise. Road camber and irregularities have no effect on tracking accuracy. Part of all this is the result of the low-profile 70-series Continental tires. Compared to the tall balloons used in days of yore, the 275/70R18E Continental's ride is less forgiving on potholes but tracks like a steam engine. In spite of the optional high spring rates, the cab is solid and free of twisting, rattles, or squeaks. Exceptionally violent, twisting bumps can shift the right side door sills once - that's the drawback of the huge post-less opening used for clamshell doors. Throttle response is very good, and the turbos kick in promptly. There is no perceptible turbo lag (except from idle) because of the variable vane setup and the fact that it is likely to already be lightly engaged at anything over 30 MPH. This behemoth is no rocket sled, but it does hustle. Empty, 0-60 MPH is 9-10 seconds depending on what method is used to launch. That's just one second slower than a '67 Camaro SS 350. Because of the combination of weight, low-end engine torque, and silence, acceleration is more like a 727 taking off than a top fuel dragster. If you can find sufficient traction, you're up to any speed you like in a few seconds. Hauling a couple thousand pounds makes little perceptible difference. Hauling 5,000 pounds of horses, it can still accelerate much faster than you would want to subject your stalled animals to.

Stopping power is good, considering weight. Four large ABS-equipped discs reduce speed competently. The brakes don't have a hard pedal, nor are they very aggressive. Additional pedal pressure has only a modest effect on braking, making it feel as though the brake hoses are expanding. When pushed hard, they require more pedal pressure than I'm accustomed to, but will step in to do the job. On quicker stops, tire traction becomes the real issue as it does with any vehicle of this weight class. Despite my careful wording on the F-250's brakes, they are very well done for what they are. It's just that you shouldn't climb out of a Porsche and then get into the big F-250 and start tailgating a Lambo. Speaking of brakes, the available Tow Command option saves having to strap an aftermarket trailer braking system under the dashboard. Use is easy: hook up and find some open pavement to squeeze the system's test lever over. This tests the maximum trailer brake that will be applied. If the trailer's tires don't approach breaking traction, dial in more pressure. If they do lock up, decrease pressure. Once that maximum setpoint is, well... set, the Tow Command system will proportion trailer braking while driving. It works very well. If the trailer load changes significantly, you obviously need to reset the maximum brake to be applied. Once set for your load, braking with a trailer is a nice non-adventure. Honestly, your main sweat is forgetting it's back there and right-turning over a curb.

• Ford recommends that you allow the diesel to idle 3-5 minutes before shutdown, particularly from high speed or turbo use, to "prolong engine life". I'd put money on my hunch that the purpose of this is to allow engine oil to flow and cool the shaft bearings on each of the turbos. Allowing oil to sit and cook on the hot turbo bearings is bad for the bearings, bad for the oil, and thus bad for the engine proper. Turbochargers are expensive, and they do fail when abused.
• Cold weather is a bugger for diesels because their fuel gells and solidifies, clogging the filters. The new low-emission Ultra-Low Sulfur fuel required is regarded to be even more prone to gel than the old fuel, and if not used will foul the emissions hardware. Ford uses an assortment of means to temper this trait, but dumping in an approved anti-gel additive is still a really, really good idea in below-freezing temperatures.
• Water picked up from a gas station tank or from condensation in the truck's fuel tank will damage the injectors. Ford provides a sensor and indicator for this, and has built a manual drain lever into the frame-mounted fuel filter/water trap. If you're getting a water alarm every other month, you have a big sourcing problem.
  
• Two fuel filters must be replaced, and an air restriction monitor checked at regular intervals. The diesel requires clean fuel and plenty of air.
• Diesels react to poor fuel quality and contamination. Winterized or blended fuel has lower cetane values (kinda like octane) and may affect mileage adversely. The new Ultra-Low Sulfur fuels are also reputed to have less lubricity, which makes life harder for injectors and valves. Many cetane boosters and anti-gell additives help the lubricity problem, but watch Ford's specs - cheapie additives containing alcohol and other baddies will trash the fuel system and void your warranty.
  
• Diesels also need clean oil and plenty of it. The filter is always changed out with the oil, and the Ford's crankcase hold fifteen quarts. You read that right.
• Use of the standard factory block heater is recommended below minus ten degrees F., which is no surprise at all.
• Diesels consume so little fuel at idle that they will not maintain operating temperature while idling in cold weather. Ford automatically boosts idle speed to get around this, but it's a bad idea to let it sit and idle in an attempt to warm up it in cold weather. First, it won't warm up. Second, prolonged idling puts deposits on valves which will eventually make them stick. Ford recommends strongly against idling more than ten minutes in an hour of running, and if that is unavoidable, to run it under moderate load for awhile before proper shutdown. That's an attempt to burn what it can off the valves. Nobody cares about this on a gas engine, but then nobody expects a gas engine to reach 400,000 miles, either. If you just have a thing for idling in your driveway to warm up, Ford recommends plugging in the block heater while you're doing it.
• Ford doesn't say this outright, but what kills diesels is a lack of maintenance. Sure, the engine proper lasts forever, but the multitude of systems interacting with the engine react to neglect and will take your truck out of service before its time. Keep up the maintenance schedule if you want to be able to brag about lifespan. Stories about failed injectors aren't that interesting.
  
• Forget about power-enhancing aftermarket add-ons of any sort. Ford's computer system will detect and record the installation and removal of so-called power chips, too. Think about it: do you think they went to all that time, money and trouble to build in a chip detection system because A) Ford doesn't want its engine to produce more advertisable power, or B) Power chips ran great and caused no problems, or C) People installed chips, trashed their engines, and came skulking in for warranty repairs. Hmmm, lessee...let me think. Friends, if this Powerstroke 6.4 engine doesn't do it for you bone-stock, you have a serious maturity problem. Fortunately, at least for new vehicles, the upcharge to get into an F-250 diesel tends to keep out the riff-raff. There's just no point in boosting power further.
• This one is my own advice: Select the maximum weight classification model you'll actually use, according to specs. Then buy the next model up. It will handle your work better, be safer, and live longer. If you stay at the base level, at least option-up features to handle higher loads. If you plan to keep the truck for a few years, don't exceed two-thirds of its load specification for your needs. Heavier-duty models progressively include tweaks and component changes that survive higher stress. You can abuse anything once, but to avoid mysteriously shortened component lifespans, overbuy. The extra up-front cost will be paid back by the lack of repairs later.
  

So, that's the Ford F-250 Super Duty XLT in a rather large nutshell. I will be adding to this account if I hit any problems in the long run - this truck does have gobs of electronics, and I'm always leery of longevity in those, automatic transmissions, turbochargers, and body hardware. To me, "long run" is fifteen years, and not all that many vehicles make it without driving you broke on rebuilds and replacements first. I'm not expecting anything substantial with this Ford, mind you, but up to this point my approach to getting extended life from pickups has always been to keep it simple and avoid nearly all options that don't begin with the words "Heavy Duty..." - if you don't have it, it can't break or wear out. Yet Ford sells a heap of these rigs in multiple trim levels, and they do tend to be used and abused plenty. Until then, since its 6.4L gets slightly better mileage than my old task-adverse '94 Dodge WS 3.9L and is a quiet, solid pleasure to drive and use every day, I'm thinking up excuses to take it on the road instead. That isn't new car fever talking, that magical aura that wears off a month later when reality sets in. This Ford does everything very, very competently. It's really a complete shame that this vehicle is mainly my wife's, so she can haul her trailer around. Damn. Summary: my hat is off to Ford for committing extra effort to the design and execution of one magnificent working truck. And congratulations to the boys and girls in Ford's Kentucky assembly plant. NO problems.