2026 Super Duty PowerBoost

[Highway 11]

1 ? 2 Ford - why not build the super duty in the USA where the majority of the trucks are sold?

Oakville solves a lot of problems for Ford.

The Ford Edge was produced there, but now it's an idle plant without a product to make. It was supposed to become an EV manufacturing hub, but with the hard downturn in EV demand, they had to push those plans back years and then shelve them entirely.

Unfortunately for Ford, when they negotiated their last contract with Unifor (the union for Canadian Auto Workers), they stipulated a future for Oakville and transition supports while the plant was retooled and converted. So they're paying workers to wait until they get a new model to build.

Despite that, Unifor has been much easier to deal with than the UAW. They didn't go on strike and they agreed to increases less than the UAW stipulated. There's no Canadian Shawn Fain to deal with. Plus, Canadian wages are lower due to the Canadian dollar being pegged around 1 CAD for 0.73 USD.

So, you have an empty, relatively modern plant with no product to make and a sales hit with not enough manufacturing capacity. You can make this sales hit at that plant using cheaper, more stable labour (that you're paying anyways) an hour from the American border with multiple highways, border crossings, and rail crossings to access said border and market without any financial penalty due to the current free trade agreement.

Why would Ford NOT build the Super Duty in Oakville?

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[Snakebitten]

Great post.
Makes a lot of sense.

 

[JExpedition07]

Kentucky Truck Plant is not going anywhere as well, they are simply adding Oakville to increase supply. The Super Duty is Fords #1 selling product in the portfolio.

 

[WhiteLightningnshitshadow]

So far I've found 1 bent frame (13th gen+) outside of an accident, it was an overloaded 2.7 screw (baby frame) running 50% over its rated towing using airbags, hauling gravel in a dump trailer that found a "hidden" speed bump at 25mph. It bent the frame at the airbags that had to have been maxed out to keep that 2.7 single leaf off the bump stops. These aren't your grandpa's trucks.

There's greater than 7mil 13gen+ F150s on the road with people that aren't afraid to abuse them and between frame bending reports and axles breaking, it takes A LOT of abuse or a manufacturing defect to damage them. We know why the PBs have been slowly derated in towing -- the rad is insufficient for high/hot/heavy. Ford has ALL of our telemetry. They know more about the trucks than the owners do. Given the verbiage of farleys latest tweet regarding PPOB, it appears the trucks call home when they're exceeding 1kW of power output.

I have no doubt that when towing, they've got parameters set to begin storing/transmitting data when certain events/thresholds occur -- as in the fidelity of data collection depends on the variables at play. At least daily they call home with a cursory overview of daily activity, and when the vehicle is really doing some work, they begin collecting A LOT of data. That data's value to the engineering team is a gold mine. With the proper ML behind it, they can likely tell not only the mass of the trailer, but its aerodynamic profile as well. They can even ascertain the quality of fuel you're using. Hopefully before too long we'll see predictive service alerts as they'll be able to tell when a part or subsystem is failing. The only thing that sucks about that is if you have a factory warranty, they'll be able to tell if it will fail outside of warranty and at that point they'll likely not alert you of that. This can be done with yesterday's technology FWIW, they just need to up their game. With the guys they've been able to get from tesla, I'd be very surprised if this isn't already going on behind the scenes. From the wiper recall alone, they made clear they're using predictive modeling.

The predictive service alerts should be used to fix all vehicles despite the bean counter's desires. Customer satisfaction / brand quality should be the primary focus. Take for instance the reports of ABS units taking a shit. We need to get everyone with ABS failures to report them to NHTSA so ford is forced to act. Given the report of one user saying there's 280+ backorders for ABS units and the fact we've seen no less than 3 reports, that seems to track with each forum report representing 100 actual instances as was illustrated with the HD axle bolt failure.

Just want to add the 2.7s crew cabs have the regular HD frame, or at least mine does. I dont have the chart in front of me, but it wasnt the lightest frame. I think iirc, it was .094"? I cant recall what gets the light duty frame. Maybe RCSB?

 

[Highway 11]

Just want to add the 2.7s crew cabs have the regular HD frame, or at least mine does. I dont have the chart in front of me, but it wasnt the lightest frame. I think iirc, it was .094"? I cant recall what gets the light duty frame. Maybe RCSB?

 

[wayfarer556]

F350 springs, and the heavier axles
Add the 6.7 or 7.3
Super duties already can hit 14k gvwr
And that's a f350 dual rear wheels crew cab
Having the pb. Option is freaking great
But price, insurance etc will be interesting
Folks towing heavy rvs. Can ditch tye propane generators, and gain weight carry capacity in the rv
Let truck power it up
2026 is not that far......away

 

[HammaMan]

Just want to add the 2.7s crew cabs have the regular HD frame, or at least mine does. I dont have the chart in front of me, but it wasnt the lightest frame. I think iirc, it was .094"? I cant recall what gets the light duty frame. Maybe RCSB?

I was referencing frames of the 145" WBs, there are 4 frames and the HD is the smallest of them. The truck was a 4" lifted 2.7 crew w/ 22s carrying a hydraulic dump trailer putting him around 12klbs w/ who knows what on the tongue. That's his admitted weights anyway. Hydro dump trailers come in at 4klbs empty and it doesn't take much gravel to get them to 14k. He ghosted after posting. 4" lift on 22s w/ likey a ton on the hitch (not WDH). I'm impressed it took that to bend it. Likely experienced 12klbs or more shock on the hitch when those back wheels smacked the speed bump --didn't post what he had the bags at or anything else for that matter.

 

[Pelican]

Oakville solves a lot of problems for Ford.

The Ford Edge was produced there, but now it's an idle plant without a product to make. It was supposed to become an EV manufacturing hub, but with the hard downturn in EV demand, they had to push those plans back years and then shelve them entirely.

Unfortunately for Ford, when they negotiated their last contract with Unifor (the union for Canadian Auto Workers), they stipulated a future for Oakville and transition supports while the plant was retooled and converted. So they're paying workers to wait until they get a new model to build.

Despite that, Unifor has been much easier to deal with than the UAW. They didn't go on strike and they agreed to increases less than the UAW stipulated. There's no Canadian Shawn Fain to deal with. Plus, Canadian wages are lower due to the Canadian dollar being pegged around 1 CAD for 0.73 USD.

So, you have an empty, relatively modern plant with no product to make and a sales hit with not enough manufacturing capacity. You can make this sales hit at that plant using cheaper, more stable labour (that you're paying anyways) an hour from the American border with multiple highways, border crossings, and rail crossings to access said border and market without any financial penalty due to the current free trade agreement.

Why would Ford NOT build the Super Duty in Oakville?

Thank you for the in depth feedback Highway 11. It does make sense based on what you shared; however, the entire F-Series lineup is the bread and butter of Ford. So, why not move some other vehicle to Oakville and make all F-Series trucks in the USA to ensure the quality is there? IMO, the recent contract issues Ford has with the UAW are all as a result of Farley's unwillingness to take a personal interest in working with the UAW as Mulally did. Anywho, I digress.

 

[zacko11288]

everyone’s dream truck soon to be a reality.

https://fordauthority.com/2024/07/next-generation-ford-super-duty-will-get-hybrid-variant/

That's going to be a heavy truck

 

[wessermgm]

That's going to be a heavy truck

That's why I think that they might go with the 6.8L instead of the 7.3L for this. Anything to keep the weight down.

I have driven both, and I really like the 6.8L (I like the 7.3L more, but I was really surprised at how close it was between the two). If you added the PB's HP and torque kick a 6.8L Powerboost would put the Godzilla to shame and likely get close to 18-20 MPG. I would probably be cheaper than the diesel, yet get similar fuel efficiency. Won't ever come close to those torque numbers, but I would think that 500-550 lb ft is achievable. That should placate 75% of 3/4 ton owner needs.

 

[JExpedition07]

Idk if it’s worth it to go down to the 6.8 for the hybrid but I do get and follow your thought process. Last I checked though they are within 8 pounds of each other. That really isn’t going to affect anything. The 6.8 Liter was intended for half ton use if you reference the unifor contract….It’s intended use is actually as an F-150 engine. It is currently only available on XL trim F-250, anything XLT or up 4WD, or F-350 forces you up to the 7.3L. The 6.8 is a very niche segment of HD’s right now. It’s odd to even carry it imo.

 

[wessermgm]

Idk if it’s worth it to go down to the 6.8 for the hybrid but I do get and follow your thought process. Last I checked though they are within 8 pounds of each other. That really isn’t going to affect anything. The 6.8 Liter was intended for half ton use if you reference the unifor contract….It’s intended use is actually as an F-150 engine. It is currently only available on XL trim F-250, anything XLT or up 4WD, or F-350 forces you up to the 7.3L. The 6.8 is a very niche segment of HD’s right now. It’s odd to even carry it imo.

I get your points, but you are incorrect that the 6.8L is only available on XL and 2WD, It is available on 4WD on both XL and XLT trims. I also disagree that you say it is a niche, it is popular with fleet orders. But you are right, it is odd that they developed another DEVCT engine so similar to the 7.3L, it is almost like they had some special plans for it....

 

[JExpedition07]

I get your points, but you are incorrect that the 6.8L is only available on XL and 2WD, It is available on 4WD on both XL and XLT trims. I also disagree that you say it is a niche, it is popular with fleet orders. But you are right, it is odd that they developed another DEVCT engine so similar to the 7.3L, it is almost like they had some special plans for it....

7.3 is mandatory if you go to a 4x4 crew cab XLT F-250 or F-350 in the US when I tried building one just now. I Think you are looking at regular cabs.

 

[JExpedition07]

 

[wessermgm]

I'm in the configurator right now and it let's me do an XLT crew cab 4x4 with the 6.8L.

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