Bill Pierre Ford

This is the last report of our 2008 Pickup Truck Of The Year Winner, the Ford Super Duty. In the year of service it spent with Four Wheeler, our truck has been tasked to help people move, participate in desert clean-ups, towed various projects all over the country (including Colonel Mustard to Moab for Easter Jeep Safari), helped test trailers for our award-winning sister publication RV magazine, and gone wheeling from Pismo to Joshua Tree.

Over the 25,000 miles we put on the Super Duty, we were impressed with the reliability and power of the 6.4L V-8 and the comfort of the ride. While there is no mistaking it for a car, the exceptionally laid-out interior, ample size and quiet cab make for an incredible long range hauler. Hook a trailer to it, and the Super Duty is in its element. With 650 lb-ft of torque making towing effortless, even when passing, downshifts are rare and the backup camera makes single-person hitching a breeze. We have put as many as 17 straight hours in the saddle, through all types of weather, and hardly felt worse for the wear. The FX4 package gives a good mix of capability on and off highway, while retaining the Super Duty’s on-road manners.

Complaints mostly centered around the clean diesel particulate filter’s regeneration mode with testers commenting in the logbook, “One can re-set the trip computer mpg function at fill up, then enjoy 18 mpg on the hwy for a while, only to see the numbers plummet to the single digits as soon as the engine controller dials up another trap cleaning-guess it’s not hard to figure out why the mileage isn’t the same as the old trucks,” and “Throttle response, intake sound and exhaust note all change for the worse during a DPF regeneration cycle, but the 500-degree exhaust tips are perfect for heating burritos”. We also noted a rough ride over broken roads, but otherwise we’re hard-pressed for complaints.

Minor damage was incurred when our Super Duty was rear-ended by an inattentive driver in the rain.

Reliability, as we noted in previous reports, was great with only a rear door-lock solenoid and a tire pressure monitoring sensor needing replacement.

Over the course of this past year, Ford’s Super Duty has given us exceptional service and has reinforced our positive feelings for the big truck. We saw none of the early-6.0L diesel gremlins that our readers asked us to be on the lookout for, and in day-to-day use, the 6.4L has proven itself trustworthy and capable of carrying on the Power Stroke banner. If this year of experience with the F-350 proved anything, it was that we made the right choice in crowning it our 2008 PTOTY winner.

Report: 4 of 4

Previous reports: July ‘08, Nov. ‘08, Mar. ‘09
Base price: $36,850
Price as tested: $56,095
Four-wheel-drive system: Two-speed, part-time electronic, shift on the fly

Long-Term Numbers
Miles to date: 25,845
Miles since last report: 9,016
Average mpg (this report): 13.44
Test best tank (mpg): 15.07
Test worst tank (mpg): 6.61 (towing)

Maintenance
19,896-miles: 20K service and fuel filters, $475.34
23,043-miles: Recall and replace TPMS sensor, warranty
24,975-miles: Service and rotation, $153.38
Problem Areas: Door lock solenoid, tire pressure sensor

What’s Hot, What’s Not
Hot: Clean diesel, outstanding visibility, exceptional as a tow rig
Not: Clean diesel fuel economy, rough ride on broken roads, not much

Logbook Quotes
* “Cruise control cut out and truck went down on power. Restart cleared it – no more problems.”
* “The mirrors are outstanding, as is the overall visibility.”
* “The ride can be stiff at times, but get it out on the highway with a load on the hitch and it is as smooth as anything.”
* “I am impressed with the 6.4L, it has proven to be a solid motor with no lack of power.”

If you knew the builder of these trucks also built real firefighting brush trucks, would you call “Lil Squirt” and “Silly Willy” art imitating life, or life imitating art? If you ask Jeff Cook, owner of 1st Attack Engineering, he’ll answer, “Both!”

Cook is a graduate of “Monster Truck University” and “Custom Truck College,” as well as a trained firefighter with 18 years experience. It makes for an interesting mix of experience. Shortly after graduating from Northwestern College with a tech degree, Cook went headlong into the world of monster trucks, building and driving trucks for several teams, including his own, the legendary “War Wagon”. His father, Jack Cook, is well known in the Midwest for building custom cars and trucks and Jeff spent his early days at Cook’s Body Shop in Auburn, Indiana, learning the custom car trade from a master.

Into the breach! Lil Squirt does what any good brush truck does in a wheat stubble fire–put it out as quickly as possible. With around 850 horsepower on tap, “quick” definitely applies.

After becoming a local volunteer firefighter, he put those fabrication skills to work building a brush truck for his fire company. In the process, he discovered a life’s work and founded a company, Wildfire Manufacturing. While not running the monster truck circuit, he built fire trucks. Business picked up enough that he recently left monster trucks behind to focus on fire trucks. The name of the company has recently changed to 1st Attack Engineering after nearly 10 years as Wildfire.

Silly Willy was constructed in 2002 to highlight the design and construction skills of the company. It’s built on a custom chassis and suspension and mounts a ‘52 Willy pickup cab. Lil Squirt was built in ‘05, also on a custom chassis, but with four-wheel steering. Both have a lot of “show” and are regularly seen on the show and truck Jambo circuits, as well as at firefighting conventions.

They have a “go” side, however, and it may surprise you. They are both fully functional brush trucks, mounting 1st Attack hardware, and every once in a while, they are allowed to flex their firefighting muscles. Such was the case in the fall of 2008, when they appeared at a training fire set in a wheat field. Yep, they may be “just” show trucks, but they can do the job of a brush fire truck. When asked why he would risk the expensive trucks, Cook replied, “Oh, they’ll clean up.”

Lil Squirt uses a fiberglass body to represent a ‘37 Ford truck. The chassis and underpinnings are a smaller version of what you might see on a competition monster truck. The bed and firefighting apparatus are just the same as used on production 1st Attack brush rigs, which can include the 200-gallon water tank, Honda-powered fire pump, and two -inch handlines on reels as seen here. The outward-facing jump seats, from which firefighters can safely work a fire while strapped in and protected by a rollcage, are a signature 1st Attack feature.

Silly Willy uses a ‘52 Willys pickup body on a custom, monster truck-style chassis. It’s powered by a 454 fed by a Gerardot racing-style fuel injection system, adapted for gasoline. The power feeds through a built TH 400 trans and into a New Process 205 transfer case. From there, power goes to a Dana 70 front axle from an IH application and an Eaton rear dropout-style axle used in a 1 -ton truck. Silly Willy also mounts a 1st Attack bed system with water tank, 3/4-inch hand lines, fire pump and jump seats. It also carries a chainsaw and a backpack sprayer for hot spots.