<![CDATA[2008 Ford F-Series Super Duty - Jalopnik Comments]]> <![CDATA[2008 Ford F-Series Super Duty - Jalopnik Comments]]> <![CDATA[2008 Ford F-Series Super Duty]]> I love using my 99 F-350 as a daily driver, I heard of commuter bikes, but why would you want to risk it when you can be surrounded by 7000#+ of steel. The 08+ SDs are like driving a Range Rover on 'roids - built like a vault, but bigger.

commuterSD

]]> <![CDATA[2008 Ford F-Series Super Duty]]> Name a manufacturer and somebody will have a negative comment. None of them are perfect! I love my F250 Super-Duty 2008! Yeah, I park it at the Malls. Mainly on Sunday after a long week of towing my Skid Steer around nearly everyday! Ooops, I fogot about pulling my 4 horses in a 3 Horse Slant Load w/dressing room on Saturday's to the Shows. Then I pack the whole family, including the mother-n-law on Sunday Morning to Church, then to the Mall. I've had 'em all and still have a Dodge in the yard that cant seem to get out of 4th gear at times. P.S. I wash it everyweek too!

Cowboy1

]]> <![CDATA[2008 Ford F-Series Super Duty]]> The ads for Ford's trucks claim "actual demonstration" but they seem to omit what is exactly being demonstrated - in their case,

A) "stopping" a Hercules plane on a tarmac with its new vented-disc brakes (with no way of knowing if the plane itself is helping to brake),

and

B) Cornering in and out of a slalom with tall metal poles leaving NO room for error, then doing it in reverse(!)(with no way of knowing if it's just the video reversing and not the truck)

In other words, they fail to present an actual demonstration beyond reasonable doubt, so the ads suffer as a result; compounded with their obvious attempt to bite back at the Tundra ads.

Ford's ads are still better than Nissan, who just use blatant, gratuitous CGI that has no place in the real world whatsoever to "demonstrate" their truck's toughness with giggling robotic arms...as blah as it is wrong-looking.

bmoredlj

]]> <![CDATA[2008 Ford F-Series Super Duty]]> I'm just surprised it ran for the entire test.

Buckster

]]> <![CDATA[2008 Ford F-Series Super Duty]]> @MrEvil:

Yours may be fine, but as a service contract inspector I know from experience that if I'm looking at a Super Duty all four ball joints will be part of that claim. End links are also almost guaranteed to be on the claim, with tie rods not far behind. They tend to cluster in the 60K mile range, with some over-achievers in the 40K range.

On a positive note, it has been quite a while since I've had to go verify a trans failure on a Super Duty.

Searcher

]]> <![CDATA[2008 Ford F-Series Super Duty]]> @rlj676: A lot of people in Miami have these things called "boats". Now granted, most boats can be towed by a 1/2 ton truck just fine, but anything north of 27 feet or so and you need a 3/4 ton. And if you think there aren't enough of those around to justify the number of 3/4 tons you see around here, hang out at one of the boat ramps on the weekends. Now, if you see a 3/4 ton truck with no trailer hitch, or those ridiculous 26" wheels, lifted so high the entire boat could slide under the truck in a crash, then yes, you're likely staring at a poser.

(I don't own a truck. My boat hangs on davits. When I need to tow it I borrow a 4wd 1/2 ton 'burban.)

bmwfanatic

]]> <![CDATA[2008 Ford F-Series Super Duty]]> My dad has an 2005 F-250 Lariat Extended Cab Superduty diesel (quite a mouthfull...is it in the right order?). He tows all the time! He carries their 5th wheel travel trailer to the mountains and also his John Deere to tractor shows. It definitely get the job done with ease!

SethyT

]]> <![CDATA[2008 Ford F-Series Super Duty]]> @PeteJäyhawk™: Mike Rowe would have gone through the mud pit with the windows down.

langba

]]> <![CDATA[2008 Ford F-Series Super Duty]]> I run my '00 F250 on roads that make Silver Creek look like 6 lane divded highway. All I've done is replace shocks. Still have original ball joints and tie-rod ends.

I get quite a bit of use out of my F250. I cart fuel to the field during planting and harvest as well as thousand pound plus loads of seed and dry chemical.

I'm not keen on the 6.4L Diesel though, the 7.3L in my truck was the last engine Navistar had that was principally designed by International Harvester. If Ford could get CAT to come down from their high horse and sell them an engine, they'd really have something.

John Deere's actually been wanting to sell engines to one of the Big Three for quite some time. Ford could always go with them as a last resort.

If only Ford hadn't made the '08 Superduties look like the retarded offspring of the '99-'05 trucks. What else pisses me off about them is the grille is attached to the hood so when you pop it the grille goes up. I hate that as I'm always hitting my head on that stuff.

MrEvil

]]> <![CDATA[2008 Ford F-Series Super Duty]]> I'd be more inclined to believe the Silver Creek hype Ford is shoveling if the F250 and 350 SuperDuty's didn't go through tie rods, drag link joints, sway bar end links, and ball joints like popcorn.

Not that GM and Dodge are any better, but I haven't heard of any torture track claims from them yet.

Searcher

]]> <![CDATA[2008 Ford F-Series Super Duty]]> Towing, thats where I see this happening.. Race trailers, camping, whatnot. And the school run, natch.

Two words: tax writeoff.
You know, for the"small businessman" GVWR > 6k = one magnetic sign & an accountant away from a free ride..less so than years past, but God bless America.
[www.selfemployedweb.com]

Bad Juju

]]> <![CDATA[2008 Ford F-Series Super Duty]]> When did Ford hire Optimus Prime for the styling studio?

Vipper Of Vipp

]]> <![CDATA[2008 Ford F-Series Super Duty]]> It's a nice truck in search of a powertrain. Thankfully that Navistar abortion under the hood will be replaced eventually by a Ford designed engine.

They can claim whatever power they want, but it dynos significantly lower than the 6.7 Cummins and 6.6 Dmax. In Oct 07 Diesel World Mag put them all on the rollers and it was 45rwhp and 45rwtq down on the other two. The twin turbos also do little to quell the "death lag" that the old 6.0L suffered from. And to top it off, they get at least 25% worse fuel economy than the Dodge and GM.

While Dodge's trucks aren't the most luxurious, they are the most reliable (according to JD Power) and have the best powertrain. GM's perform just as well as the Dodge but with a shorter service life and have a lot nicer interior. There's two better choices than the Superduty.

Torqahontas

]]> <![CDATA[2008 Ford F-Series Super Duty]]> @Spence: thank our tax code for putting a 6,000+ lb truck in the driveway of every small business owner.

Gaseous Clay

]]> <![CDATA[2008 Ford F-Series Super Duty]]> @Spence: I haven't seen any statistics to prove or disprove any "canards" or "straw men".

I see trucks like these towing race trailers all the time. I also see yuppies driving AMG SL55's to and from Starbucks. Maybe those should be restricted to track use only?

TRAMS_AM

]]> <![CDATA[2008 Ford F-Series Super Duty]]> only one question...
does it still shoot flames out the tailpipe?


smokyburnout

]]> <![CDATA[2008 Ford F-Series Super Duty]]> I don't see these getting used for serious towing very often. Maybe every once in awhile with some farmer towing a truly enormous horse trailer or something, but that's a pretty small fraction of the big trucks that you see on the road. I'm with Spence in that most of the people who buy this use it as a penis extender.

elwood

]]> <![CDATA[2008 Ford F-Series Super Duty]]> WoW. This will be just perfect to haul the Caddy-Camper!

NovaloadMissesPolar

]]> <![CDATA[2008 Ford F-Series Super Duty]]> The idea that most of these won't end up parked at suburban industrial parks and shopping malls is untrue. A tiny percentage of these will be used for real heavy work.
Even those people who buy these for 'real work" are often full of it. I spent my summers growing up on a 5000 acre potato farm in Idaho where trucks got used hard like trucks were meant to be used. My cousin who owned the farm drove an old early eighties stripped down standard cab Chevy half ton, and it worked damn fine. The idea that you need this much truck is silly. The contractor excuse is a total canard. When I drive past a construction site, I usually see a bunch of beat up Toyota Tacomas, and one big fancy truck belonging to the boss, who drives it unladen from work site to work site.
This thing is American paranoia in vehicular form.



Spence

]]> <![CDATA[2008 Ford F-Series Super Duty]]> @LTDScott: He didn't say he had a Tundra. The '80s Toyota pickups are the automotive equivalent of Chuck Norris.

no_slushbox

]]> <![CDATA[2008 Ford F-Series Super Duty]]> @POLAR: Hell I don't even like trucks, I just know what I read, heh.

LTDScott, Porcubimmer pilot

]]> <![CDATA[2008 Ford F-Series Super Duty]]> I'm going to buy one to haul around my S-10.

mytdawg

]]> <![CDATA[2008 Ford F-Series Super Duty]]> @LTDScott: Just sayin' brother, whatever flips yer dress up. Criticize away!

POLAЯ is taking his work underground. He can't let it fall into the wrong hands again!

]]> <![CDATA[2008 Ford F-Series Super Duty]]> @POLAR: LOL, people criticize the truck in question here and tout their own. We're not allowed to point out weaknesses in others?

LTDScott, Porcubimmer pilot

]]> <![CDATA[2008 Ford F-Series Super Duty]]> Well, anyone who wants to buy a Super Duty, go ahead...... Just a word of caution (from an inside source, since I work in the Truck Biz), if one of the two Turbo's let go (They are set up in a compound fashion, one after the other), you will have to unbolt the cab from the frame, lift the cab several inches, just to undo the Turbos. Good Luck!

UDMan

]]> <![CDATA[2008 Ford F-Series Super Duty]]> LTDScott, rlj676: Are you sure you guys shouldn't be Autoblog if you want to hack on posters vehicles.

Like that one guy always says
'dude my F-series Powns ur Fagundras!' ...or something like that.


POLAЯ is taking his work underground. He can't let it fall into the wrong hands again!

]]> <![CDATA[2008 Ford F-Series Super Duty]]> What?? That 'yota truck isn't bulletproof?

That unpossible.

rlj676

]]> <![CDATA[2008 Ford F-Series Super Duty]]> @elhigh: Just don't put any sort of weight on the failgate.. err tailgate.

[www.toyotatundraforum.com]

LTDScott, Porcubimmer pilot

]]> <![CDATA[2008 Ford F-Series Super Duty]]> @Zapp_Brannigan: Nor Dallas.

You don't see Super Duties used for much other than posing around here. In construction, you see plenty of F150s (especially the last generation), Cummins Dodges, and the occasional GM truck. As for towing: if a firm has something to move that's 20,000+ lbs, they generally don't use a pickup truck.

In any case, I wasn't aware that a chrome plastic grille that's twice the size of last year's was an asset while your (sic) towing.

badco/LoJ

]]> <![CDATA[2008 Ford F-Series Super Duty]]> Was this article written by Motor Trend or just copied directly from the Ford press release?

HankScorpio

]]> <![CDATA[2008 Ford F-Series Super Duty]]> @Zapp_Brannigan: X2 They should be banned from selling these things within a 20 mile radius of any major metropolitan area.

I'd like to see what Silver Creek does to a regular car. I really want to see a 1991 Ford Taurus run the length, see what percentage of the original car makes it to the end. That would make my day.

workingonyourinvoice

]]> <![CDATA[2008 Ford F-Series Super Duty]]> This latest face lift has downs syndrome.

Fully loaded at 45 ten-Bens isn't bad though.

-chet

]]> <![CDATA[2008 Ford F-Series Super Duty]]> I'm perfectly happy with my 'yota. Sure, El Gordo could cart it away and have tons of capacity left over, but even with my semi-rural lifestyle, heating with wood and running parts for the tractors, I can't justify this much truck. It's just too much.

Can you imagine what a bitch of a job it must be to fill this truckbed full of firewood? You'd be throwing the wood over your head!

Elhigh

]]> <![CDATA[2008 Ford F-Series Super Duty]]> Until you drive one of these on the street, you cannot possibly comment on their necessity for suburban yuppies or other non-work applications. When you hurl down the highway, traffic spreads like Brittany's legs, yeilding becomes a distant memmory, and traffic lights/stop signs/medians are mere suggestion. Prii drivers don't look at you with scorn, they flee in terror (ok, actually they slow in terror). Blinged out Sclade drivers look at you with envy. Not to mention, surrounding yourself with 8,000 pounds of steel relieves you of any need to drive carefully or wear a seatbelt! Who doesn't need one?

piththeelder

]]> <![CDATA[2008 Ford F-Series Super Duty]]> I'm waiting for the 'Fat Man' edition. To be followed by an F-150 trim package, 'Little Boy.'

Seth L

]]> <![CDATA[2008 Ford F-Series Super Duty]]> You have to remove the entire cab of these trucks to do any type of major engine work. I'm not sure exactly what kind of work that includes, but we have received bulletins here at work showing these things in the shop with the cab on a hoist and the chassis on the ground. We're having to design special bulkheads so that our electronics can be easily disconnected.

JSmith53

]]> <![CDATA[2008 Ford F-Series Super Duty]]> Ford talks tough, but doesn't back it up with a decent warranty. If you want a durable work truck, look at an Isuzu cab-chassis, which has an unlimited mile warranty for 36 months. Or a Mitsubishi Fuso, with a five year, 175,000 mile warranty. Even Dodge has a 5 year 100,000 mile warranty on the Cummins engine in its cab/chassis. Ford offers 5 years, 60,000 miles. A work truck might go 60,000 miles in its first year alone.

flintstone

]]> <![CDATA[2008 Ford F-Series Super Duty]]> To hell with the Super Duty, King Ranch, Fat Boy Option crap...
I'd go all out with the F-650 'I'M NOT JOHN HOLMES SO I"M COMPENSATING EDITION'


POLAЯ is taking his work underground. He can't let it fall into the wrong hands again!

]]> <![CDATA[2008 Ford F-Series Super Duty]]> @rlj676: I take it you've never been to Houston.

Zapp_Brannigan

]]> <![CDATA[2008 Ford F-Series Super Duty]]> 24,000 lbs. is how many Double-Wides?

Evander

]]> <![CDATA[2008 Ford F-Series Super Duty]]> Unless you're day-to-day job includes hauling a D9 Cat across the Amazon, a 10 y.o. half-ton Chevy will do fine. I see way to many of these guys parked at the shopping mall.

TX Law

]]> <![CDATA[2008 Ford F-Series Super Duty]]> To hell with Dodge, my old company had a fleet of them and the front ends went out on them (bearings, swayrods, etc..) within the first year.

Sonic84

]]> <![CDATA[2008 Ford F-Series Super Duty]]> Even with Dodges tranny issues (which apparently are pretty much sorted now with 68RFE) i'd still take the Dodge 3500/4500/5500 over this..

If the tranny bugs you.. then get the stirling bullet.. which by default comes with the aisin w/pto.. same as the ram, except the interior is not as plush..

WheatKing

]]> <![CDATA[2008 Ford F-Series Super Duty]]> Well crap, I'd buy one, but I just inked TUNDRA over my Ford tattoo.

Sth002000

]]> <![CDATA[2008 Ford F-Series Super Duty]]> @badco-fascism:

Not when your hauling.

All of the remarks about this being just a "status" buy must live in Miami, or somewhere similar. That is the only place I've seen these used just as a "cool car." The rest of the country uses these for their intended purpose.

Also, what else should a truck built to do this look like? I think it looks exactly as it should for what it does.

rlj676

]]> <![CDATA[2008 Ford F-Series Super Duty]]> I like Ford HD trucks, but Dodge is easily the best call for the half ton crowd who actually use trucks as trucks.

Fitty7lax

]]> <![CDATA[2008 Ford F-Series Super Duty]]> well, it looks like you guys had fun playing in the mud.
I still am not going to buy one.


jakay11

]]> <![CDATA[2008 Ford F-Series Super Duty]]> Say what you will about their cars, Ford does know how to build a big damn bog-honkin truck.

snarktastic

]]> <![CDATA[2008 Ford F-Series Super Duty]]> Isn't the macho in-your-face thing getting a little silly?

badco/LoJ

]]> <![CDATA[2008 Ford F-Series Super Duty]]> Jesus Christ that's a big truck. Or maybe it's because I glanced at the first picture and somehow ended up thinking those orange cones were the highway standard size ones for a brief moment.

...Nice write-up, sounds like it'll be useful for people who need to haul three grand piano's around all day, or steal the Pyramids of Giza one block at a time.

Madness (Possibly Sparta, maybe baggy trousers.)

]]> <![CDATA[2008 Ford F-Series Super Duty]]> Far be it for me to take exception....
...but I take exception to the Ford being tougher.

The jury is still out on the 6.4L. Yeah, twin turbos, bathtub rad...yeah, yeah, ok...It's got some torque.

But what about the transmission? EFF, it couldn't hold up to the previous 6.0L when that one wasn't dropping valves...

And what about this brandy new 6.4L? It ain't old enough to show longevity which the 6.0L certainly didn't. I wouldn't trust it. And WTF's this regenerating exhaust system? That'd scare me to death if I wasn't humping and dumping (i.e.,leasing) it.

Case-in-point: The Detroit ambulance fleet comprises a mix of 37 '03s and '06 E-450 vans w/ the 6.0L. Mid-summer, they were down to 16 operational ambulances with a fairly even split for the dead 'lances btwn engine and tranny issues.

And that F-350/450 is the butt-ugliest truck North America ever made.

I'd take a Cummins Dodge if it weren't for the crap they wrap around the drivetrain.

If new, give me the Chevy Duramax.

I'm still holding out for a nice -'98 7.3L F-350 Crew. Or a custom crew cab'd Jeep FSJ w/ a Cummins 6bt, HD axles swapped in...

Sorry, Eric, not raining on your parade...raining on it's words.


SeanKHotay

]]> <![CDATA[2008 Ford F-Series Super Duty]]> The King Ranch Edition is my new baby-daddy.

Garebear

]]> <![CDATA[2008 Ford F-Series Super Duty]]> Indeed, these monsters look pretty useful for those that have stuff to haul everywhere-I think it would just be nice if they weren't wrapped in a 10-year old visual package...

MagicalTrevor

]]> <![CDATA[2008 Ford F-Series Super Duty]]> The majority of these are going to no doubt be sold as work trucks, with a few sold as suburban accessories because some yuppie saw a diesel dragster on TV.

kingedwin

]]> <![CDATA[2008 Ford F-Series Super Duty]]> The majority of these are going to no doubt be sold as suburban accessories and not be used for their intended purpose.

Triborough

]]> <![CDATA[2008 Ford F-Series Super Duty]]> @PeteJäyhawk™: Big bolts!

Ray Wert

]]> <![CDATA[2008 Ford F-Series Super Duty]]> Too bad the front end on the latest versions look all busy and gimicky. Looks particularly bad on the base models of these trucks with sealed beam headlights. Grey plastic galore!

LTDScott, Porcubimmer pilot

]]> <![CDATA[2008 Ford F-Series Super Duty]]> I can't help but hear Mike Rowe's voice as I read this post.

Pete Gaines

]]> <![CDATA[2008 Ford F-Series Super Duty]]> so, it's tough then.

DeeJayQueue

]]>