This Badass Ford F-550 Super Duty Hauls the Mail
If your daily mail is delivered by something cooler than this we want to see it. This is a Ford F-550 Super Duty with specialized suspension, utility box, and 49-inch tall oversized high floatation Michelin tires. At 22-inches wide, this heavy, heavy-duty F-550 should float over the snow which it must do. They make super swampers look like roller skate wheels.
This Ford F-550 delivers the mail to Yellowstone residents
That’s because this “mail truck” hauls the mail in Yellowstone National Park. While you might think that nobody actually lives at Yellowstone, you would be wrong. There are thousands of residents and not just seasonal employees.
Many are housed in dorms. But there are single-family and multi-family residences within the park. And whether you’re seasonal or a resident you need your mail delivered. That’s where this F-550 comes in.
When the four US Post Office branches close because the roads become impassable from the harsh winter months, this mail truck is put into service. It makes a 150-mile round trip twice a week to deliver both mail and supplies to rural residents.
The F-550’s battering ram bumper doubles as a mechanic’s step
Besides the huge tires and specialized utility box, this mail truck is lifted eight inches. It has a Detroit Locker Super 60 axle up front, and special fender flares for the fender flares to cover those huge tires. Torklift Stableload blocks in the rear help support whatever payload is being hauled. It also has a battering ram for a front bumper that incorporates a step to hoist mechanics to help them work on the engine.
Power comes from a stock 6.7-liter PowerStroke diesel engine
Speaking of the engine, this is powered by a stock 6.7-liter PowerStroke diesel engine according to the Drive. It makes about 300 hp and 660 lb-ft of torque. Though this is considered a “medium-duty” truck, it is doing some specialized, heavy-duty mail hauling. And the hauler is Yellowstone Ranger Rachel Cudmore.
The Gross Vehicle Weight rating is listed at just under 20,000 lbs. But in this case, it is needed for the grunt to traverse snowy terrain as opposed to heavy loads. The stock curb weight of an F-550 is right at 7,000 lbs.
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