There’s never a mountain around when you want one. Which, how often do folks doing serious towing and hauling want there to be mountains and hills? Still, thanks to intense Ford testing of all their F-series trucks, folks buying a new Ford F-Series Super Duty can know for sure that their truck can handle some of the steepest inclines in the world. Engineers even needed to develop new technology to simulate extreme hill driving for the 2017 Super Duty.
Read More: 2017 Ford Super Duty Truck Bed Optimized for Accessorization
Ford Super Duty Hill Driving Simulations
We wrote before about some of the intense, almost torturous tests that Super Duty trucks have to survive before they can be released into the wild. Now we have another one. Super Duty trucks have long been tested for their ability to handling severe inclines. Ford engineers, in order to test these vehicles on the extremely flat Ford testing ground, have built devices called dynamometers which attach to the truck and simulate the gravity resistance in hill and mountain driving.
“The dyno simulates steep grades by providing pull against the vehicle, using a brake limiter – a series of electric coils wired together that are energized, acting like a large magnet. This drawbar pull against the truck mimics the effects of gravity while driving up an incline.” Ford Motor Company Press Release, March 31, 2016
The dyno used in previous years was capable of a maximum drawbar pull of 2,000 pounds, but that was not enough to really test the capability of the new, lighter and stronger 2017 Ford Super Duty. Ford engineers now have a dyno that can pull up to 5,620 pounds, and simulate a 30 percent grade. To get an idea of scale, a seven percent grade is one of the more common simulations that trucks have to survive. One of the standard testing hills that truck designers use nationally is the Townes Pass, which has an average incline of 5.1 percent, and a maximum grade of 10.1 percent.
New Super Duty Capability
The new Super Duty, whether in standard or chassis cab body style, will be one of the toughest, strongest vehicles on the road, and any new truck purchaser can be guaranteed that this truck can handle hills as easily as flat worksites thanks to these Ford Super Duty hill driving simulations. Contact an Akins Ford sales representative to learn more about this great vehicle, or even schedule your test drive in advance of its arrival.
