Wikipedia

 

The Ford Super Duty is a line of commercial trucks (over 8,500 lb (3,900 kg) GVWR) introduced in 1998 for the 1999 model year. The F-250 to F-550 Super Duties are assembled at the Kentucky Truck Assembly in Louisville, Kentucky. The F-650 and F-750 Super Duties are assembled at the Blue Diamond Truck plant in Mexico. For Mercosur (Brazil (F-250, F-350 and F-4000) and Argentina (F-100)) are assembled at the Brazil, Engine 3.9 TurboDiesel, available 4x2, 4x4, single cab w/short bed, crew cab w/short bed, single cab/ crew cab chassis.

The Super Duty trucks are larger, heavier built commercial/industrial series pickup trucks with heavier-duty body-on-frame steel ladder frames, axles, springs, brakes, transmissions, more powerful engines, and all other heavier/bigger components (with much higher payload and towing capacities) than the older traditional equivalent F-250, F-250HD (Heavy Duty), and F-350 Ford truck lines. In appearance, the Super Duty line might look a little similar to but does not share any of the design or build characteristics of the F-150. A F-250 Super Duty would surpass the older traditional F-350 in most categories.

For the 1999 model year, Ford dropped the regular (now to be considered the 'light duty') F-250, F-250HD (Heavy Duty), and F-350 truck lines only to introduce all-new F-250 and F-350 Super Duty trucks. By using two separate but related platforms for F-Series trucks, the inevitable compromises inherent in offering a wide range of load-carrying capacities were avoided. The main competition, General Motors, liked the idea so much that for the 2001 model year, the Chevrolet Silverado HD and GMC Sierra HD were introduced.

These trucks were styled distinctly different for the first time from the smaller F-150 half-ton pickups. They did not share components with the F-150 platform at all, even though it was still considered an F-series truck. Instead of the aero look, it was more boldly angular with a raised hood and lowered fenders, somewhat like fender / hood medium truck style pioneered by the 1994 Dodge Ram pickup. An industry first, 2 big massive complete ring-style front tow hooks. The side windows went lower forward in the door like a commercial medium to heavy duty truck (similar to a Kenworth "Daylight Door"), and the grille was also narrower and tall as if from a larger truck, and in 2001, optional manual telescoping Trailer Tow (TT) mirrors became available.

There were three cab options: Standard (2-3 passengers) with two doors, SuperCab (5-6 passengers) with 2 reverse-opening small rear doors (4 doors), and the crew cab with 4 full doors and seats for 4-6 people. The Super and Crew cabs came with 6 ¾-foot and 8-foot (2.4 m) full-size bed options, but the Standard cab was only available with the 8' bed. The F-250 Super Duty would also be the base platform for the short-lived Ford Excursion which was the only passenger SUV larger than the Chevrolet Suburban and its twin, the GMC Yukon XL.

The Ford F-250 and related F-4000 were built in Brazil from 2000 to 2006. Brazilian trucks were widely exported to Australia(F-250), South Africa and Argentina (where they were sold as the F-100).