New 2020 Ford F-250/350 Tremor Package Is Interesting Answer to Ram Power Wagon
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A new off-road package will join the 2020 Ford F-250 and F-350 Super Duty when the trucks begin arriving in showrooms at the end of the year. The new off-road package is meant to go one step beyond the FX4 Off-Road Package that the company also plans to offer. And for this new package, Ford has resurrected the Tremor name that's been used on several trucks: It's been a concept based on the Ford Explorer in 1998, an audiophile trim package on the Ranger pickup in 2002 and a sport truck based on the . And now, it's a trim package you can order on the Super Duty that brings an extra measure of off-road readiness to an already capable truck.
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It will present an interesting alternative to the , offering some similar content but not going quite as whole hog into the off-road space. The Tremor Off-Road Package starts with wheels and tires: 35-inch Goodyear Wrangler DuraTracs wrapping unique 18-inch matte black wheels. But of more important note is the rather extensive list of suspension modifications. There's a factory suspension lift, 2 inches up front and 1.5 inches in the back, creating 10.8 inches of ground clearance. That boosts the Super Duty's water fording abilities to 33 inches, or about to the bottom of the headlights.
Progressive rate springs are fitted with larger Ford-designed custom 1.7-inch piston twin-tube dampers, which the company says are designed for a softer ride at lower speeds but better damping for sudden harsh impacts. The mission of the Tremor package is to maintain all the trucky abilities of the Super Duty, like towing and hauling, but to add greater off-road capability than ever before. Think of it as now being able to tow your big off-road camper to a wilderness site far more easily.
The interior of the cabin is no different with the Tremor package. No special seats, stitching, trim, badging, etc. The only Tremor badge is on the rear quarter panel, outside. But you do get a new Rock Crawl mode for the electronic selectable drive modes that come with every 2020 Super Duty (the other modes are Normal, Tow/Haul, Eco, Slippery and Deep Snow/Sand). will also be included; it's a kind of off-road, low-speed cruise control for trail driving.
A shorter front air dam is fitted, which contributes to improved approach and departure angles of 31.65 and 24.51 degrees, respectively. Ford didn't tell us what the breakover angle is, but given that you can only get the Tremor package on a crew-cab Super Duty, we're going to surmise that it's better than a standard FX4 but not fantastic. Underbody protection comes via the same skid plates present on the FX4, but new running boards on models below Platinum (which gets retractable running boards) are tucked up closer to the body to both protect the sills and the boards themselves. Rounding out the mechanical changes is the addition of an automatic Dana limited-slip differential up front, accompanying the traditional electronic locking differential in back.
The Ram Power Wagon has front and rear locking differentials, electronic sway-bar disconnects and a standard front-mounted winch, but the Super Duty Tremor can be had with a diesel engine, something the Power Wagon doesn't offer.
The Tremor package will only be offered on Super Duty SuperCrew trucks with either the all-new 7.3-liter V-8 gasoline engine or the turbo-diesel 6.7-liter Power Stroke V-8, not the carryover 6.2-liter V-8. With the gas engine, you get a low-speed crawl ratio of 53:1, while the diesel comes with a 44:1 ratio. The Tremor package will be offered across most of the Super Duty's trim levels, starting at XLT and ranging up to the Platinum. You can order it on top of the Sport trim to get the Sport's blacked-out grille and decoration, along with the mechanical goodies that the Tremor package brings.
We don't know pricing for the Tremor Off-Road Package, but expect it to be more than an FX4 Off-Road Package given the additional content and capability — but not nearly as capable off-road as an F-150 Raptor, which is much more of a sport truck to the Super Duty's off-road work-truck bent. Ford says it will announce pricing closer to the truck's on-sale date at the end of this year.
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