This 2026 Ford F-450 Super Duty is a proper leviathan of a truck that is pretty far removed from our usual wheelhouse. I like trucks for the same reason a lot of people like trucks – sure they’re useful, but let’s face it, most of the appeal in a modern truck is feeling big and manly and tough, and I’m not above that neanderthal urge. When I saw this beast was available for review, I leapt on it, more out of morbid curiosity than anything else. I’m used to increasingly big half-ton trucks by now, but what is the biggest truck like to live with?
“That thing is bigger than my apartment! How much is it?”
“Would you believe it’s under a hundred grand?”
What makes an F-450? • Heavy hardware and towing
While a Ford F-250 and F-350 can be configured just about every way, an F-450 only comes ready for serious work; there’s no popular, commuter-spec short box option here, you get an eight-foot bed and that’s it. All F-450’s come with a wide-track front axle that’s six inches wider than a less-super Super Duty, and “dually” rear wheels as standard.
Said wheels span 19.5 inches, necessary to support the massive brakes: 15.4 inches up front 15.8 inches out back. They’re bolted to commercial-grade 10-bolt hubs driven by thicker axles. There’s no glam muscles here, this is the realest of real deals in trucks.
Speaking of real deal, there is no gas engine option. This rig is purpose built for hauling, and even the mightiest gasser would be out of its element. Your only choice is the 6.7L Powerstroke diesel V8; this standard output version puts out 475 horsepower and 1,050 foot-pounds of torque (a high output version of this engine with 500hp and 1,200 lb-ft is available for $4,750). All that torque is metered to the ground via a heavily beefed up 10-speed automatic, and a standard 4.30 rear axle ratio for maximum grunt.
“Bro, seriously, what even weighs forty thousand pounds?”
“Approximately three Hummer EVs (and a trailer)”
All this adds up to enormous towing capacity: up tp 30,000 pounds off the bumper, and 40,000 pounds via a gooseneck (preparation included as standard). Payload on this crew cab comes is rated at around 4,500 lbs – which is about a thousand pounds less than an equivalent F-350, but serious truck guys will point out that both are running up against a legal limit (you’re into commercial license territory above 14,000 pounds), and not a mechanical limit. This thing is a tank.
Driving impressions • Better than you’d think
Surprisingly, it doesn’t really drive like a tank. Don’t get me wrong, you have to recalibrate your senses, and you have to be very aware of its huge haunches, but it’s not nearly as much of a bear as you might think. That wide-track front end enables the wheels to turn much sharper for greater maneuverability when backing up with a trailer, which has the side-effect of making the truck easier to park and generally wrangle around town. I was able to shimmy it into my Toronto triplex parking without too much of a fight, surprisingly.
Despite being nearly 24-feet long, its turning circle is “only” fifty feet, which means it can comfortably do a U-turn in a standard four-way intersection – something the last HD truck I drove struggled to do (Ford’s own F-250 with a similar cab and box needs 58 feet to turn around). The steering is slow and a touch on the heavy side, but it doesn’t feel unwieldy or tiring to drive. Failing that, the ride will keep you awake; it is designed to be loaded and will slam-bang over big bumps, but it’s generally fine, and it doesn’t really shudder much, either.
The engine feels great, with gobs of torque accentuated by the short rear gearing, meaning anything short of hauling an entire house up a mountain is quite literally effortless, and it’s more refined/sounds like less of a bus than I recall from the last High Output Powerstroke I drove. The brakes are, in a word, fantastic; very reassuring on a rig like this.
“I cannot believe this weighs less than an electric GM truck.”
Cabin and comfort • It’s a work truck first
This XLT-level test rig doesn’t have much in the way of options. You get an old-school cloth bench seating arrangement in the front, a relatively small 8-inch center screen powered by what appears to be Windows XP, heated mirrors, and not much else. It even uses a traditional bladed key. The only real nicety is the 8-way powered driver’s seat, which is surprisingly comfortable.
An XLT Premium package ($5,450; not equipped) adds a lot more; namely a surround view camera, bed and side lighting, a Bang and Olufsen sound system, a larger screen, more chrome and body-colored exterior trim, “Intelligent Access,” (read: a key fob) and heated seats. The last of those is the only option I found myself missing. Otherwise, I liked how “legit” this truck is, and it’s refined enough and quiet enough to feel like leather chairs would just be putting lipstick on a pig. It might be nice, but I’m not sure it would feel right. Ford can make a luxurious truck, but I find they’re at the best with down home rigs like this.
I shot this in a drop yard for tractor-trailers that I’ve used many, many times before without issue. This is the first time security came over and bothered me because they were worried I might drive off with a trailer!
Money & Value • The big question
And that brings me around to my last point: this honest-spec truck, a legitimate tool for work for people who actually need a tamed monster, rings in at $96,275. More than half of the trucks I’ve reviewed have cost over a hundred grand, and it’s amazing that this double-wide vault isn’t one of them. Everyone at the office saw a gargantuan, shiny black truck, with huge shiny aluminum wheels, and thought big money, but for all its big-time hardware, this undercuts more than half of the half-tons I’ve reviewed.
With its standard diesel engine (an option’s worth nearly twelve grand on other Ford Super Duty trucks) and surprisingly decent fuel economy that comes with (16.8L/100km observed), it, in a ridiculous way, makes more sense than you’d think. The truck-per-dollar ratio is off the charts.
Wrap it up
I’ve always liked trucks like this 2026 Ford F-450; specifically these big cab, big box, big nose and bigger hips, the biggest of the big bois. It’s so functional and so no-nonsense it almost can’t help but be incredibly cool, even if – or perhaps because of – it lacks so many of the frills of “lesser” trucks. I loathe that I didn’t have anything heavy to hook up behind it so I could make the most of all this big-time capability, but I still loved tooling around in my Tonka tank, masquerading as the manliest man.
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