WATCH THE VIDEO IN 720 HIGH DEF! WATCH TO THE END FOR A TEST DRIVE!
When you're looking for the ultimate in cargo carrying capability without sacrificing comfort and reliability, your search will begin and end with a Ford truck that's powered by the legendary Powerstroke diesel engine. This '05 F250 Lariat has all the comforts you've come to expect like LEATHER SEATS, keyless entry, power windows/locks/seats, tilt/cruise, etc. plus it's a big crew cab so it has the crew and cargo carrying capability that you need. It has also got real four wheel drive too with 3.73 limited slip differentials. Best of all, it's got a POWERSTROKE DIESEL engine that runs great!
This is no stripped-down work truck either. It's a loaded-up Lariat with many upgrades such as a Sony AM/FM/CD/USB/AUX stereo system as well as a console between the front captain's chairs. Also included are a set of 20" Incubus alloy wheels that really set this truck apart from the crowd and they're wrapped in what appear to be an almost NEW SET OF 37" TIRES.
This truck was traded-in at a local dealer on a new one. We were told after we'd bought it that the truck has been bulletproofed. We have checked the coolant & oil temps and they're in spec plus the EGR COOLER has been DELETED which removes the weak point of the 6.0 engine. It doesn't run rough cold either! What this means for you is that all the 6.0 Powerstroke issues are already taken care of and this truck has enough power to go anywhere and do it as fast as you want.
Don't let the 222k on the odometer worry you, it runs great and has no blowby! One thing about this particular engine is that it's crisp. When you hit the gas pedal it jumps. There's no delay or lag like you encounter on trucks that need work or haven't been maintained properly. We regularly see these trucks with 400-500,000 miles and running strong. It's a Southern truck so there are absolutely NO RUST HOLES OR RUST BUBBLES. We've had our mechanic go over this truck top to bottom so we wouldn't hesitate to get in this truck and drive it anywhere! It has a brand new set of glowplugs too. Feel free to fly in and drive it home no matter where that may be. Best of all, we need to free up the money so we're selling this truck with a LOW RESERVE that is THOUSANDS BELOW the book value of nearly $20,000!!!
ValuesRoughTrade-InAverageTrade-InCleanTrade-InCleanRetailBase Price$9,300$10,675$11,825$14,950Mileage (222,011)-$1,150-$1,150-$1,150-$1,150Total Base Price$8,150$9,525$10,675$13,800Options: Lift Kit$900$900$900$1,000Nerf Bars$100$100$100$125Fender Flares$325$325$325$375Towing/Camper Pkg$125$125$125$150FX4/Base Off-Road Pkg.$275$275$275$3256.0L Turbo Diesel Engine$3,400$3,400$3,400$3,800Price with Options$13,275$14,650$15,800$19,5752005 Ford F250 Road Test
FoMoCo's most profitable vehicle gets more beef, and more chrome.November 2004You are what you drive. Bimmers, Benzes, Harleys, and Hummers are "aspiration vehicles." Plenty of folks aspire to slip into those images.
While we weren't looking, guys in their peak-earning years-and even one dewy-fresh young woman of our acquaintance-took to wearing mighty mutha diesel pickups. "Heavy duty" is the categorical term for such iron. Work boots for the road. Mud spatter is your option, but the factory builds 'em shiny, even chromy.
Ford is the big shooter in this class, as it is with its F-150 in regular pickups. Upwards of 350,000 F-250 through F-550 trucks per year give it about 45 percent of the action, with Chevy, Dodge, and GMC biting and pulling fur over the other 55 percent. And they're gaining.
So for 2005 Ford is upgrading its heavy-duty line introduced for 1999. More power, more load capacity, and more towing muscle are the key attractants, with a few other details worth mentioning, like a nifty way of coordinating trailer brakes with the truck's anti-lock braking system.
The standard engine is a 5.4-liter, three-valve-per-cylinder V-8, up 40 horsepower to 300. Power users may opt for the 6.8-liter, three-valve gasoline V-10, at 355 horsepower, or the 6.0-liter Power Stroke turbo-diesel V-8 of 325 horsepower and- ta-dah!-570 pound-feet of torque at 2000 rpm. If the two-bedroom bungalow hitched to this one is holding up traffic, blame the balloon foot on the pedal.
The tow rating tops out now at 17,000 pounds for fifth-wheel setups, or 15,000 pounds for dualie models with conventional hitches. Hauling is up, too: 1280 pounds more than last year, depending on equipment. Max combined weight for an F-350 dualie-that means truck, payload, and trailer-is 23,500 pounds.
Ford says 90 percent of Super Duty buyers tow, so this load stuff matters. As an option, you can have a built-in trailer-brake controller that fits into the dash and integrates all the wires and connectors needed for hookup (amazingly, these things have been aftermarket parts until now). This provides a much more predictable brake-pedal feel, and it also knows when the truck's anti-lock braking system has engaged, and rebalances the braking force distributed to the trailer (it does not, however, act as an anti-lock system for the trailer).
The heavy-duty trucks in our social circle tow occasionally, but more often they're the shiniest rides in the parking lot, packing little more than one or two people and a toolbox that weighs, oh, a half-ton or so. The owners choose them as everyday wear because, well, that's the kind of Americans they are. Ford says up to 45 percent of buyers use Super Duty trucks as personal vehicles, although they may do some heavy-duty work, too. About 30 percent go for the top-of-the-line Lariat trim.
The self-expression possibilities don't stop there. You can drive your cowboy boots. The King Ranch model, named after the 825,000-acre Texas spread that sprawls over three counties, has rugged-looking brown leather on the seats, wheel, and center console, much in the style of men's clubhouse furniture, and a dark mandarin teak pattern in its plastic wood. Chrome badges confirm your Rancher status to bystanders.
Or perhaps you're ready to go whole hog in three tons of four-door four-by-four, the Harley-Davidson Super Duty. Behold and tremble! This mighty mutha comes in your choice of F-250 or F-350, propelled between gas stations by either the diesel (90 percent) or the V-10. Each of them wears more licensed chrome Harley-Davidson logos than a whole showroom of Milwaukee sickles, plus an uncountable number of official "Bar and Shield" logos miniaturized down to bifocal size. Even the black screen printing around the windshield is made of teensy B-and-S shapes.
Ford says three-quarters of the Super Duty line will have no price increase, but there's no word yet on Harley models, limited to a volume of less than 8000. For the record, though, last year's F-250 H-D with the usual diesel option and TorqShift automatic plus a few common options listed for almost $50,000.
2005 Ford Super Duty F 250 Review - RoadTestStill SuperDiesel Power, August 01, 2005Since being introduced in 1998 for the '99 model year, the Super Duty has become the tow vehicle of choice for those hauling everything from horse trailers to weekend homes. It's no wonder the Ford stands out in the towing crowd, especially after winning our three-way shootout between the big boys in the class of 2004 (see Spring '05 Diesel Power). Ford is constantly improving its truck because it has to stay ahead of the ever-increasing competition in order to keep its sales crown, especially in the race for diesel dominance. For every gasoline-powered Super Duty that leaves a dealership, Ford sells two Power Stroke-equipped Super Dutys, to the tune of more than 200,000 a year, out-pacing both Dodge and GM.
Here is a look at what's new to the Super Duty line for 2005.
On the surface, you might be hard-pressed to spot the changes to the '05 Super Duty, but if you look closely enough, they are there, most noticeably in the contemporary headlight assembly and billet-look grille. But, the major tweaks lurk just beneath the surface. Wanting to test out a SuperCab longbed, we ordered up a differently configured truck than from our Heavy Hauler test.
Again, our test truck arrived with the exceptional four-valve-per-cylinder 6.0L Power Stroke V-8 turbodiesel engine, which, through the magic of engine control system remapping, now develops an additional 10 lb-ft of torque, raising the '05 to a mountain-moving 570 lb-ft. Right foot-taunting horsepower remains the same at 325. Another improvement over last year's model is the 250,000-mile service life rating of the new 6.0L-with proper maintenance, of course. All of this twist is routed through Ford's TorqShift five-speed automatic transmission, first seen behind the Power Stroke in 2003 and now available behind all Super Duty engines.
With the heavy-duty user in mind, Ford went to great lengths to improve the chassis, starting with thicker steel and longer boxed sections on the frame for enhanced strength and durability. All of this chassis tweaking has allowed Ford to up the payload by as much as 1,280 pounds to a maximum of 5,800 pounds on some models, making the 1-ton moniker of F-350s a misnomer. Choose an F-350 and click off the dualie box and you'll be rewarded with a 15,000-pound conventional tow rating, thanks to a new 2.5-inch receiver hitch. Go fifth-wheelor gooseneck, and that number leaps to 19,200 pounds.
Redesigned 17-inch wheels are now standard equipment, and 18-inch wheels are optional, which enabled Ford engineers to increase the brake rotor sizes. The rotors are now 5 percent larger in diameter. The larger size dissipates heat better, especially on long downhill grades. Both the F-250 and F-350 received larger calipers, with the fronts offering twin 60mm pistons, a full 11 percent better than the '04 model, giving the driver better brake feel. The rear calipers have also been upgraded to twin 48mm pucks on F-250s and F-350s and 54mm on F-350 Dualies. With bigger brakes allowing heavier loads, the parking brake has also been improved and now offers a 15 percent higher load rating. Consumers and fleet managers alike will be impressed with the expected 50 percent increase in brake lining life on single rear-wheel vehicles and double the life on dualies.
Another interesting option that came with our Super Duty was Ford's new TowCommand system, which integrates a factory trail brake controller with the vehicle brakes and ABS system for better control. It uses different braking strategies for normal and emergency braking and has a message center that can alert the driver to a malfunction or disconnected wiring. As a bonus, the TowCommand module comes with four auxiliary switches that can be used to control any aftermarket or upfitter product.
Another notable improvement for 2005 comes in the way of the new front suspension on four-wheel-drive models. The venerable front leaf spring solid axle has been dropped in favor of a better-riding, better-handling link coil spring solid axle, reminiscent of the proven system found on previous solid-axle and coil-spring Fords. This new suspension improves the Super Duty's ride and shortens the turning radius by several feet. While parking lots haven't suddenly become Super Duty-friendly, at least the newfound maneuverability will take an edge off jockeying for a primo space at the races.
We enjoyed the firm smoothness of the new coil spring frontend. Behind the wheel, the handling is noticeably improved, and the suspension works well under the 6,500-pound truck. With the trailer loaded up, our F-250 pulled straight and true and had none of the tail-wagging sensation common to other brands. Over the road, the cabin is one of the quietest in its class, and we loved the giant towing mirrors. Just as in our shootout, this Power Stroke was a joy to tow with, and with little turbo lag and no flat spots in the powerband, it always had reserve power on tap to get through anything we asked of it.
Our tester came decked out in Lariat trim, which warms the restyled dash with a Cherry Zebrano wood application, along with leather seats, special gauges, and a slew of comfort items that make you question if you are in a pickup truck or a custom luxury tow rig. With a long reach to the dash, we especially liked the redundant audio and climate controls on the steering wheel, which made for easy adjustments on the fly, particularly while towing our 28-foot trailer through the two-lane twisties. With a full day of towing under our belt, this improved Super Duty proved to be a relaxing steed, causing little tiring or fatigue to the driver with the trailer hitched up.
Off-road, our Super Duty had excellent clearance and good tires from the factory, but even on the FX4 Off-Road package, the shocks could have used better tuning. We would also order ours with the optional limited-slip differential since we got in a few situations where the extra traction would have been welcomed. However, the Super Duty with its manual hubs and manual transfer case lever, coil springs, and solid axles remains a rugged and capable platform for off-road buildups.
The Super Duty has always been a great base for aftermarket upgrades, and with the improvements for 2005, it is even better, especially for those who regularly tow or haul. After spending lots of quality time in the '05 Super Duty, we stand by our original shootout assessment that Ford currently has the best all-around diesel truck on the market. But, with redesigns from Dodge and the General lurking on the Horizon (and rumors of a V-8 Cummins for Dodge and 3/4-ton diesel Titan on the way), it's going to take more than laurels to keep the Blue Oval boys ahead of the game. For those of us who love our oil-burners, it looks like the fullsize truck game is about to get really exciting.
Specifications
General
Vehicle Model: '05 Ford F-250 Super Duty
EngineType: Power Stroke turbodiesel 32-valve V-8
Displacement (liter/ci): 6.0/363
Bore x Stroke (in): 3.74 x 4.13
Valvetrain: OHV
Compression Ratio: 18:1
Aspiration: EFI, turbocharged, air-to-air intercooling
Mfg.'s hp at rpm: 325 at 3,300
Mfg.'s Torque (lb-ft) at rpm: 570 at 2,000
Drivetrain
Transmission: Ford TorqShift five-speed automatic with tow/haul mode