Mountains, Who Needs Mountains? The F-Series Super Duty Brings its Own

Ford F-Series Super Duty towing Dynamometer (Credit: © Ford)

When testing a vehicle’s towing capacity, automakers need to incorporate various temperatures, grades, and weights. To do this, you may think that automakers have to travel to various regions to tackle all the best mountains the country has to offer. While that would be a blast, they actually use a special dynamometer sled to bring the mountains to them. The issue Ford ran into was that the traditional dynamometer sled just didn’t challenge the new F-Series Super Duty enough, so it had one specially created.

In images, this little trailer doesn’t look like anything more than a pop-up camper mixed with a 1980s Corvette, but it is so much more once you dig into it. This little red wagon delivers up to 5,620 pounds of drawbar pull, which is a 181 percent increase over the old sled. In addition to the weight, the sled can also simulate grades of up to 30 percent—the average sled before it could only simulate up to 7 percent.

This allows Ford to really push the limits of its trucks to assure they not only can handle hauling a heavy trailer but also that they can do so reliably. My hat is off to Ford for going further in testing its new Super Duty instead of settling for the same old.

Check out the video of the trailer in action below.