I’ve pulled over a million trailer miles with my personal pickup trucks.  So I loved it when Ford invited me to the deserts of Nevada and Arizona to test-drive their latest diesel with loaded trailers up long 6% grade hills and then down the fast side! I live in Denver next door to the Rocky Mountains. How a loaded truck performs up and down those hills safely is the first question my customers ask. We all want power going up the hill but the fast side of the mountain will test the safety of your highway neighbors who are looking for the “Runaway Ramp Just Ahead” signs for you as you fly by them with your brakes smoking trying to stop your trailer that wants to push you to a speed record through the pine trees as you fly off Interstate 70!

Finally a diesel built for thin air. So much of the vehicle world is tested at sea level and built to operate at sea level. It appears not much effort is put toward performance in the high altitude. Ford’s new Electronic Variable Response Turbocharger along with the new larger air cleaner is made to give you optimal performance on those mountain passes that can have snow on them year-round.

Two more valves per cylinder have been added to this all-new cast iron Power Stroke diesel for improved breathing and a new efficient digitally controlled hydraulic injector cranks out 26,000 psi of pressure to atomize the fuel for a cleaner more powerful combustion that is quieter do to pilot injection and more powerful than the 7.3L Power Stroke it replaces. The engine's new hydraulically actuated G2.8SV injectors will be sourced from a new U.S. joint venture with Siemens AG. The digital actuators, were developed by Navistar in a joint venture with the Colorado-based Sturman Engine Systems. The digital valve actuator, without the spring that a conventional solenoid actuator has, is faster using residual magnetism. This new digital valve accounts for some of the improvement in NOx emissions, and quieter pilot fuel injection timing. The whole Sturman digital valve story can be seen in the news section of MrTruck.net.

Ford increased cooling with a larger fan, higher radiator capacity and expanded size of the intercooler that feeds the larger variable airflow turbocharger. This new Electronic Variable Response Turbocharger offers a tremendous advantage here in Colorado pulling trailers in the mountains where the air is thin. The new EVRT turbo can give the engine increased air volume or shut down the air and increase backpressure when you need to slow down and doesn’t need a waste gate or the cold start butterfly in the exhaust.

While the new Ford diesel puts out 325 Horse Power at 3,300 rpm and 560 foot-pounds of torque at 2000 rpm it also has 500 foot-pounds of torque at 1500 rpm, which I was glad to see. The low end torque is what Power Stroke diesels were famous for and they still have it.

The second half the new 2003 Ford Super Duty appeal is the all-new TorqShift 5-speed automatic transmission. Automatics are becoming the #1 choice of pickup truck drivers. Ford Super Duty owners are buying 90% automatic transmissions verses closer to 50% of the Dodge diesel owners. Back in the Ford ‘99” model year and first year of the Super Duties, Ford introduced the much improved 4R100 automatic transmission to replace the E4OD behind the Power Stroke diesel. That 4R100 tranny was the first automatic transmission in a pickup truck that I could recommend for pulling trailers at the trucks capacity. Then in 2001 GM introduced the Allison Automatic 1000 transmission to be matched to their new Duramax diesel and we had two automatics that could handle the power of a diesel.

The race continues with the future of truck diesels pointing toward the dominant transmission being auto. Ford’s new 5R110 TorqShift 5-speed automatic transmission puts Ford in the lead once again with the recommended transmission for pulling the larger trailers.  Ford lowered the gearing ratio in 1rst and 2nd were it all starts for load and torque to get your rig underway. Thus the name TorqShift, I was amazed on the test drive pulling a 7000 # trailer up 6% grades, I could accelerate at any time from any speed or any gear. The new transmission will lock up the torque converter in any of the 5 gears verses just 3rd in the previous Ford transmission.

Usually I like a manual transmission for slowing a truck down on long downhill grades. But now with the new Ford TorqShift, as with GM’s Allison transmission, you can down shift one gear at a time and hold each gear similar to a manual transmission. And inexperienced driver can get into trouble with a manual transmission coming down the mountain if they miss a gear. With Ford’s new auto tranny you only make one decision, in or out of “Tow-Mode” and the transmission will do the rest. With the Allison automatic, you have to decide if you want to be in or out of Overdrive and in or out of Tow-Mode. 

The new Ford transmission with Tow-Mode similarly to the GM Allison Automatic will allow you to downshift by tapping the brake pedal. This will lockup the transmission torque converter for holding power in each gear going down hill. The all-new 6.0L Ford Power Stroke works well with the new TorqShift for both sides of the hill. Giving you more power to climb uphill, shifting when needed to maintain speed and rpm while the all-new Electronic Variable Response Turbocharger, gives you the extra air your diesel needs for power and high altitude thin air. This same incredible variable turbocharger will also create some backpressure going down the hill to assist the Torque-Shift transmission and the 4-wheel disc brakes to safely slow you down according to Charles Freese, chief engineer of diesel engines for Ford. With the variable vanes in the new turbo, you can slow down the volume of air the turbo forces into the intake manifold, almost like what a throttle plate does in a gas engine to give you engine braking.

The new Ford Torque-Shift 5-speed automatic transmission has electronic solenoids to activate the clutch packs, replacing the bands. A bigger torque converter, doubling the capacity of the pump, larger oil lines has all lowered the running temperature 50 to 70 degrees of the new TorqShift transmission. And finally a external transmission filter that can be accessed under front of the engine attached to the frame. The transmission pan now also has a drain plug.

It’s just great! You now have three components on your truck, working to slow you down when you need it. I usually complain to the truck manufactures about needing exhaust brakes on trucks pulling such big trailers. The power from the diesels increases with each new model, the trailer manufactures accommodate with bigger trailers. What’s been missing is the increased “Whoa” braking power.  But I think Ford has hit the mark with speeding you up and slowing you down. Using the new turbo which can give you more air when needed or closing down on the air when you need backpressure to slow you down similar to an exhaust brake, combined with a Tow-Mode transmission that can “lock” you in any gear by taping the brake and you have CONTROL.  Now you can go down Interstate 70 through the Colorado ski country pulling your maxed out trailer without having your co-pilot track the “Runaway Ramp Just Ahead” signs!

Service is also a highlight of the 2003 Ford Super Duty. The oil filter is on top of the engine next to the fuel filter and with the new automatic transmission filter below the engine, you don’t have to go deep for much of maintenance on the truck. The all-new air filter is still disposable, but it’s much larger to accommodate the increased air needs of this more powerful diesel and increased air volume turbo. The air filter is made of a composite material and is permanently attached to the plastic casing. So you don’t have to take a filter out of the air box, you replace the whole air box.

The new 2003 Ford Super Duty has the same C-channel frame as previous models. And I hope they keep it. A high percentage of these trucks will be attached to trailers and have accessories added to them. Trailer hitches attach to the frame and can be difficult with hydroformed frames.

The Quiet Diesels

In sound comparisons the Dodge is the most noticeable for the change. It was the loudest when its new 24-valve engine was introduced and now it sounds the quietest. Like when the GM Duramax first came out, a dramatic change is noticeable. With the sound meters, all three diesels were very close at an idle standing outside the trucks. Inside at idle, the Ford was the quietest.

The Performance Summary, My Test

Our loaded test with all the trucks consisted of pulling 8X24’ cargo trailers loaded to 7000#’s. Ford was wise to use Weight Distributing hitches on the bumper pull trailers so we didn’t worry about the any trailer action as we flew up and down the 3 to 7% long desert grades. The up shift going uphill was very smooth with the new Ford Torque-Shift transmission and seemed to be timed right for constant power. Going downhill the Ford took a little more pressure on the brake pedal to downshift than did the Chevy with the Allison Automatic transmission.  I noticed the Ford truck with the 4.10 rear axle ratio shifted with more firmness, were the Ford with the 3.73 rear axle was as smooth as a luxury car.

On one stretch of road into Arizona, I drove each truck brand pulling the 7000# trailers and recorded my top speed and sound level when the trucks started loosing speed before I turned around at the same intersection. The Dodge was at a disadvantage because they allow less horsepower and torque from their diesel when teamed with an automatic transmission than their High Output diesel with a 6-speed manual transmission.

As you can see the Ford had a tremendous speed advantage and was the quietest of the three. The temperature was in the low eighties most of the day. The noise level on the Chevy surprised me. At the 6% grade the fan in the Chevy would stay on, and it was a noisy fan. The Ford fan came on a couple of times and would raise the db noise level to 72, still the lowest noise level. The Dodge had the most vibration and the Chevy had the most ground noise. On the way back from Laughlin to Vegas over the Hoover Dam, I was driving a 2003 Ford F250 King Ranch Crew Cab 4x2, having a hard time keeping the truck under 90, I finally put the cruise on at 80. We set the computer in the overhead console to give a readout of the present fuel mileage. For most of the 100 miles back, the mileage would vary from 22 to 23 MPG! At that mileage why would anyone drive a car? There were 4 of us in the truck having of course, much to talk about and ask about. It was like talking in a well-made sedan, I was loosing my voice and could still be heard with out shouting. It’s hard to shut me up even without a voice!

On another longer test drive, I let the Ford diesel go and on a 3% grade it wanted to go over 90 still pulling the 7000#’s of trailer this time with a dually Crew Cab. At any time I could accelerate with the Ford shifting less than the Chevy 3500 Crew Cab dually I drove on the same road.  Coming down the long grades with the Ford F350 I did have to push more on the brake pedal to engage the Tow-Mode than the Chevy. The new Ford TorqShift transmission was designed to engage with more brake pressure so just using the brake slightly wouldn’t down shift you according to Gerard Kuchta, TorqShift design manager. Which makes since to have the whole truck helping you slow down.

We drag raced Ford, Chevy and Dodge dually’s in the quarter-mile pulling 12500#”s of trailer. That was fun. I drove all three to the limit. The new Ford was the winner by at least 4 rig lengths. The Dodge with the standard diesel, not the High Output because of the automatic transmission, with the 4.10 axle ratio almost caught the more powerful Chevy Duramax in the quarter! That surprised me.

Back where the adventure began in Henderson Nevada, I was trying to find an older Ford diesel to compare the noise at idle. There was an Ambulance standing by all the times and running all the time. I thought this was a good test for sound difference. But it didn’t help much, it was dramatically louder but it was a 1993 E250 pre-Power Stroke with over 300,000 miles on it! Ford diesels and the Eveready bunny, they keep going and going.

The new power moonroof option available with the Crew Cab Super Duty is exclusive to Ford, according to Tim Stoehr, Super Duty marketing manager for Ford. Other changes for 2003, finally a heated mirror option, mirror turn signals, a new Sport model, FX4 off road option and King Ranch model similar to the popular option on the F150. My favorite wheels are back from the 99 Super Duty Lariat model. They can be found on the new King Ranch model. The nice big outside door handles have been painted. In Ford cars they seem to alternate painting and not painting the door handles every other year.  I like to be able to scratch around the keyhole without scratching the paint.

Good news for the SUV world is the new 6.0L diesel and TorqShift transmission will also be available in the 2003 Excursion. Excursion is the largest SUV in the U.S. and the only one available with a diesel. The extra 600#’s of diesel engine up front is an asset when towing up to 11,000#’s of trailer with the Excursion properly equipped. The Excursion with the optional 6.0L diesel and TorqShift automatic transmission has the weight, wheelbase, width and power to make the best choice of any SUV for pulling trailers. The sad side is the Excursion is flagged for extinction after model year 2004. Start writing those letters to save the Excursion, we need the choices!

I’m very impressed with the overall picture of the new Ford 6.0L Power Stroke and TorqShift transmission. The king of the road with power, control, stopping power, service ease and cleaner burning. We knew Ford would respond to GM Duramax/Allison’s intrusion into Ford’s dominant diesel sales numbers. We are still waiting for Dodge’s commitment of a competing automatic transmission in this market. Diesels have twice the compression of gas engines, which means it’s harder for the average person to shift gears in a manual transmission. The new Ford TorqShift automatic transmission takes all the work and guess work out of driving and hauling the more common heavy loads. This can be a tremendous safety improvement for the new folks buying their first RV or horse trailer. It’s so much easier now! But it’s not just the transmission, Ford has tied it all together with an all new variable turbo diesel engine that partners with the transmission to give you fun acceleration passing cars uphill and very controllable downhill decent. We’ll never know how many accidents Ford’s new truck will prevent, but I share Interstate 70, mountain to mountain with so many pickups pulling trailers and I know which ones to watch in my rearview mirror. Good Job Ford!

For the rest of this story, join my "Insider Club", at my website www.mrtruck.net.  Kent Sundling (MrTruck)

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