If you’re looking for a Ford truck to use as an everyday vehicle, then it’s pretty easy to pick something like the F-150 and call it a day. But if you’re interested in a large commercial truck, especially when looking at the available Ford diesel trucks, then things get a bit more complicated. The different options and features of commercial vehicles are great, giving you a platform that can be adapted to your work needs. You might be able to get away with a standard pickup truck, but a chassis cab model that you can upfit and customize is often a better option.
Which truck is best all comes down to your business, what sort of fleet you might already have, and what you specifically need from a truck. Since I can’t answer all of those things for you, I’m going to instead focus on some features and specs that will help you figure out which truck might be right. In particular, I’m going to take you through the diesel engines available on the high-end commercial trucks from Ford and the kind of weight each model can handle. With this information, you should be able to make a pretty good call on which truck is right for you.
Ford Commercial Truck Overview
Before I get into any specs, I wanted to take a moment to go over what I’m going to be looking at. While something like the Ford F-150 can certainly work as a truck for a job or a small business, I’m really only going to focus on the most powerful trucks available. When it comes to Ford diesel trucks, these are the heavy-lifters and the models that can do some serious work.
So if you’re interested in a chassis cab that you can stick a large dump bin on or a similar platform to turn into an indispensable work truck for your fleet, these are the models you’ll want to look at. It’s worth noting that these models are available with both gas and diesel engines, though the high torque of the diesel engines makes them a great choice. While you can get a Ford F-350 or F-450 pickup, I’m really looking at their chassis cab versions today because that is the most comparable to the larger trucks that I’m also covering.
The Ford F-350 Chassis Cab
First up, we have the 2021 Ford F-350 Chassis Cab, which is similar to the standard F-350 model but omits the pickup bed in favor of a chassis cab design. This truck is perfect if you don’t need something really massive, but you want a platform that you can build upon rather than a standard pickup. The F-350 is available with a 6.7L Power Stroke V8 Turbo Diesel engine, which delivers 330 hp and 825 lb-ft of torque for really impressive performance. This same engine is available on the F-450, F-550, and F-600, so if you like it and the power that it provides, then you’re good on most of the Ford diesel trucks I’m looking at today.
In terms of actual muscle and performance, that will depend on the overall configuration you choose. Since we’re talking about chassis cab models, I’m going to look at the Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR) since that will give you a sense of how much weight it can handle. With the available diesel engine, the Ford F-350 Chassis Cab has a maximum GVWR of up to 14,000 lbs. when properly configured. This gives you a lot of weight to play with between the upfit on the truck and any payload you need to carry.
The Ford F-450 Chassis Cab
Looking at the F-450 Chassis Cab model, which, as I said, has the same V8 diesel engine available, the maximum GVWR is 16,500 lbs when properly configured. As you can see, this is not a massive upgrade from the F-350, but it is pretty substantial. An extra 2,500 lbs can certainly make a difference, depending on what you need it for. It’s worth noting that the minimum GVWR for the F-450 with the diesel engine is 15,000 lbs – so any model can match the maximum weight of the F-350.
The Ford F-550 Chassis Cab
Next up, we have the F-550, one of the largest Ford diesel trucks available; at this point, you’re no longer looking at models that are also available as standard consumer pickups. These are now strictly commercial trucks, and they’re designed to handle a massive amount of weight and nearly any upfit. When properly configured, a Ford F-550 has a maximum GVWR of up to 19,500 lbs. That’s significantly more weight than the F-450 can handle and over 5,000 lbs more than the F-350.
The Ford F-600 Chassis Cab
The Ford F-600 is probably the largest truck most people will look at, even when exclusively considering a commercial truck. This is one of the most impressive Ford diesel trucks around, and it can handle a massive amount of weight, as you’d expect. When properly configured, the 2021 Ford F-600 Chassis Cab has a maximum GVWR of up to 22,000 lbs. At this point, you’re a full 8,000 lbs. higher than the F-350, and you’re looking at double the GVWR of a lot of light-duty trucks.
The Ford F-650 Chassis Cab
Next up, we have the first of the two largest and most powerful options available from Ford, which also have different engines than the smaller chassis cab models. The F-650 and F-750 Chassis Cabs both have a 6.7L Power Stroke V8 Turbo Diesel engine available, but you can choose different amounts of power for it. It can come rated for 270 hp and 700 lb-ft of torque, 300 hp and 725 lb-ft of torque, or 330 hp and 750 lb-ft of torque, depending on what you need.
In terms of how much weight you can load onto this Ford diesel truck, it can depend a bit on the configuration you choose. The configuration and other options impact GVWR, with the lower-rated models maxing out at the same 22,000 lbs as the F-600. But the highest-rated F-650 weighs in at 29,000 lbs. You might notice that’s another huge increase from the previous models, and at this point, you’re really looking at a niche option for very specific uses that require this much weight.
The Ford F-750 Chassis Cab
The king of Ford diesel trucks is the F-750 Chassis Cab. It has a GVWR of up to 37,000 lbs, which is more than two F-450s combined and allows this mighty truck to handle virtually any job. Honestly, if you’re looking at these Ford diesel trucks, then you probably already have a sense of what you need for your business, or you should work with a salesperson experienced with handling commercial vehicles.
Final Considerations
So, in the end, what does all of this mean? Well, when looking at Ford diesel trucks, it pretty much plays out as you would expect. Going up the list of what’s available means more power and the ability to handle more weight, which makes sense. Now, all you have to do is figure out what your GVWR needs are and then choose the right Ford diesel truck to handle it.
