The 2019 Ford F-250 Super Duty: The King of Texas?

I never felt more like a city-breed Dad Driver than I did while traversing perfectly paved streets in the towering 2019 F-250 Super Duty, Ford’s king of work trucks. With enough power to haul and tow just about anything, this beast of a truck yearns for dirt roads, open country, and farm land. The closest I could come to that type of environment was a few gravel filled parking lots and livestock barns on the grounds of Fair Park in Dallas. The Super Duty seemed to fit in perfectly under the Cattle barns sign in the photo below and I could easily picture other Texan Dad Drivers pulling up in one of these trucks, hauling their children’s livestock behind them ready to compete at the State Fair of Texas.

The only agriculture in my daily routine is my vegetable garden in my suburban back yard, so testing out some of the 2019 Super Duty’s more hardcore hauling features wasn’t in the cards for me. But that doesn’t mean that I couldn’t picture myself taking advantage of the other impressive features Ford implements into this truck. If anything, focusing on optional features rather than traditional mechanics like towing or hauling, I was able to appreciate the Super Duty in way I wasn’t totally expecting. To my designer’s eye, the tip of this Super Duty’s crown is the swanky perks of the King Ranch edition.

Some Brief Knowledge on the actual King Ranch

You’ve heard it a million times and the reason is because its true: everything is bigger in Texas. Founded in 1853 in South Texas, the King Ranch is not only the largest ranch in the State but also the largest in the country! At 825,000 acres this behemoth of a ranch is even larger than the ENTIRE state of Rhode Island. It’s a National Historic Landmark – no surprise there – and takes its name from one of its founder’s, Captain Richard King. Stories and legends surrounding the history of the Ranch have been told and retold in literature, television and films.

In other words, King Ranch is an icon that embodies the agriculture spirit and grit of the Texan frontier. And what’s more representative of this same hard working, Lone Star spirit than a powerful pick-up truck.

Ford’s Super Duty King Ranch Edition

The F-150 was the first truck in Ford’s lineup to receive the King Ranch treatment in 2001 but was soon made available in the F-250 where it feel most at home, in my opinion. Throughout the interior and exterior of the F-250 Super Duty King Ranch edition, there are signs of the ranch motif everywhere you look. The ultra-comfortable leather seats in front and rear are emblazoned with the running W brand used by the actual King Ranch. Its looks dope and adds an element of rugged sophistication to the cabin.  The large brand atop the center console is my favorite use inside the cabin.

A gorgeous, twin panel moon roof provides spectacular views from any seat in the cabin and is also a part of the King Ranch package. It was pure bliss to glance in my rear view mirror and see Zoe gazing up wondrously through the moon roof during our many test drives.

The king Ranch Ultimate Package also comes with LED fog lamps, LED taillamps, quad LED headlamps, and power-deployable running boards. The running boards were an extra bit of fun to experience every time I approached the truck. Simply unlocking the doors from the key fob, stirs the running boards into motion and they slide down, seemingly out of nowhere, with grace. Not to mention the fact that they come in hand – at 81. 3 inches tall, the Super Duty Crew Cab is certainly a vehicle you climb up into.

One of the other key King Ranch Ultimate Package goodies that quickly became a highlight for me was the tailgate step. As tall as the Super Duty is, a built in tailgate step is pretty much expected. The tail step in the Super Duty folds down similar to the way tailgate steps work in other pick-ups on the market. The kicker here is that Ford has included a retractable, collapsible pole that you can grab onto, giving you leverage to make that large step up into the bed of the truck. It’s an ingenious idea and you have to appreciate the engineering it took to include this in the construction of the tailgate.

Commanding Presence from Ranch to City

Ford has injected its truck lineup with a heaping dose of brawn when it comes to design and it works for me. The 2019 Super Duty looks tough and capable but surprisingly doesn’t feel entirely out of place on a city street – as evident in the picture below.

I’m typically not a fan of white paint on a vehicle, but on the Super Duty, I dug it. The two tone profile view of the Super Duty is bold thanks to a plastic lower panel that is just the right height. The grill upfront is massive but confident, highlighted by chrome strips that run across the entire façade giving a nice touch of class. The tall, rectangular headlights – partially outlined by LED lights – are magnificent and my favorite part about the Super Duty’s nose. The entire front end has a commanding presence and adds to the ranch persona.

Sitting Like a King

To say the interior of the 2019 Ford Super Duty is huge is an understatement. If I worked on a ranch and had to pack in 4 or 5 burly men into this truck with me, I would have no issue. It ain’t called a Crew Cab for nothing.

With 40.8 inches of headroom throughout the cabin and about 43.8 inches of leg in both the front and back, the Super Duty caters to all sizes. With 62.5 inches of hip room in the front seat, both driver and passengers sit like kings. In back 64.7 inches of hip room means yours passengers have room to spread out. Most of the time it was only me and Zoe in the Super Duty – never before has her car seat looked so small in the backseat of a vehicle.

All this interior cabin space allows some perks like added storage space. There are a generous amount of areas around the driver and passengers seats where various items can be stored. This came in handy for a Dad Driver like me that is still lugging around baby bottles, diaper bags, toys, and snacks.

While I wasn’t entirely impressed with the Super Duty’s dashboard and infotainment area design, I wasn’t offended by it either. Everything was in easy access and the same attractive, blocky design elements from the truck’s exterior are carried through in the dash. But it all felt a little stiff and uninviting – probably something a true, lonely cowboy would appreciate.

Tow-tly Powerful

As big and bold as it is, you might assume that driving the Super Duty would require a special trucking experience but new additions for 2019 like a stiffer frame, a new front suspension design and something called “variable-ratio steering” all work together to ensuring that driving this bad boy is a breeze. Variable-ratio steering simply means that the truck is constantly evaluating your speed and driving style to compensate the steering rack so that your drive is smooth and responsive. Don’t get me wrong, the Super Duty certainly feels and drives like a truck but it’s a truck you feel confident steering.

The 2019 Super Duty comes with a variety of engine configurations but the truck I tested came equipped with the biggest and baddest engine Ford offers: a 6.7-liter V-8 diesel engine. This puppy creates 440 horsepower and produces an impressive 925 lb-ft of torque. An engine this powerful has a tow rate of a whopping 32,200 pounds! That’s 16 tons or roughly the weight of 3 bull African bush elephants! But in practical terms, the Super Duty has the capability to tow a decent sized motorboat without a problem.

The only drawback to this much power is usually fuel economy. While fuel economy isn’t required to be stated on a vehicle like the Super Duty, Ford says that the diesel engine combined with a long range fuel tank can provide up to 1,000 miles while driving on a highway. Not too shabby, but of course that number likely dips once you start hauling something heavy.

A Truck for Texans

The beauty of the state of Texas is that it is so expansive in both size and culture that there is room for a country Dad and a city Dad to both call this state home. Both lifestyles can coexist not only side by side but also intertwined. The 2019 Ford Super Duty is certainly built for the country Dad but as a city Dad I found that there was plenty to admire in this truck, particularly the amenities that come with the King Ranch Ultimate Package. It’s difficult to imagine this truck without the running W emblems stitched into the seats or the super cool running boards that magically appear from underneath the vehicle.

However, these Texified additions come with a price. The King Ranch Ultimate Package costs an extra $3,350. The diesel engine option will set you back over 9k alone.  Base price of the 2019 Super Duty is  $59,605 but with the King Ranch package and additional premium features like a B&O Play Premium Audio system and a rear view camera, the Super Duty I tested came in a grand total of $77,860. That might be a Texas sized priced tag but you are, after all, getting a Texas sized Truck.

Dad Drivers will love the enormous amount of space in the cabin, the amenities of the King Ranch package and the ability to feel like a manly Dad driving around in the 2019 Ford Super Duty.