Good news, Blue Oval fans: Ford is building an off-road Super Duty.
Have you been not-so-patiently waiting for the Glass House to build an off-road version of the Super Duty? Good news, then! An all-new Tremor Off-Road package will be available for the 2020 Super Duty, packing 35-inch tires and Trail Control. We’ll take this opportunity to remind all hands we predicted this development back in January, except we suggested it should be called the Highboy.
Off-road upgrades start with those aggro 35-inch Goodyear Wrangler Duratrac tires mounted on a set of 18-inch matte finished black wheels. These tires, combined with a 2-inch front-end lift and shorter air dam, allow for 10.8 inches of ground clearance and what Ford claims to be best-in-class water fording of 33 inches.
Also on board are the best approach and departure angles of any Super Duty: 31.6 and 24.5 degrees, respectively. Additional hardware includes off-road running boards that tuck up next to the body for damage control, extended-axle vent tubes for the wet stuff, and the same skid plates as fitted to FX4 models. Close examination of the pictures show that it could use an extra skid plate right up front, though. Trail Control, a type of off-road cruise control that debuted on Raptor and Ranger, is also present.
Custom 1.7-inch piston twin-tube dampers feature oil volume sufficient to keep internal temperatures low. At walking pace, they are tuned for soft damping, dialed up for control over more severe impacts. Internal hydraulic rebound is said to soften the blow of even the hardest hits. This new Tremor package includes a locking rear diff with electronic shift-on-the-fly engagement and limited-slip front differential from Dana.
Ford says trucks with the Tremor Off-Road Package will have towing and payload ratings similar to non-Tremor models, which is good news for those who plan to do actual work with the things. The package is available on XLT, Lariat, King Ranch, and Platinum F-250 and F-350 Super Duty trucks with either the new (and as yet mysterious) 7.3L gas V8 or 6.7L Power Stroke diesel. An off-road focused one-ton with a diesel? Yes, please!
Customers will have to pop for a single-rear wheel SuperCrew with a 6.75-foot box to opt for these goodies. Naturally, it also gotta be a 4×4. F-250 models also require the high-capacity trailer tow package. Also of note: that dandy new tailgate badging.
This isn’t the first time we’ve seen the Tremor title at Ford, of course. The F-150 had a package of the same name about five years ago, appended to FX2 or FX4 models. It had an unmodified EcoBoost, 4.10 gears, and a bunch of stickers.
A quick survey of the heavy duty off-road landscape reveals the Ram Power Wagon and upcoming GMC Sierra HD AT4. The latter seems to be a better analog to the Tremor, especially since the Ram has a disconnecting sway bar and standard winch, but it pays to remember that the Power Wagon is available in one trim and one trim only. The Tremor will be available on models ranging from XLT to Platinum. And Ford might – just might – offer a winch sometime in the next twelve months.
We won’t have long to wait. This new Tremor Off-Road Package will be available when the 2020 Super Duty launches later this year.