The 2017 Ford Super Duty Is More Truck Than You Can Handle

The brutish F-Series work truck boasts a military-grade aluminum body and a high-strength steel frame.

The new Ford Super Duty pick-up boasts a lighter, stronger aluminum body—just like its little brother, the Ford F-150—but you’re probably not going to really put its burly frame to the test.

The Super Duty is an impressively brawny pick-up designed for hauling large trailers or commercial construction work. It’s not meant for weekend trips to Home Depot to pick up mulch, or for Ikea runs to buy disposable particle board furniture.

To get stronger and lighter, the 2017 Super Duty got ripped, dropping 350 lbs. of steel flab by switching to aluminum bodywork. Underneath, it’s pure muscle, as the new high-strength steel frame is a whopping 24 times stiffer than the current frame. 

The new materials on Ford’s 2017 F-250, F-350 and F-450 Super Dutys make them nimbler, more fuel efficient and with a stronger towing capacity.

Ford will offer three engines: a 6.7-liter V8 diesel, a 6.2-liter V8 gas engine and a 6.8-liter V10. Fuel economy hasn’t yet been released.

But at least Ford unleashed this video of how it tested the Super Duty, a truly tough customer that you might call the Chuck Norris of trucks:

“Ford Super Duty is the truck America’s hardest-working men and women trust and depend on,” said Joe Hinrichs, Ford president of the Americas.


“We are helping these customers build a better world by delivering a new generation of pickups that set new benchmarks in capability, performance and efficiency.”

That doesn’t mean the Super Duty is a dumb jock, though. It has available radar-controlled adaptive cruise control, a high-definition four-camera 360-degree video system, and trailer camera system to let drivers see behind the trailer when backing. The truck even has tire pressure monitors for the trailer’s tires. 

The new Super Duty, which makes up about one-third of F-Series sales, goes on sale next fall.

Photos by Ford Motor Co.