Expedition Timberline: Ford’s Big SUV Goes Off-Road for 2022

The 2022 Ford Expedition range gets a ton of new tech, appearance mods, and most notably to us adventurers, the off-road-focused Timberline model.

Ford says that millennials are now the fastest-growing demographic in the full-size SUV segment. This has led Ford to expand the Expedition lineup for 2022 “to meet modern family needs and enable unique outdoor and road-tripping adventures.” The 2022 Ford Expedition Timberline is the most off-road-oriented Expedition yet and borrows parts from its siblings, the Bronco and Raptor, to improve its capabilities.

The current generation of the Ford Expedition has been around since 2017, so it was time for some big updates. With big competitors like the Chevy Tahoe/GMC Yukon and Jeep Grand Cherokee being fully redesigned in the past few years, as well as new entrants like the Jeep Wagoneer, the Expedition has some big competition.

“Expedition is more than family transportation. It’s a full-size SUV that allows families to share adventures and make connections confidently and comfortably,” said Kumar Galhotra, president of the Americas & International Markets Group at Ford Media.

“We’ve refined almost every part of our new Expedition — from improved interiors to more connectivity enhancements to make the ownership experience as convenient as possible for the always-on lives of our customers.”

2022 Ford Expedition Timberline

The first things that you’ll notice from afar on the new 2022 Expedition Timberline are the unique grille and Active Orange exterior accents. Orange seems to be the color of off-road these days, with Subaru thinking the same with its Wilderness line.

Next, you’ll notice the big Expedition Timberline SUV is sitting a bit taller and has some more aggressive AT tires. With 10.6 inches of ground clearance and 33-inch Goodyear AT rubber, this new Expedition should be able to handle mild off-road terrain with ease.

Add in a proper two-speed transfer case, a heavy-duty F-150 Raptor underbody skid plate, and the fancy Trail Turn Assist from the Bronco, and the Expedition Timberline should have some real off-road chops.

As with all modern Ford off-road-focused machines, you’ll get a powerful EcoBoost V6 under the hood. In this case, you get the 3.5L with 440 horsepower and 510 pound-feet of torque. This is a big SUV, but that’s also quite a lot of get up and go!

New LED headlamps, updated taillamps, and new wheel choices will help differentiate all 2022 Expeditions from their past iterations.

New Wagoneer Was Obvious Target

Throughout Ford’s 2022 Expedition release information, the brand references the new Jeep Wagoneer. Ford claims better ground clearance, the best available power, and lower weight than the Wagoneer.

These are big claims against a formidable competitor, but Ford backs them up with numbers. Expedition Timberline has 0.6 inches more ground clearance, 48 more horsepower, 106 more pound-feet of torque, and weighs 4% less than the 5.7L V8-equipped Wagoneer.

I’ve driven the new Wagoneer on and off road, and I can tell you that it has real off-road capability and a very nice interior. While the new 2022 Expedition Timberline looks great on paper, both in terms of off-road capability and interior features, we’d wager that in the real world, the Wagoneer will be real competition on all levels. In particular, it will be very hard to beat the comfort, features, luxury, and interior design found in the Wagoneer.

We can’t wait to experience the Expedition Timberline for ourselves, though, as it looks like it will be a good people- and gear-mover that’s super competitive in the ever-growing large SUV segment.

Coming in Early 2022

No word on pricing just yet, but don’t expect all this new capability and tech to come cheap. We’ll start to see the 2022 Ford Expedition Timberline roll onto dealer lots in early 2022.

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