Baja Edition Ford F-250 Makes a Massive 1,000 LB-Ft of Torque
The team behind the Ford F-350 Mac Truck is back. Long McArthur Ford, in a slight break with other not-so-special special-edition trucks, turned an F-Series Super-Duty into a proper dually off-roader. But the F-350 Mac Truck didn’t receive any engine or powertrain mods. And with the Motor Trend Truck of the Year Ram Heavy-Duty offering a 1000 lb-ft diesel, Long McArthur Ford wanted to keep up with the competition. Which is why the dealer is now offering the Ford F-250 Baja 1000—and yes, that does refer to the torque output.
What goes into the Ford F-250 Baja 1000?
The F-250 Baja 1000 starts as a four-door Crew Cab F-250 XL, fitted with the STX Package. So, it already comes with several equipment packages, with features like a 360-degree camera and 5th-wheel prep.
As the ‘Baja’ in the title implies, Long McArthur Ford did prep this truck for off-roading. The dealer installs a 2.5” lift kit, as well as an adjustable traction bar and Fox 2.0 shocks front and rear. The 20” wheels are from Roush and fitted with 35” BFGoodrich T/A KO2 tires. The bumpers are replaced with custom “Baja 1000” ones, with LED front fog lamps. The side vents are functional and come with custom “Baja 1000” LEDs. Long McArthur also adds a spray-in bed liner and tops the whole thing off with a custom graphics package.
But the main attraction is under the hood. Long McArthur adds an AFE cold-air intake to the 6.7-liter turbodiesel V8 and tunes the engine to deliver a guaranteed minimum 1000 lb-ft of torque. To ensure customer satisfaction, the dealer runs each Baja 1000 on a dynamometer to verify the torque output. Each buyer gets their truck’s graph. Motor1 reports one develops as much as 1,060 lb-ft.
Long McArthur also add some interior refinement. Normally, the F-250 XL comes with cloth seats. However, Long McArthur replaces both rows of seats with leather-trimmed ones. The dealer even makes them heated. Tinted windows complete the list of mods.
Ford F-250 Baja 1000 pricing and availability
At the moment, Long McArthur Ford has four 2019 F-250 Baja 1000 trucks available, listed at $69,900. However, any STX-equipped SRW F-250 XL with the Crew Cab and turbodiesel V8 can be made into a Baja 1000. The package adds $18,995 to the price of the truck, which starts at $51, 210. Each F-250 Baja 1000 also comes with a 3-year/36,000-mile warranty.
Baja 1000 vs. the competition
For 2020, Ford is offering the F-250 and F-350 with turbodiesel engines making 1,050 lb-ft of torque. And the factory trucks are $18,995 cheaper than the Baja 1000 ones. However, the Baja 1000 F-250 does offer several options that the stock diesel XL doesn’t get. In addition, it’s only 2020 F-250s that get the 1000+ lb-ft engine, not 2019 and older ones. So, if you have or want a 2019 F-250, this is the closest thing to a factory engine that makes four figures of torque.
In addition, the only Ram pickup to develop 1000 lb-ft of torque is the Ram 3500HD. And adding the same options to a Ram 3500HD as the F-250 Baja 1000 has means the Ram costs roughly $72,000. The F-250 Baja 1000 is not only cheaper, it also has Fox shocks and a lift, making it better off-road. It’s also SRW, not DRW, making it more maneuverable.
No, the F-250 Baja 1000 isn’t exactly a heavy-duty Raptor. The Raptor offers a few more off-road features, in addition to the lift and Fox shocks. But it doesn’t have 1000 lb-ft of torque.
