A funny thing happened on the way to writing this update about the long-term Ford F-250 Super Duty King Ranch I’m stewarding for a year. I lost it. OK, I didn’t actually lose it, but I lost possession of it. Turns out that for an organization like Motor Trend, a big, haul-anything, go-anywhere workhorse such as Ford’s Super Duty is exactly what we need all the time. From photo shoots to hauling tires to moving bodies around in spacious comfort to just daily living, it’s hard to beat an XXL truck.
My day-to-day responsibilities have changed considerably over the past few years. Back in the day I was primarily a writer who dabbled in video. These days, my primary professional focus is making two shows for Motor Trend OnDemand, Ignition and Head 2 Head. Meaning that I’m spending days and weeks at a time away from the office driving the cars we’re filming and not “my” long-termer. As I mentioned, please don’t think for a moment that our two-tone beauty sits idle waiting for me to return.
The F-250 was used as a support vehicle for this year’s Best Driver’s Car, SUV of the Year, Car of the Year, and Truck of the Year programs. Again, sometimes the Ford was needed for hauling gear. Other times photographers and videographers were hanging out of the bed to get shots of whatever we happened to be testing. The 6-foot, 8-inch bed provides plenty of room, though of course I always chuckle that at 160 inches, our Super Duty is the short-wheelbase version. A 172-incher is available and comes with an 8-foot bed, for all you drywall aficionados.
The F-250 gets used for all sorts of unofficial business, as well. Furniture seems to be our staff’s favorite truck-based activity, with surfboards coming in a close second. We are headquartered just a few miles from the beach, and it seems that half the office surfs. My favorite staff use of the F-250 is when Randy Pobst used it to haul a couple of motorcycles and the accompanying fuel cans, ramps, and whatnot needed for a ride he did across the desert. He also took along three of his buddies and all of their gear.
I asked Randy how the F-250 did on his excursion: “Fabulous. Eats diesel, but it would eat more gas, no? Shoulda brought a bike trailer. Loaded to the roof inside and looking Beverly Hillbillies outside! Thanks again, it was super for the trip.” At least somebody is getting some quality use out of it.
My video crew has been making good use of the Super Duty, specifically, as a support truck for the 99th episode of Head 2 Head, a clash between the Chevy Colorado ZR2 and the Ram Power Wagon. We filmed the episode at the Johnson Valley OHV Area. That meant the F-250 took five guys and all the accompanying camera and sound gear over some pretty serious off-road terrain. Our King Ranch is on the semi-monster truck equivalent of street tires—it struggled a bit initially, but then the crew popped it into 4-Low, and voila! The leathered-lined luxury truck went everywhere the two purpose-built off-roaders did. Well, everywhere except for the insane bits of rock crawling. What a workhorse.
Read more about our 2017 Ford F-250 Super Duty here:
