- Joined
- Mar 13, 2021
- Messages
- 5,544
- Reaction Points
- 14,164
- Location
- Washington
- Current Ride
- 2022 F-350 Tremor 7.3L
- Current Ride #2
- 1980 Mazda RX-7
With my truck now built and on its way to me, it's time to make a build thread in preparation for its arrival. Let's walk through the name, my goals for the truck, and why I went with the Tremor. A follow-up post will track the state of modifications - planned, purchased, and installed.
Name
I'm going with Shadowfax for the name (thanks to @Backslider for the suggestion, and causing a rename from Gimli). I love Lord of the Rings so it was the logical place to look for a name. Quoting the fandom wiki:
My truck is my loyal companion and steed, something I rely on with my life. The description above perfectly describes what my truck will become to me. It's also unique here on the forum, and likely for vehicles in general, which is a nice bonus.
Goals
The truck will be my primary vehicle serving all variety of purposes. Some of its jobs:
My current vehicle is a 2009 F-150 SuperCab. It's served me extremely well, but it's time to move to a crew cab. Additionally, I've overloaded it numerous times hauling house materials, overloaded its non-weight distributing tow capacity multiple times, and it cannot handle the weight of a slide-in camper like I'm planning. When it came time to decide on a new truck, I knew I was going heavy duty because in my opinion it has very few downsides:
There's a few factors that contributed to me choosing gas over diesel:
Some notable options (in no particular order):
Name
I'm going with Shadowfax for the name (thanks to @Backslider for the suggestion, and causing a rename from Gimli). I love Lord of the Rings so it was the logical place to look for a name. Quoting the fandom wiki:
Shadowfax was the "lord of all horses". He was a descendant of Felaróf, of the race of long-lived Mearas, the greatest horses of Middle-earth. Shadowfax was capable of comprehending human speech and was said to run faster than the wind. Originally belonging to Théoden, King of Rohan, Shadowfax was too wild to be tamed by the Rohirrim. Eventually, Théoden gave him to the wizard Gandalf the White.
My truck is my loyal companion and steed, something I rely on with my life. The description above perfectly describes what my truck will become to me. It's also unique here on the forum, and likely for vehicles in general, which is a nice bonus.
Goals
The truck will be my primary vehicle serving all variety of purposes. Some of its jobs:
- Commuting to and from work, as well as driving around town.
- Hauling people to the ski hill in winter to go skiing.
- Hauling materials for around the house (soil, blocks, lumber, garbage, etc.)
- Towing car trailers for project cars.
- Forest road exploring, eventually with a slide-in camper (will need to save up again for that).
- Road trips back home.
- Should I be accepted in to Search and Rescue (have recently applied) transporting myself and others to incidents and being my vehicle for performing searches. Additionally will offer it to haul or tow any equipment as necessary.
My current vehicle is a 2009 F-150 SuperCab. It's served me extremely well, but it's time to move to a crew cab. Additionally, I've overloaded it numerous times hauling house materials, overloaded its non-weight distributing tow capacity multiple times, and it cannot handle the weight of a slide-in camper like I'm planning. When it came time to decide on a new truck, I knew I was going heavy duty because in my opinion it has very few downsides:
- It's the same size as a half ton (nearly).
- Has dramatically more capacity.
- I don't mind the ride quality.
- I don't mind the fuel economy.
- I have a dealer with a service department I already like and trust. I don't want to go through that search with another brand.
- The Tremor package fits my needs perfectly, and is unique in the market right now. I don't need to do anything mechanical to the truck out of the gate, as all I would have wanted to do is lift the truck enough to put 35" tires on. Yet it's off road capable and still retains it's towing and hauling capacity.
There's a few factors that contributed to me choosing gas over diesel:
- My needs aren't best for a diesel. I'm going to be driving off-road and hauling payload (camper), but not towing heavy. Additionally, I'll be doing shorter commuting trips in it, which is hard on a diesel engine.
- Simpler engine. The 7.3L is so fantastically simple, I love it. No turbo. No direct injection. Minimal emissions equipment. The engine bay has lots of space around the engine. It speaks to my heart and, in theory, will mean it's more reliable and less expensive to repair over time.
- Cost. The diesel has a higher up-front cost and maintenance is more expensive. Yes, the resale value is better; however, I'm not convinced you're getting more than your lifetime investment back. Additionally, I intend to keep this truck for a very long time, minimizing the impact of resale value.
- Weight. The gas engine is significantly lighter. This better suits my needs off-road while maximizing payload capacity.
Some notable options (in no particular order):
- Rapid Red with Black Appearance Package
- Carpet delete
- Heated steering wheel
- Heated rear seats
- No sunroof
- 5th wheel prep package
- Upfitter switches
- Winch
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