Are F 250 Trucks Easy to Drive
Cars Perspective Perspective Interpretation of the news based on evidence, including data, as well as anticipating how events might unfold based on past events
The Ford F-250 Super Duty: A big truck that a little lady can handle just fine
The F-250's extensive revision for 2017, including the use of an all-aluminum body, a technology first tried on the smaller F-150 pickup in 2016, helps its ease of handling, Warren Brown writes. (FORD)
She is a little woman, barely 110 pounds and five feet tall.
She insisted on driving the truck — a 2017 Ford F-250 Super Duty, the super-fancy King Ranch version.
I resisted. It just didn't seem right. Big truck. Big engine, a 6.7-liter turbo-diesel V-8 (440 horsepower, 925 pound-feet of torque). Little woman.
Frankly, I worried that she would harm herself in the thing, or that she might run into an on-road ruckus with macho guys who didn't think a little woman should be behind the steering wheel of something so huge and powerful, the equivalent of a motorized middle finger in her hands.
"You wouldn't object if I were your son!" she shot back.
I didn't want to go there. That was a losing battle. I gave her the F-250 key.
She hop-climbed into the driver's seat. It was a sight to see, but not nearly as interesting as watching her steer the F-250 down our twisty driveway. She handled the beast so easily.
She said she drove the F-250 down U.S. Route 29 — no problems. She returned to our home. I watched her back the F-250 into and up the twisty driveway — absolutely no drama in that maneuver. She did this so that I wouldn't have to back out of our driveway and run the risk of digging up our neighbor's lawn, as I have done previously, with the optional 20-inch diameter wheels on the F-250 used for this column.
I thanked her.
"That truck just looks big," she said. "It's really light, much lighter than I thought."
Credit the F-250's extensive revision for 2017, including the use of an all-aluminum body, a technology first tried on the smaller F-150 pickup in 2016. Aluminum knocked hundreds of pounds from both trucks without hurting the hauling/towing stamina of either one.
The F-250 Super Duty, for example, can tow a trailer weighing 18,000 pounds and carry a payload of 3,400 pounds. It's no wimp. It works for a living.
Indeed, it belongs on a farm or construction work site. It is not something you want to use for city driving.
I made that mistake once — driving the F-250 into the District of Columbia. No garage I visited wanted to park the thing, which seems to have grown in width and length during its revision. Parking it on a city street is not the best way to win friends and influence people, either.
There are five F-250 trim levels — XL, XLT, Lariat, King Ranch and Platinum. The King Ranch has a western motif quite fitting for working a ranch or farm. The Platinum, the highest F-250 trim, seems primarily for ego.
To repeat, the F-250 is primarily a work truck. That being the case, the trim level that makes more sense from a value standpoint is either the XLT or XL. You can get the F-250 with a regular cab (two doors), extended cab (two small doors in rear, or crew cab (four full doors). Available bed sizes are 6.75 feet and 8 feet. Drivetrains include four-wheel and two-wheel drive.
Should you buy a 2017 F-250, be prepared to share it with the female drivers in your family.
"It is huge, like it was built for an NBA player," said my youngest daughter, Kafi, who commandeered the F-250 test model. "But there is no reason why a tiny woman can't drive this one, too."
Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/cars/the-ford-f-250-super-duty-a-big-truck-that-a-little-lady-can-handle-just-fine/2017/01/26/3e2ba8b4-e1ba-11e6-a547-5fb9411d332c_story.html
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