These diesel Ford pickups can get the job done, whether that means helping out a stranded motorist or getting over rough terrain.
If you go to Youtube and search for footage of Ford trucks, you’ll see plenty of truck show videos that put a spotlight on immaculately clean builds featuring lifts and thousands of dollars worth of suspension hardware, upsized wheels, and more aggressive tires. Those displays serve as great examples of how much trucks can be modified, personalized, and upgraded, and certainly have their own unique appeal. Youtube also has plenty of videos of Ford trucks, especially those running on diesel power, on the opposite end of the spectrum.
Badass Diesels Club recently released a compilation of diesel trucks doing silly and impressive things. Not all of them are from the blue oval, but, of course, we kept an eye out for the Ford Super Dutys in the footage. A white ninth-generation F-350 with a generous lift and meaty tires rolling up a boat ramp shows just how handsome the modern classic still is. Someone in a first-gen Super Duty uses the blue beast’s ample – and smokey – power to effortlessly charge up a steep sand dune.
The late-’60s/early-’70s F-Series may be an old-timer by now, but its age doesn’t stop the owner of a red stake-bed model with chunky rubber from climbing over a rocky ridge with ease.
A silver Super Duty faces what seems to be an even tougher challenge: pulling a rig with not one but two trailers behind it. Key words: seems to be. The Ford has no problem taking care of business. Once it digs into the dirt, it yanks the once-immobilized giant away.
A rutted, muddy path can’t slow down another Super Duty driver who’s determined to get to the end of the trail, although it can cover almost all of the truck with a natural brown paint job. And it does.
It’s fun to watch these Ford trucks getting dirty, but the sand and mud aren’t what make the video so satisfying. It’s the fact that the trucks are being used. As great as they would look all shined up and sitting still under fluorescent lights, they look even better roaring through the outdoors.
Derek Shiekhi's father raised him on cars. As a boy, Derek accompanied his dad as he bought classics such as post-WWII GM trucks and early Ford Mustang convertibles.
After loving cars for years and getting a bachelor's degree in Business Management, Derek decided to get an associate degree in journalism. His networking put him in contact with the editor of the Austin-American Statesman newspaper, who hired him to write freelance about automotive culture and events in Austin, Texas in 2013. One particular story led to him getting a certificate for learning the foundations of road racing.
While watching TV with his parents one fateful evening, he saw a commercial that changed his life. In it, Jeep touted the Wrangler as the Texas Auto Writers Association's "SUV of Texas." Derek knew he had to join the organization if he was going to advance as an automotive writer. He joined the Texas Auto Writers Association (TAWA) in 2014 and was fortunate to meet several nice people who connected him to the representatives of several automakers and the people who could give him access to press vehicles (the first one he ever got the keys to was a Lexus LX 570). He's now a regular at TAWA's two main events: the Texas Auto Roundup in the spring and the Texas Truck Rodeo in the fall.
Over the past several years, Derek has learned how to drive off-road in various four-wheel-drive SUVs (he even camped out for two nights in a Land Rover), and driven around various tracks in hot hatches, muscle cars, and exotics. Several of his pieces, including his article about the 2015 Ford F-150 being crowned TAWA's 2014 "Truck of Texas" and his review of the Alfa Romeo 4C Spider, have won awards in TAWA's annual Excellence in Craft Competition. Last year, his JK Forum profile of Wagonmaster, a business that restores Jeep Wagoneers, won prizes in TAWA’s signature writing contest and its pickup- and SUV-focused Texas Truck Invitational.
