This 2020 Ford F-250 Tremor was intimidating to drive at first. This three-quarter-ton truck is one of largest vehicles I have driven. At 79-inches high, this truck is five inches taller than me. The top of its bed rail is at my shoulder height. It’s got 250-inches in length and takes up almost one and a half conventional parking spots. Its 7262-pound curb weight is more than two BMW M2s. It’s a really big and heavy vehicle.
This size and weight allow these trucks to have some truly amazing abilities. The payload of the pictured vehicle is 3470-pounds. That is more than the new Toyota Supra. It can pull a conventional trailer that weights 15,000-pounds. Opting for a goose-neck trailer and that capacity increases to 18,800-pounds. That’s is an equivalent of more than eight Mazda Miatas. That is a hilarious amount of weight and to make things crazier, there are bigger F-series Super Duty trucks available.
The Tremor Off-Road Package
This particular King Ranch model was equipped with the relatively new Tremor Off-Road Package. Apparently there are Super Duty buyers that just needed a bit more capability from their pedestrian trucks and the $3950 package provides just that. It is available on XLT, Lariat, King Ranch, and Platinum crew-cab models with 6 ¾-ft. box and 4×4.
The package includes 35-inch mud-terrain tires on 18-inch black wheels, taller front springs, rear locking differential, front limited slip differential, beefy running boards, additional skid plates, water fording vent tubes for the transferase and axles, full spare tire, a decal, and off-road driving modes. This is some seriously proper off-road hardware. Ford is, without a doubt, aiming at the RAM 2500 Power Wagon with this package.
The one thing that always made the Power Wagon stand out, aside front the graphics, was its front-mounted winch. While the Tremor package does not include a winch, Ford Performance Parts does offer a neatly integrated winch for Tremor-equipped trucks. The Warn 12,000-pound is a factory-orderable option or dealer-installed after-sale accessory. It should be noted that the pictured vehicle had optional power-deployable side steps which were quite useful.
The Godzilla 7.3-liter V8
The Tremor Package also requires a choice of the new Godzilla 7.3-liter V8 engine or the 6.7-liter Power Stroke V8 Turbo Diesel. While the diesel produces 475-horsepower and light-bending 1,050 lbs.-ft. of torque, it comes at with a steep $10,500 price increase. The pictured truck came with the 7.3.
The new gas-powered, port-injected V8 is purposely built for truck duty. It’s an OHV engine with push-rods but that single cam in the middle of the vee does have variable timing. The cast-iron block has four-bolt main bearings and a forged-steel crankshaft. It makes 430-horsepower at 5,500 rpm and 475 ft.-lb. of torque at 4,000 rpm. It is exclusively paired with an all-new 10-speed heavy-duty TorqShift automatic transmission. Ford boldly claims that it is the most powerful gas V8 in a heavy-duty pickup.
On the road, this engine is rather amazing. In the week I spent with this truck, a vast majority of the time I was at no more than a quarter of throttle in. Once, at the end of a highway on-ramp, I floored it for shits-and-giggles. With an empty truck, I got to 80-mph really fast. This truck would smoothly cruise at that speed, with RPMs hanging around 2000. Part of my throttle-feathering had a lot to do with my lack of experience driving trucks this size, so I took easy.
Is it good enough to deliver a couch?
My wife ordered a new sectional couch and it was my task to get it home, saving us the $200 delivery and assembly fee. The couch came in three good size boxes. I could have made three trips with my 4Runner but I decided to ask the good people at Ford if they had a vehicle suitable for this task. I wished for a Transit Custom Trail and I was secretly hoping for a twin-turbo, all-wheel-drive Transit van. “Nope, lol, you need the Tremor!” said the good people at Ford.
That part actually worried me. Because as capable as full-size trucks are, they’re not always all that functional. For instance, there is no trunk. A weekend family trip in this truck with no bed cover resulted in kids being surrounded with bags in the huge rear seat. Moving large rectangular objects in the 6 ¾-ft. cargo box that’s only accessible from the rear isn’t always ideal, either. With the four-door club and crew cabs becoming ever more popular, large eight-foot beds are less and less common.
Fortunately, I got lucky and the three boxes fit just so perfectly in the cargo bed. Oddly, a half-ton pickup with a six-foot bed would have been too short. I’d either have to stack and tie two of boxes down or make two trips. Yes, I managed to fill-up the bed of this huge truck with only a tenth of its payload capacity.
Verdict on the Ford F-250 Tremor
This well-equipped truck has a manufacturer’s suggested retail price of around $70,000. That is no pocket change but it does provide a lot in return. It can carry or tow a lot of very heavy things. It’s immensely, if slightly bumpy, comfortable for five people. It has a ridiculously strong frame and axles that will take years of abuse. Tremor’s off-road goodies will get this truck to just about any place that it can physically fit.
It took several days but at the end of my week with this behemoth, I finally got comfortable with. I really liked being able to see over not only bigger SUVs but other full-size pickups as well. Driving around Boston’s narrow streets required caution but on the highway I was king. The Ford F-250 Tremor is way more truck than most people would ever need but those who do need it, it’s a solid rig.
Bonus Pictures
[Disclaimer: Ford lend us the vehicle for the purpose of this review. All images copyright 2020 Hooniverse/Kamil Kaluski]
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