Ford Australia’s engineers are masters of turning punishment into proof. At their You Yangs Proving Ground in Victoria, they put the Ranger Super Duty through a brutal test. They didn’t just drive it through mud – they buried it in 600kg of thick, sticky clay to see if it would still work.
Deep ruts cut through the terrain, waterlogged bog holes waited to swallow tyres, and long stretches of heavy clay clung to every surface. Engineers ran the pre-production Ranger Super Duty through this torture for days, letting each layer of mud dry before piling on more. By the end, the truck was carrying an extra 600kg of caked-on mud – the equivalent of a small car. Rob Hugo, Ford’s product excellence and human factors supervisor, put it simply: mud is a truck’s worst enemy. It adds weight, blocks airflow, traps heat and eats away at components like fans and alternators. This test was about finding weak points before they become problems.
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So what makes the Ranger Super Duty stand up to this abuse? It’s built for work, not show. A reinforced chassis with thicker rails and upgraded suspension mounts gives it the backbone to carry a 4,500kg GVM. The 3.0L V6 turbodiesel pumps out 154kW and 600Nm of torque, paired with a 10-speed auto and four-wheel drive. Front and rear differential locks, 33-inch General Grabber all-terrain tires and 11.77 inches of ground clearance let it dig in. Steel skid plates and a steel front bumper add protection, while a 130L fuel tank keeps it going longer.
To take it to the next level, engineers loaded the mud-caked Ranger Super Duty with an extra ton of weight – about the weight of an adult Brahman steer. Even with 600kg of clay choking its components, the truck didn’t complain. Ford’s team didn’t stop there, as earlier in development they put the Ranger Super Duty through a robotic torture test, driving it over 300 unique bumps to simulate years of rough terrain. Each lap hammered the suspension with 2,000 movements, 24 hours a day with only brief pauses for inspections and fuel.
This is the reality of the Ranger Super Duty’s target market: miners, off-roaders and workers who don’t have the luxury of a clean truck. In the Australian outback or New Zealand backcountry, vehicles face clay pits, creek beds and work sites where washing off the mud between jobs isn’t an option. Ford’s goal was to make sure every seal, clip and connector could withstand the corrosion and strain of constant debris. The result? A truck that doesn’t just survive but thrives when the going gets dirty.
Coming to Australia and New Zealand in 2026, the Ranger Super Duty will be available in Single, Super and Double Cab configurations, with cab-chassis models arriving first and wellside models later. In Australia, pricing starts at $82,990 for a basic cab-chassis, with a top-spec double-cab chassis and steel tray close to $100,000. Features like Pro Trailer Backup Assist, onboard scales and a Smart Hitch system make it as practical as it is tough. While North America gets Ford’s heavier F-Series Super Duty trucks, this midsize beast is for markets where ruggedness is king.
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