Ford Dishes Up Smallish Medium-Duty F-600 Super Duty Chassis Cab at Work Truck Show
Indianapolis Debut Brings Additional Payload to Super Duty Lineup
Ford believes there’s space in the commercial market for trucks that have the capability of a Class 6 but the improved maneuverability of a Class 4, and it’s filling in that white space with the F-600 chassis cab. On sale in mid-2020, the F-600 will offer big-truck usefulness while still being relatively easy to drive.
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The truck, which resembles a traditional F-Series Super Duty, nonetheless offers a maximum gross vehicle weight rating of 22,000 pounds, placing it solidly in the Class 6 truck category currently occupied by the Chevrolet Silverado 6500HD and Ford F-650. Helping it achieve that kind of capability are commercial-grade 19.5-inch wheels all around, as well as uprated driveline and chassis components compared to the Ford F-550.
The F-600 will be available with Ford’s familiar 6.2L gasoline V-8, as well as the all-new 7.3L gasoline V-8 and the heavily revised third-generation Power Stroke 6.7L diesel V-8 recently revealed in the 2020 F-Series Super Duty. The 6.2L V-8 will be available with a TorqShift 10-speed automatic transmission, which will be standard on models equipped with the 7.3L and 6.7L V-8s.
Furthermore, the F-600 will also be available with four-wheel drive, making it a bit more attractive to severe-service vocations like forestry and snow removal. This option helps even the playing field between Ford’s fleet options and the Chevrolet Silverado 4500HD, 5500HD, and 6500HD, which offer four-wheel drive. Like other medium-duty offerings, the F-600 will also offer power take-off provisions, a live-drive system with up to 300 lb-ft of torque.
Finally, being based on the current-generation Super Duty, the F-600 will have a more comfortable and stylish interior than its F-650 and F-750 siblings. Those machines get the still-spacious cab from the previous-generation Super Duty. However, the F-600 might someday get more luxurious trappings than its work-truck equivalents, positioning it to do battle with Ram’s Limited-trim chassis cabs.
The F-600 was revealed at the 2019 Work Truck Show in Indianapolis alongside revised 2021 F-650/F-750 trucks, a significantly updated 2020 Transit lineup, a slightly modernized 2021 E-Series van, and added tech for the stripped-chassis F-53 and F-59.
Source: Ford
