Most of us don’t live in the American Southwest where we can truly enjoy the high-speed off-road capabilities of the formidable Ford Raptor. The Raptor is also just too wide to be all that practical around town. Ford’s answer is an off-road truck for the masses, the 2021 Ford F-150 Tremor.
The F-150 Tremor sits squarely between the FX4 and Raptor in the Ford off-road truck hierarchy. Previously only on offer on the Super Duty lineup and Ranger trucks, the Tremor off-road package has now made its way to the highest-selling truck in the world, the Ford F-150. The F-150 Tremor should offer more off-road capability while retaining its around-town manners.
This truck is ready for just about any adventure, but expect it to be a bit slower than the go-fast Raptor, which is still the king of the Ford off-road truck lineup.
“Like Super Duty Tremor and Ranger Tremor, introducing the all-new F-150 Tremor is a direct response to seeing how customers use our trucks to enable their outdoor lifestyles. F-150 Tremor provides the additional off-road capability they’re looking for with our latest off-road technologies,” said Todd Eckert, Ford truck group marketing manager.
2021 Ford F-150 Tremor Off-Road Pickup
Let’s get the elephant out of the room first. The F-150 Tremor will only be available with a 5’6″ bed and SuperCrew cab. While great for around-town people hauling duty, many of us into camping in our trucks and hauling big adventure toys, like kayaks and dirt bikes, would appreciate a long bed option.
When on remote vehicle-based adventures, I like to sleep in the truck bed with a topper on it. And as I’m 6’3″, this short bed just isn’t going to work.
The Tremor is built off of the short bed four-door F-150 with 3.5L EcoBoost V6 backed by the smooth 10-speed automatic transmission and a proper two-speed four-wheel-drive system.
It then adds off-road goodies like a locking rear differential, optional Torsen limited-slip front differential (late-availability), “Raptor-style” front skid plate, upgraded suspension, and 33-inch General Grabber AT tires mounted on unique matte-finish 18-inch wheels.
Re-tuned springs provide a bit more ground clearance, better dampening at slow speeds, and better approach, breakover, and departure angles (27.6/21.2/24.3). The suspension setup also provides the F-150 Tremor with more wheel travel: 1 inch up front and 1.5 inches in the rear.
The front hub knuckles and upper control arms have also been revised and help give the F-150 Tremor a 1-inch-wider stance.
Even with all these off-road upgrades, the 2021 F-150 Tremor still has the necessary gear-hauling capacities. It offers a tow rating of 10,900 pounds and can carry a maximum payload of 1,885 pounds. That’s plenty to tow many RVs and boats and haul around a ton of gear and a basic slide-in truck camper.
Tremor Details
The Tremor color is orange and is found throughout the truck. The blacked-out Ford badging is outlined in orange, as are the front and rear tow hooks. Orange Tremor badging appears on the fenders, bed sides, and tailgate. Inside the F-150 Tremor, there are orange accents throughout, including the contrast stitching in the seats.
The grille, front end, and hood have all been redesigned to be a bit more muscular and aggressive, but not over the top like the Raptor. Raptor-inspired fixed running boards help you get in and out of this tall truck while helping protect the body from trail damage.
Tremor Equipment
The 2021 Ford F-150 Tremor comes in three equipment groups: standard, mid, and high. All equipment levels share the same suspension upgrades and most off-road upgrades. The Tremor high series gets a torque-on-demand transfer case similar to the high-performance unit found in the Raptor. This t-case merges all-wheel-drive and four-wheel-drive capabilities for optimal performance across all terrains in all conditions.
As with all modern vehicles, the F-150 Tremor comes packed with tech, with much of it in this case focused on off-road driving performance and ease. You get selectable drive modes, with modes like Deep Snow/Sand, Mud/Rut, and Rock Crawl aimed at off-road adventures.
Rock Crawl mode goes all-in on the capability front by locking the rear diff, turning off stability and traction control, and displaying the available 360-degree camera view on the center screen. You also get a front-view camera that provides a real-time tire placement and a view of the obstacles in front of the truck that you otherwise wouldn’t be able to see from the driver’s seat.
More digital wizardry for off-road driving comes in the form of the Ford Trail Toolbox. This includes One-Pedal Drive, which makes rock crawling much easier; press the skinny pedal to go and release to brake. The cool part is that the Tremor is smart enough that it applies the brakes proportionately as you lift off the gas pedal.
An option on the F-150 Tremor is Trail Turn Assist. This system allows for tighter turns in low-speed off-road maneuvers by applying the brakes to the inside rear wheel.
F-150 Tremor Availability & Pricing
The F-150 Tremor is expected to hit dealer lots in the summer of 2021. No official pricing has been announced just yet, but we expect the 2021 Ford F-150 Tremor to land somewhere between a well-appointed F-150 XLT ($50,000) and a Raptor ($74,000). This should find the standard base model Tremor coming it at around $55,000.
We’re itching to get behind the wheel of one of these ourselves and see if all the off-road upgrades deliver on their capability promises while keeping the truck friendly to everyday life around town. The F-150 Tremor will no doubt make a great adventure partner on and off road.
