The Ford F-Series Super Duty lineup has been redesigned and toughened for 2023.
The updated trucks feature new styling inside and out and a range of gasoline and diesel engines Ford says deliver the most horsepower and torque in the class.
The company is being tight-lipped about how powerful they are, however, and won’t be releasing figures until closer to when production begins early next year.
The F-Series Super Duty is one of Ford’s most important products and represented nearly 40% of F-Series production in 2021.
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The F-250, F-350, F-450 and F-550 all have new front-end designs with wider grilles that encompass the headlights that are bracketed by lighting elements shaped like C-clamps.
The interior has been fully redesigned with styling that differs from the F-150’s and has a landscape-oriented central touchscreen display of either eight or 12 inches, depending on the trim level. Premium features like Ford’s lie-flat Max Recline Seats will be available on some trims.
Four engines are offered with a 10-speed automatic transmission, including a new 6.8-liter gasoline V-8 that replaces the current 6.2-liter V-8 and a high-output version of the 6.7-liter turbocharged Power Stroke diesel V-8, along with the standard Power Stroke and 7.3-liter “Godzilla” gasoline V-8.
Ford claims the F-350 with dual rear wheels will be the payload champ, and the F-450 with the high output Power Stroke will have the highest towing capacity of any truck. That title is held today by the Ram 3500 diesel at 37,100 pounds, which is 100 pounds more than the 2022 F-Series Super Duty. Regardless of where it ends up, Ford has loaded the F-Series Super Duty with more optional towing technology than any truck before it.
There are stop-and-go adaptive cruise control, lane-centering and blind spot monitoring systems that work with fifth-wheel and gooseneck trailers; a backup camera and sensors built into the top of the tailgate so that they work when the tailgate is down; integrated scales that measure the payload and tongue weight; a 360-degree camera system with cameras that can be installed onto a trailer to incorporate it into the bird’s-eye view; and a trailer theft alert that sends a notification to your smartphone if the trailer gets unhitched.
Ford has also introduced what it calls the Pro Trailer Hitch Assist, which uses cameras and sensors to locate a trailer’s coupling and automatically backs up the truck to align the hitch ball with it.
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When the truck is going forward, the F-Series Super Duty’s navigation system can be set to take into account the dimensions of a trailer and suggest a route that avoids low bridges and tight turns that might be difficult or impossible to navigate.
All four engines can be paired with a 2.0-kilowatt version of the Pro Power Onboard generator that debuted on the 2021 F-150, while chassis cab models come standard with a hydraulic power takeoff system to run equipment like boom lifts and plows.
Two off-road packages that Ford said it developed with mining industry customers in mind will be offered on 4×4 F-250 and F-350 single rear wheel trucks. The XL Off-Road includes 33-inch tires, a high clearance air dam, electronic locking rear differential and vent tubes that allow the axles to drain after fording deep water.
The Tremor package upgrades things with a front-end lift, suspension tune, a Dana front axle with limited slip differential, 35-inch tires, the low-speed Trail Control off-road cruise control and Trail Turn Assist, which locks the inside rear wheel to use it as a pivot to make tighter turns on slippery surfaces.
The 2023 F-Series Super Duty will be manufactured at Ford’s Kentucky Assembly Plant in Louisville and its Ohio Assembly Plant in Lake Avon at yet-to-be-announced prices, but the 2022 models run from around $40,000 to over $100,000.
