At the top of the truck segments, the air is different to what we get elsewhere on the market. Life cycles are longer, and Detroit’s Big Three focus on giving customers what they need—a truck that can get any sort of job done—rather than making headlines thanks to flashy new features. And the time has come to zoom in on the upcoming 2023 Ford Super Duty, with a prototype dropping its front-end camouflage in a recent spy video.
For starters, the 2023 Ford Super Duty should mark the second important revision of the truck, so you shouldn’t expect an all-new generation (more on this below). And while we’ve discussed these future trucks before, this is the first time when a test vehicle loses the heavy front-end camo.
Back in 2016 (2017 model year) when the Blue Oval introduced the current, seventh-generation Super Duty, the company made a massive change. The first all-new SD range since the series’ 1998 debut, mixes a frame using 95% high-strength steel with an all-aluminum body like that of the current F-150, while the two lines also share the cab design for the first time.
2019 saw the Super Duty receiving an important refresh for the 2020MY. The exterior changes cover the front grille, tailgate and wheel styling. More importantly, the engine range welcomed the all-new 7.3L V8 Godzilla gas engine (430 hp, 475 lb-ft). In addition, the 7.3L Power Stroke diesel has been bumped to 475 hp and 1,050 lb-ft of torque. And while the F-150 lost its diesel power last year, the 2023 Super Duty is expected to maintain the 6.7L oil burner, as dictated by the massive payload and towing necessities of the segment.
The 2023 Super Duty’s revised face
The test vehicle seems to unveil the updated front end treatment. And we can clearly see a new grille, perhaps reminding us of the design featured on the Maverick compact truck, along with headlights that appear to spot a snake-like chrome pattern.
However, the grille seems surprisingly small for the cooling needs of a Super Duty. As for the said light cluster design, this might be an exercise in drawing attention. In other words, this is probably not the final design, with the black tape on the headlight bezel and possibly the shiny tape that stands out being there to prevent us from seeing more. In addition, there’s a super-sized air dam. This seems to leave just enough ground clearance in place while helping the vehicle in the ever-sharper race to improve fuel efficiency.
As for the cabin, the only major feature the interior has gained since the Super Duty’s debut is the F-150-shared 12-inch center touch screen (2022MY update). So this means we can expect the 2023 facelift to bring more than new materials and trim.
Now, the all-electric Ford F-150 Lightning and the F-150 Hybrid have already bested the gas-only models’ 2 kW Pro Power on-board generators ( up to 9.6 kW for the first and 7.2 kW for the latter). As such, some customers are expecting Ford to introduce a 2023 Super Duty hybrid with such an on-board generator.
This 2023 Super Duty prototype was spotted in Kingman, Arizona
Note that the vehicle was caught on camera in Kingman, Arizona (some 150 miles away from the Ford Arizona Proving Grounds facility). The truck, which sports the large 8-foot bed and a crew cab, was accompanied by other Ford Super Duty pickups pulling gooseneck trailers. The convoy was spotted by a TFL Truck follower, as mentioned in the YouTube video below.
Now, TFL speculates that, since GM won’t refresh its HD line until the 2024 model year (confirmed by a fleet order guide), Ford will do the same. However, with these Blue Oval trucks out there testing for quite a while now, it would make sense for Ford to release them for the 2023 model year as initially expected, so it could one-up the competition.
