Features and Equipment
The cabin of the Super Duty is consistent with what you should expect in a $60,000 truck designed to keep people comfortable on long Interstate tours. Ford has recently done interiors well, in terms of design and use of materials, and this Super Duty cockpit is no exception.
The Cabela's package features aniline leather trim, which is truly flawless, and the seats are nicely stitched. Wood-trim dash pieces work well with textured plastic dash surrounds. The driver's seat is well shaped and supportive, firm but not hard. It's so generously wide it actually restricts access to the door map pockets. The seats have adjustable lumbar support and provide a good amount of front legroom. Perhaps more important, the driver's seat can be moved up very close to the wheel. That, coupled with adjustable brake and throttle pedals, allows this country rig to be operated comfortably by the shortest of cowgirls. There are two memory switches that can recall seat and mirror settings. The four-spoke steering wheel has embedded cruise control buttons on the left hand, and audio controls on the right. We like the round, swiveling A/C vents, which are easy to adjust and highly directional - you can put warm or cool air wherever you want it.
With the Crew Cab, the back row actually offers more legroom than in front. The rear seats share the same gorgeous leather trim and offer adult legroom and adult headroom, though they do not recline or adjust. There is no center headrest, but there is a fixture for a car seat, and a 12-volt power plug - one of three in the cabin. We didn't ride in the back, but it would be a space two adults could occupy without feeling penalized.
The instruments consist of a large tach (5000 rpm, no redline) and speedometer (to 100 mph). Four one-inch gauges for boost, water temp, trans temp, and fuel are arrayed across the cluster. They're small, rather vaguely numbered, but they do keep tabs on critical functions. We'd love to see an EGT gauge, but for whatever reason, no OEM has ever seen fit to offer one. Also in the cluster is an info center that displays average mileage, miles to empty, the odometer, and two trip odometers. There are a total of eight cupholders, counting the two in the flip-down console in the back seat.
The built-in brake controller is a nice feature, as long as your trailer has a compatible brake system, and it's standard on the Super Duty. Another much-appreciated feature is the power towing-mirror system, which extend mirrors outward for good viewing around long trailers, offering normal and wide-angle views. Having come from a background where adjusting towing mirrors involved wrenches, we particularly appreciate the ease of this arrangement. Our test unit also had a rearview camera, mounted in the tailgate, which displays on the nav screen. The rear backup cam actually allowed us to get ball and hitch properly aligned solo. It took a few practice tries to get the hang of it, but it's a great advantage and good reason to pop for the $1875 nav system, which also includes satellite radio capability.
The Cabela's package consists of rubber floormats, painted tubular cab steps, power-sliding rear window, dual-zone auto temp control, memory group, adjustable gas/brake pedals, reverse vehicle aid sensor, heated seats, Sync media gateway module, unique two-tone exterior paint, and 10,000-pound GVWR package. Of those, we'd say the sliding rear window, reverse sensor, heated seats, media plug, and 10,000-pound GVWR are desirable options we'd pay for. If they're available for less than the $5390 the Cabela's package runs, we'd order them separately. We're not sunroof guys, so we'd save another $995, given the choice. The other options, nav/satellite radio system, $130 for traction control, and $470 for the rearview camera - seem like equipment we'd want on any truck we'd be likely to spend so much time in. The nav screen is small and distant, a little hard to reach from the driver's seat, and a little hard to see without our reading glasses. We've never been big fans of in-dash nav, but it seems the screen has become the gateway to audio and information functions, so you've got to have it. The Cabela's package adds logos on the seats and floormats and provides for lockable storage under the rear seats and center console. The underseat storage would be attractive to anyone who wants to secure firearms or fishing tackle.