2020 Ford F-600 Super Duty Chassis & Driveline Upgrades Explained

After a slight delay, the Ford F-600 Super Duty is finally launching. Ford’s newest chassis cab truck is geared towards fleet buyers who need a GVWR capacity of the larger and heavier F-650 Medium Duty, but desire the size and maneuverability advantages of the F-550 Super Duty. In other words, the F-600 is a Class-6 truck in a Class-5 package.

The Blue Oval has stated that the F-600 features upgraded driveline and chassis parts compared to a standard F-550, on which the F-600 is based. All of these upgrades work to increase the F-600’s GVWR to an astounding 22,000 pounds. However, details surrounding exactly which components were upgraded have been scarce.

Ford Authority did some digging to find out exactly what was upgraded, and why.

The Ford F-600 Super Duty features wider and more robust wheels and tires to allow a greater GVWR

Chassis

On the chassis side, the F-600 uses tires and wheels from the F-650, thanks to their heavy duty construction and increased thickness, resulting in increased tire load capacity. The wheels are 6.75 inches wide (compared to 6 inches on the F-550) and are capable of supporting wider tires of 245 mm (compared to 225 mm) for increased tire load capacity.

“Even though the tires are upgraded, the overall height of the vehicle only increases by 3 millimeters vs. the F-550, allowing for easy ingress and egress as well as excellent maneuverability,” Elizabeth Kraft, Ford Commercial Vehicle Communications Manager, told Ford Authority.

The other major upgrade to the F-600 are upgraded brakes, which were enhanced in order to provide the additional stopping power needed to handle heavier loads.

Powertrain

On the powertrain side, the Ford F-600 features larger and heavier U joints / drive shaft joints. The exhaust system needed to be modified in order to clear the larger U joint crosses.

Additionally, Kraft tells us that the front axle has been upgraded to 7,500 pounds front GAWR.

Engineers also added frame reinforcements right behind the cab, where the fully boxed frame meets the C-channel.

Summary

Here’s a line-by-line list of upgrades Ford made to the F-600 over the F-550:

• Wider tires and wheels with increased tire load capacity, but with a minimal increase in overall ride height over the F-550
• Upgraded brakes to provide additional stopping power to support the higher GVWR
• Larger and heavier U joints, requiring a modification of the exhaust system to clear the upgraded drive shaft joints
• Upgraded front axle to support a 7,500-pound GAWR
• Additional frame reinforcements behind the cab

All these upgrades enable the F-600 – a name Ford last used in the late 1990s on a medium-duty truck – to tackle work in the most extreme locations and challenging environments.

The new commercial chassis cab model is offered in a single cab option – the Regular Cab. Two engine choices are in store – the Ford Godzilla 7.3L V8 gasoline engine rated at 350 horsepower and 468 pound-feet of torque, and the Ford 6.7L PowerStroke V8 diesel rated at 330 horsepower and 825 pound-feet of torque.

Both engines mate to the The Blue Oval’s new 10-speed automatic TorqShift transmission driving either the rear wheels (in 4X2 models) or all four wheels (in four-wheel-drive / 4X4 models). Since we’re on the topic of powertrain, it’s worth noting that the diesel engine will become available a few months after the gasoline motor.

Originally set to go on sale in the middle of 2020, the 2020 Ford F-600 is launching now with a starting price of $44,695. The truck is produced at the Ford Ohio Assembly Plant in Avon Lake, Ohio.

We’ll have more on the F-600 and all other Ford trucks soon, so be sure to subscribe to Ford Authority for more F-600 news 24/7 Ford news coverage.