2020 Ford F-Series Super Duty Tremor Brings 7.3 Liters of V8 Power

Anthony Magagnoli
by Anthony Magagnoli

The new Tremor off-road package will bring a new 7.3-liter V8 and 10-speed automatic transmission to the heavy-duty F-250 and F-350 lineups. The 6.7-liter Power Stroke turbo diesel V8 will also be available, paired with its 6-speed automatic.

Ford’s Tremor package is a shot across the bow of the RAM Power Wagon. The 35-inch Goodyear Wrangler Duratrac tires are the largest diameter rubber available on any HD pickup and a 2-inch lift of the front suspension and shorter air dam enable real off-road prowess for the Super Duty trucks.

For those looking to push the limits of their truck off-road, 10.8 inches of ground clearance are provided, as well as a claimed best-in-class water fording of 33 inches. Approach and departure angles are also improved to 31.65 degrees and 24.51 degrees, respectively. Larger dampers (shocks) feature internal hydraulic jounce bumpers (bump stops) to help soften the really big impacts — whether off-road or on.

Additional hardware includes off-road running boards that tuck up next to the body for damage control, extended-axle vent tubes, and thick skid plates.

Selectable drive modes will provide flexibility to power or traction as needed, based on the conditions encountered. Normal mode will be complimented by tow/haul, eco, slippery, and deep snow/sand — all of which should be self-explanatory.

To maximize off-road traction, the Tremor uses an electronically-locking rear differential, paired with a limited-slip front diff. Working with the 10-speed automatic transmission is a new rock-crawl mode, which is optimized to operate in low-range 4×4. Tremor trucks equipped with the 7.3-liter gas engine have a 53:1 crawl ratio while the 6.7-liter diesels have a 44:1 crawl ratio. Trail Control will be included, which acts like a cruise control for off-road driving.

Power figures for the 7.3-liter engine have not been released yet, though we can expect a healthy bump over the 385 horsepower and 430 ft-lbs of the base 6.2-liter V8. Meanwhile, the 6.7-liter turbo diesel will carry forward and is assumed to make the same 450 hp and 935 ft-lbs as the 2019 model.

Ford claims that the Super Duty Tremor package provides greater towing and payload than Ram Power Wagon, with tow and payload ratings similar to non-Tremor models. We’ll have to wait to find out exactly what those figures are, however.

The Tremor off-road package will be available on F250 and F350 models when the 2020 Super Duty launches later this year — but it will be limited to 4×4 single-rear wheel SuperCrew models with the 6.75-foot bed.

[Images: Ford]

Anthony Magagnoli
Anthony Magagnoli

Following 10 years in Toyota's Production Engineering division, Anthony spent 3 years as a Vehicle Dynamics Engineer for FCA. From modest beginnings in autocross, he won a NASA SpecE30 National Championship and was the 2017 Pirelli World Challenge TC Rookie of the Year. Aside from being a professional racecar driver, he is a private driving coach and future karaoke champion.

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  • IBx1 IBx1 on Jun 28, 2019

    Ford: We're making a new 7.3! Everyone: WOOOOOO Ford: It's a gasser! Everyone:

    • See 6 previous
    • Mopar4wd Mopar4wd on Jun 29, 2019

      @mopar4wd I wasn't really thinking of the coyote 5.0. I was thinking a dedicated iron block with low pressure turbo. You could make it durable and still have the unrea low down torque diesel buyers go for. The high redline actually has me a bit concerned the old 460 and 454 truck engines had really low redlines and tuned for longevity and pulling power. There are some guys online buying old gas HD trucks and putting low pressure turbos and seeing big jumps in low end torque with the right tuning. I had been thinking of putting a Cummins in my ramcharger but my new thought is to see what I can do with a turbo and a RV or boat grind can on the 318. On the Ecoboost, I have been trolling the forums, the 3.5 in the flex and other applications has a ton of issues, but the truck versions seem to do better, at least better then the 5.4 used to do.

  • Micko4472 Micko4472 on Jun 28, 2019

    I lived in CO for 20 years and did a lot of off-roading to a lot of very interesting places over some very gnarly "roads". None of these full sized pickups have the slightest chance of traversing any of these "roads"/trails. You gotta have something the size of a Jeep Wrangler to get to these places. Anything bigger ain't gettin' there. See the website www.traildamage.com for examples.

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    • Lou_BC Lou_BC on Jun 29, 2019

      @DenverMike Most off-roaders buying full-sized trucks aren't planning on competing head to head with Wranglers. They tend to be used to haul or tow their toys (bikes,quads,boat) to to their base camp. If one switches over to the industrial side of off-road use, all I see are full-sized pickups.

  • CanadaCraig You can just imagine how quickly the tires are going to wear out on a 5,800 lbs AWD 2024 Dodge Charger.
  • Luke42 I tried FSD for a month in December 2022 on my Model Y and wasn’t impressed.The building-blocks were amazing but sum of the all of those amazing parts was about as useful as Honda Sensing in terms of reducing the driver’s workload.I have a list of fixes I need to see in Autopilot before I blow another $200 renting FSD. But I will try it for free for a month.I would love it if FSD v12 lived up to the hype and my mind were changed. But I have no reason to believe I might be wrong at this point, based on the reviews I’ve read so far. [shrug]. I’m sure I’ll have more to say about it once I get to test it.
  • FormerFF We bought three new and one used car last year, so we won't be visiting any showrooms this year unless a meteor hits one of them. Sorry to hear that Mini has terminated the manual transmission, a Mini could be a fun car to drive with a stick.It appears that 2025 is going to see a significant decrease in the number of models that can be had with a stick. The used car we bought is a Mk 7 GTI with a six speed manual, and my younger daughter and I are enjoying it quite a lot. We'll be hanging on to it for many years.
  • Oberkanone Where is the value here? Magna is assembling the vehicles. The IP is not novel. Just buy the IP at bankruptcy stage for next to nothing.
  • Jalop1991 what, no Turbo trim?
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