(February 7, 2011) DEARBORN, Mich. — Production begins this week on Ford F-Series Super Duty trucks with upgraded towing capacity. The beefed-up frame and hitch return the industry's best-selling heavy-duty truck to the head of the pack in conventional trailer towing.

Ford F-350 and F-450 Super Duty trucks with the 6.7-liter Power Stroke V-8 diesel engine and dual rear wheels now can tow an industry-best 17,500 pounds.

That’s 1,000 pounds more than the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra 4x2 and 500 pounds more than the Silverado and Sierra 4x4.

Furthermore, Super Duty's latest improvements arrive at a time when its customer satisfaction score – 83 percent – is the best in the industry for heavy-duty trucks; and when Super Duty’s market share is the highest in a decade.

“Super Duty stays on top because of our ongoing engineering work and analysis of extensive field data,” said Rob Stevens, chief engineer of the 2011 Ford F-Series Super Duty. “We keep pushing to deliver the best-in-class attributes our customers demand.”

A look at the revised maximum conventional trailer tow ratings for the 2011 Ford F-Series Super Duty:

The additional 1,500 pounds represent an increase of more than 9 percent compared with the Super Duty at launch in April, 2010.

Higher-strength steel in a frame crossmember and an upgraded trailer hitch give the truck the additional towing capacity.  Additionally, these actions boosted the F-350 DRW 4x2 pickup maximum payload to 7,070 pounds and maximum fifth-wheel towing to 22,600 pounds, each best-in-class ratings by 435 pounds and 900 pounds, respectively.

The hardware upgrades to the Super Duty complement software upgrades to the powertrain control system of the new Ford-engineered 6.7-liter Power Stroke V8 turbocharged diesel to make towing even easier.

The Power Stroke delivers best-in-class 800 lb.-ft. of torque and 400 horsepower. In an industry-first customer loyalty program, Ford provided the power upgrades free of charge to all “first-in” buyers of the 2011 Super Duty diesel pickup.