-
Featured
- #1
Introduction
I am located in San Diego North County (hit me up if you are local). I have had my truck for a bit over one month now. Late August - after flying out to their HQs - I ordered a "Supertramp Flagship LT" pop-up camper, but it has a 10-12 months lead time. I will use that extra time to modify the truck a) in preparation for the camper, and b) also for the journey I have planned. I call it an expedition truck, but who knows what the right term is in the end.
So, I decided to start a build thread to share what I am doing, but also to collect feedback and input from you. Some of this is completely new to me and I appreciate your experience and help.
Why an F250 Super Duty Tremor?
I am planning a multi-year “expedition” and need a reliable vehicle to do that. I am planning to go all across the US, Canada, and Middle and South America + potentially ship this thing to New Zealand and Australia. I have looked at Jeeps, RAMs, Tacomas, and Tundras as well as the F150, but in the end, the F250 Super Duty Tremor seemed to check most of the boxes for me. Reliability, weight capacity, offroad capability, and power just seem to be best for my case. Yes, Toyotas seem to have better global support if I would go with a Landcruiser, but the Landcruiser does not meet my needs and if I am gambling on support for a Tundra or Tacoma I might as well do it with an F250. Why Ford? I had a 2002 F150 for almost 12 years and had only one repair during those years (everything else was regular maintenance).
The Tremor itself is not perfect for my use case, but it is a solid foundation to build on top of. Regarding my travel plans - I am planning to mostly go off the beaten path and go onto dirt wherever and whenever possible. I won’t be doing heavy rock crawling, but I want to go into remote places as far as possible and experience a different world of travel. For some trails and remote areas, the truck will be too big, but that is Ok. So, power and basic ground clearance come into play and I wanted the front slip differential and rear lockers. I want to be able to cross rivers and just go places that a normal SUV will not be able to reach. And I want to be able to do all that while having a camper on the back.
I am planning to work from the road using Starlink Internet and LTE, so the camper is a bit more than what I would have ordered otherwise, but it is lightweight (~1,200 lb dry) and compact being a pop-up.
My Tremor Configuration
As I will go internationally, the Diesel Tremor is not a good choice. I love the torque and power it has and I would love the better gas mileage, too. But once you go into Middle and South America the Diesel situation changes due to lower quality and lower grade diesel fuel. I do not want to mess with deleting some of the exhaust configurations and anything that comes with it.
I decided on a 7.3 Ltr. V8 Godzilla Tremor accordingly and since Ford had closed the books on ordering a custom vehicle I had to chase available models all across the US. I refused to pay any markups or overpriced dealer add-ons and got lucky with a dealership in Utah that sold me a Tremor for MSRP (Labrum Ford in Heber City is great to do business with). I think during June and July I have talked to 30-35 dealerships all across the US and most of them - if they had a vehicle available - wanted ridiculous high markups or way overpriced add-ons. Anyway, here is what I bought:
2022 F250 Tremor – 7.3 Ltr V8 Godzilla – Agate Black - Lariat Ultimate Package – Power Moonroof – Dual Battery – 397 AMP Alternator – Power Running Boards – Black Appearance Package – Remote Start – Rain-sensing Wiper
Missing Factory/OEM Configuration
Offroad: Turn this Tremor into a more sophisticated offroad vehicle that has no problems going onto trails rated up to 5, maybe 6 in difficulty. I want to be able to go off the beaten path. I have been to all 50 states already and this time I want to avoid interstates and most national parks and experience this country (and Canada) differently. Middle America and South America will be entirely new for me as well as New Zealand and Australia. I hope this truck will take me to all these places.
Payload: Carry a slide-in camper (dry weight ~1,200 lbs) + about 600-800 lbs in addition to that while maintaining the offroad capabilities. This will be the biggest challenge in my opinion. Would love to get your opinion accordingly!!!!!!
Functionality: Offer a good livable space while traveling and allow me to camp in hot and very cold weather conditions. Offer enough room for me and my dog Shelby (9-year-old Yellow Lab). The camper needs to allow me to work while traveling. I can take my job with me as it is 100% remote, but I am also planning to switch to being self-employed along the way (YouTube, consulting, etc.). I am not sure yet what that transition looks like though.
Safety/Reliability: The truck and the camper need to protect me from bad weather, but potentially also allow me to withstand some sketchy situations. Not meaning to be bulletproof or so, but have 3M safety film on the windows to delay break-ins, steel bumpers, and power to push through “obstacles” (I am anticipating certain sketchy situations once south of the border) if needed, have vehicle height to just “play” on a different level than a normal truck and make it more difficult to break in.
So, that is it for the introduction. I have a name for the truck in mind, but not fully settled on this yet. For now, I refer to this as “Project Tahoe”. Why Tahoe? I just love the area up there and it represents everything I want to do and see.
More in my next posting.
I am located in San Diego North County (hit me up if you are local). I have had my truck for a bit over one month now. Late August - after flying out to their HQs - I ordered a "Supertramp Flagship LT" pop-up camper, but it has a 10-12 months lead time. I will use that extra time to modify the truck a) in preparation for the camper, and b) also for the journey I have planned. I call it an expedition truck, but who knows what the right term is in the end.
So, I decided to start a build thread to share what I am doing, but also to collect feedback and input from you. Some of this is completely new to me and I appreciate your experience and help.
Why an F250 Super Duty Tremor?
I am planning a multi-year “expedition” and need a reliable vehicle to do that. I am planning to go all across the US, Canada, and Middle and South America + potentially ship this thing to New Zealand and Australia. I have looked at Jeeps, RAMs, Tacomas, and Tundras as well as the F150, but in the end, the F250 Super Duty Tremor seemed to check most of the boxes for me. Reliability, weight capacity, offroad capability, and power just seem to be best for my case. Yes, Toyotas seem to have better global support if I would go with a Landcruiser, but the Landcruiser does not meet my needs and if I am gambling on support for a Tundra or Tacoma I might as well do it with an F250. Why Ford? I had a 2002 F150 for almost 12 years and had only one repair during those years (everything else was regular maintenance).
The Tremor itself is not perfect for my use case, but it is a solid foundation to build on top of. Regarding my travel plans - I am planning to mostly go off the beaten path and go onto dirt wherever and whenever possible. I won’t be doing heavy rock crawling, but I want to go into remote places as far as possible and experience a different world of travel. For some trails and remote areas, the truck will be too big, but that is Ok. So, power and basic ground clearance come into play and I wanted the front slip differential and rear lockers. I want to be able to cross rivers and just go places that a normal SUV will not be able to reach. And I want to be able to do all that while having a camper on the back.
I am planning to work from the road using Starlink Internet and LTE, so the camper is a bit more than what I would have ordered otherwise, but it is lightweight (~1,200 lb dry) and compact being a pop-up.
My Tremor Configuration
As I will go internationally, the Diesel Tremor is not a good choice. I love the torque and power it has and I would love the better gas mileage, too. But once you go into Middle and South America the Diesel situation changes due to lower quality and lower grade diesel fuel. I do not want to mess with deleting some of the exhaust configurations and anything that comes with it.
I decided on a 7.3 Ltr. V8 Godzilla Tremor accordingly and since Ford had closed the books on ordering a custom vehicle I had to chase available models all across the US. I refused to pay any markups or overpriced dealer add-ons and got lucky with a dealership in Utah that sold me a Tremor for MSRP (Labrum Ford in Heber City is great to do business with). I think during June and July I have talked to 30-35 dealerships all across the US and most of them - if they had a vehicle available - wanted ridiculous high markups or way overpriced add-ons. Anyway, here is what I bought:
2022 F250 Tremor – 7.3 Ltr V8 Godzilla – Agate Black - Lariat Ultimate Package – Power Moonroof – Dual Battery – 397 AMP Alternator – Power Running Boards – Black Appearance Package – Remote Start – Rain-sensing Wiper
Missing Factory/OEM Configuration
- Winch
- Upfitter Switches
- 360 Camera Option
- Heated Steering Wheel
- Console Vault Safe
Offroad: Turn this Tremor into a more sophisticated offroad vehicle that has no problems going onto trails rated up to 5, maybe 6 in difficulty. I want to be able to go off the beaten path. I have been to all 50 states already and this time I want to avoid interstates and most national parks and experience this country (and Canada) differently. Middle America and South America will be entirely new for me as well as New Zealand and Australia. I hope this truck will take me to all these places.
Payload: Carry a slide-in camper (dry weight ~1,200 lbs) + about 600-800 lbs in addition to that while maintaining the offroad capabilities. This will be the biggest challenge in my opinion. Would love to get your opinion accordingly!!!!!!
Functionality: Offer a good livable space while traveling and allow me to camp in hot and very cold weather conditions. Offer enough room for me and my dog Shelby (9-year-old Yellow Lab). The camper needs to allow me to work while traveling. I can take my job with me as it is 100% remote, but I am also planning to switch to being self-employed along the way (YouTube, consulting, etc.). I am not sure yet what that transition looks like though.
Safety/Reliability: The truck and the camper need to protect me from bad weather, but potentially also allow me to withstand some sketchy situations. Not meaning to be bulletproof or so, but have 3M safety film on the windows to delay break-ins, steel bumpers, and power to push through “obstacles” (I am anticipating certain sketchy situations once south of the border) if needed, have vehicle height to just “play” on a different level than a normal truck and make it more difficult to break in.
So, that is it for the introduction. I have a name for the truck in mind, but not fully settled on this yet. For now, I refer to this as “Project Tahoe”. Why Tahoe? I just love the area up there and it represents everything I want to do and see.
More in my next posting.