Orlando Sentinel's view

I call it the Crusher.

There aren’t too many civilian vehicles bigger than the F-250 Super Duty SuperCab pickup from Ford.

The F-250 takes up nearly the entire lane, it rides very high and is so long that it won’t fit in many garages.

Ford designed this truck for commercial users but found that buyers are snapping it up for personal use. Although the F-250 offers all the creature comforts of the regular F-series trucks, it also has a tough-as-nails industrial feel to it.

If too much truck is just enough, you may like what the F-250 has to offer.

PERFORMANCE, HANDLING

There’s nothing lightweight about the F-250, and that especially pertains to what you can get under the huge hood. No matter which engine you choose, the F-250 will work hard.

For starters, the F-250 comes standard with a 235-horsepower, 5.4-liter, overhead-cam V-8.

Next on the option list is the engine that came in our bright-red test truck, a stump-pulling 6.8-liter, overhead-cam V-10 engine that is rated at 275-horsepower. No other automaker offers a 10-cylinder, overhead-cam engine.

Then there is a rugged 7.3-liter, turbocharged “Powerstroke” diesel engine on the options list. This motor is designed for those who would use the truck to pull extremely heavy loads. The diesel is rated at 235-horsepower and a whopping 500 foot-pounds of torque. In a truck designed for work, torque is important. It’s the measurement of the force that causes the wheels to rotate. The heavier the load, the more torque is required to spin the wheels.

At 410 foot-pounds of torque, the V-10 engine has ample strength. The first time I drove the F-250, I inadvertently made the rear tires screech. You have to learn to touch the accelerator lightly when you move away from a stop light, or the rear tires will spin on dry pavement.

The V-10 engine runs reasonably smoothly and quietly. Acceleration is strongest at lower speeds, and the F-250 V-10 could use a bit more mid-range power – such as at 45 mph when you step on the gas to pass slower traffic.

Our test truck came with a four-speed overdrive automatic transmission. If you would rather shift, you can save $970 and get the F-250 with a five-speed manual transmission.

The automatic is an excellent gearbox for this truck. The shifts are well timed and very crisp. A button on the shifter lets you keep the transmission from shifting into fourth gear, a useful feature when pulling heavy loads.

Ford’s four-wheel drive system is easy to use. You just turn a knob on the dash to switch from two- to four-wheel drive.

If there’s anything that takes a little getting used to in the F-250, it’s the suspension system.

The Super Duty F-250 is based on a larger, longer, stronger chassis than the F-150. The F-250 has the stiffest suspension system I can ever recall in a truck. It’s extremely sturdy and rugged. You need to have a hardy constitution to drive the F-250, because even the smallest bumps shake your kidneys.

This probably is not a truck that most women would like. Two female passengers thought there was something wrong with the truck because it shook so hard when I drove over bumps.

But the suspension system has to be extra stiff. You can load more than 3,000 pounds – roughly a Honda Accord – in the bed, so the springs can’t sag under such heavy loads. Such is the commercial nature of this animal.

Anti-lock, four-wheel disc brakes are standard, and they stop the vehicle well.

Because of its size, the F-250 can be a bit rough to live with.

Hitting the drive-through at the local junk food restaurant can pose a problem. So can using a drive-up automatic teller machine.

The truck is so wide and so high, you might not be able to get close enough to the window to get your food or to carry out your transaction without getting out of the truck. One neat feature: The two huge outside mirrors fold in easily. You can reach out of the windows and pull in the mirro rs so that they are almost flush against the body. This lets you get closer to the drive-in window or ATM.

Parking also can be a hassle. The F-250 takes up nearly every inch of a regular parking space. And the only way to park so that others can open their doors is to pull straight into a space – not always an easy thing to do.

In a parking garage at Pointe Orlando, the F-250’s roof seemed uncomfortably close to the cement beams on the ceiling. The antenna smacked the ceiling as we tried to find a parking space.

These are not complaints, just observations of what it’s like to drive such a large vehicle. You have to make minor compromises here and there, but you get used to it.

FIT AND FINISH

However, no compromises are necessary when it comes to the way the F-250 is built and equipped.

The F-250 is a well-made machine. The parts fit together tightly and are made of high-grade materials. I particularly like the feel of the switches and buttons, the material on the seats and the carpet. You get the feeling that the F-250 will wear well over years of hard use.

Our test truck came with power windows, mirrors, door locks, cruise control, air conditioning, a CD player, a plastic bed liner and more. At $31,000 and change, it offered excellent value for the money.

The cruise control buttons are on the steering wheel. They light up at night and are easy to use.

I can think of just two areas that need improvement: the rear seat and the seat belts. The lower cushion is not very wide. It wasn’t easy to place an infant seat back there and buckle it up securely.

The SuperCab is a four-door truck. When you open the two rear doors, the seat belts for the front seats block entry to the rear seats. If Ford were to incorporate the seat belts into the seats as other automakers have done, this problem would be solved.

Although the F-250 can be taxing to drive at times, I like this truck. And so did many other people driving pickups. It turned quite a few heads on my one-week, 450-mile test drive.

In America, where bigger often is perceived as better, the F-250 4×4 Super Duty SuperCab reigns supreme.

1999 Ford F-250 Super Duty SuperCab

Base price: $24,755.

Safety: Dual air bags, anti-lock brakes and side-impact protection.

Price as tested: $31,195.

EPA rating: N/A.

Incentives: None.

Truett’s tip: The big, bruising F-250 Super Duty SuperCab 4×4 is a massive truck that can be difficult to drive in the city. But it is a handsome, well-made workhorse.