It seems Ford is back at it again with the high-altitude testing! If you recall, the last time I caught Ford in Colorado was when they were testing some Broncos, Bronco Sports, and a few Raptor-looking F-150 pickup trucks. This time around, the testing fleet is filled with the upcoming 2023 Ford Super Duty lineup of trucks.
Seemingly slipped through the cracks amidst other news (it certainly did for me), Ford has actually been testing these updated Super Duty trucks for a little under a year now! Apparently first being spotted back in October of 2021 (the earliest article I could find on the subject). Since then, Ford has continued the development process, which has now led them to Colorado for the aforementioned testing!
According to Ford Authority, these 2023 Super Duty trucks are not next-gen trucks (much to the chagrin of some I imagine). Instead, they are redesigns of the existing 2022 model year lineup (similar to the 4.5 generation RAM HD trucks, though possibly not that extreme). In other words, the 2023 Ford Super Duty trucks will receive updates, but not an all-new platform. Speaking of the aforementioned outlet, they also claim these 2023 HD Fords seem to have dashboards exceedingly similar to the one on current F-150s. While I sadly didn’t get any interior shots myself, the spy trucks on Ford Authority look extremely similar to the ones I saw, so it seems like a pretty safe bet to me they’re right. What’s more, RAM did this very thing when making the 4.5-generation HD trucks (2500 through 4500), so Ford doing the same for their trucks wouldn’t be surprising if true. After all, if consumers like the design, why not add it to more trucks?
As far as engines go, I’ve found no information indicating changes for the 2023 model year. However, automakers usually increase power and torque with redesigns like this (however modestly), and that’s what I’m expecting will happen here. With that important contextual information out of the way, let’s talk about what I saw.
Firstly, there were various non-dually “regular” Super Duties running around like this black version pictured here. In each case, they all appear to differ minimally (if at all) from the outgoing Super Duty models. If you can recognize the side of the 2021 or 2022s from a glance, it’s very likely you’ll be able to do the same with the updated 2023s. Therefore, to state the obvious, the biggest visual exterior change for the 2023s is in the face.
Of course, it’s not exactly easy to view the extent to which changes have been made thanks to all the camo (obviously by design). Even still, there are one or two noteworthy alterations that can be seen even behind all the padding. The first of which being the new grille design.
Ford, America’s truck leader for 44 consecutive years, is rolling out smart and stylish upgrades for the 2022 F-Series Super Duty as it continues to offer the highest available payload, and max conventional and fifth-wheel towing.
Above is an image of a current 2022 Super Duty truck. Notice something about the grille? Indeed, the slit between the middle bars is thinner on the ’22 than it is on the ’23. What’s more, though it’s kind of hard to see, there seems to be another bar just below the two centrally located ones. Here’s a larger version of my photo so you can better see what I’m talking about.
What that means for the face I’m not sure. It either just marks where the front bumper ends and the grille begins, or there’s something more interesting at play. Perhaps indicative of some kind of wrap-around design?
In this photo, we’ve got yet another “non-dually” F-250 just sitting around chilling (well, as chill as you can be when you have vehicular paparazzi in the area). Here, we can see that the central grille bars appear to perfectly sit above and below the hazard lights/turn signals, giving a bit more credence to my “wrap-around design” speculation. What’s more, there doesn’t seem to be a split in the turn signals like there is in the ’22 MY Super Duty seen in the official photo above. Oh, and then there’s that weird kick-out on the bed just in front of the rear wheel. There’s no padding or cladding in that area so that’s something to do with the bed itself. Very strange.
Beyond those things, however, the rest of the truck looks fairly unchanged to my somewhat untrained eyes. The air-dam that many modern trucks have is present, the mirrors don’t seem to be a new shape, there’s none of the “Super Cruise” technology other Super Duty development vehicles have been spotted wearing, and it’s not like the overall shape of this new Super Duty has been massively changed either.
To compound those thoughts, check out this profile photo. Tell me if I’m wrong in the comments below, but I’m not seeing any major changes to the cab (despite there being camouflage on it). Moreover, the lug count is only eight, so nothing overly fascinating there either.
Speaking of lug nuts, check out this chassis cab. Like the truck above, this too only has eight lug nuts, leading me to believe this chassis cab is an F-350 chassis cab. I did a little searching around and someone made a comment on a different article about these trucks that the one in those photos only had eight lugs, and they reckoned that meant it was an F-350. As such, I’m guessing that means F-450 and F-550s have 10 lugs, but keep in mind that is only my guess.
Regardless, it’s clear that all the design elements we’ve been talking about are well accounted for here too (save for the bed and rear taillights of course).
Thanks for reading! Much more photos of all the trucks I saw can be found in the gallery below! Feel free to comment and let me know what you think (and tell me if you spot something particularly interesting).
