F150 Tremor vs diesel Silverado ZR2?

[lasoundguy]

Hey there. We currently have a built 80 series Land Cruiser and a built Land Rover LR3, and do offroad camping trips maybe 4-5 times/year in the Sierras, Death Valley, and the other spots around SoCal (done Utah twice, Colorado once.)

I'm kind of getting tired of us needing to keep driving two rigs to go camping with our family of 4 (kids getting tallish + dog + gear + tools), so been eyeing what's big enough we could fit in one rig while still getting back to the remote spots we enjoy. (Would also love to get into something newer, the two rigs between them are 41 years old/400,000 miles...so there's always a little something they need despite being in pretty good shape.)

As such been eyeing a new or lightly used full size truck--pretty concerned about width though. Even our Grand Cherokee 4xe (wife's daily, eventual second rig) feels noticeably wider than the other trucks. This concern rules out something like a used Raptor (I think)...

Seems like the top two contenders are the F-150 Tremor vs Silverado ZR2? Any strong reason to pick one or the other? I can find tales on Reddit of either one of them being in the shop forever 5 days after purchase, concerns about the oil pump belt service on the ZR2, but it's hard to get through the noise to figure out if one of these has a real advantage. The front locker on the ZR2 seems preferable to the Torsen on the F150, but the payload advantage of the F150 seems useful for our application (when we go out for 5-6 days the water gets heavy)...but the baby-diesel looks to get 5-8mpg better than the Ford does, which seems nice.

No strong brand preference for me, just looking for a rig that will get us through the next 8-10 years until the kids are out of the house and we maybe downsize back to something more manageable.

Any thoughts welcome. Thanks!

 

[Todd n Natalie]

Hey there. We currently have a built 80 series Land Cruiser and a built Land Rover LR3, and do offroad camping trips maybe 4-5 times/year in the Sierras, Death Valley, and the other spots around SoCal (done Utah twice, Colorado once.)

I'm kind of getting tired of us needing to keep driving two rigs to go camping with our family of 4 (kids getting tallish + dog + gear + tools), so been eyeing what's big enough we could fit in one rig while still getting back to the remote spots we enjoy. (Would also love to get into something newer, the two rigs between them are 41 years old/400,000 miles...so there's always a little something they need despite being in pretty good shape.)

As such been eyeing a new or lightly used full size truck--pretty concerned about width though. Even our Grand Cherokee 4xe (wife's daily, eventual second rig) feels noticeably wider than the other trucks. This concern rules out something like a used Raptor (I think)...

Seems like the top two contenders are the F-150 Tremor vs Silverado ZR2? Any strong reason to pick one or the other? I can find tales on Reddit of either one of them being in the shop forever 5 days after purchase, concerns about the oil pump belt service on the ZR2, but it's hard to get through the noise to figure out if one of these has a real advantage. The front locker on the ZR2 seems preferable to the Torsen on the F150, but the payload advantage of the F150 seems useful for our application (when we go out for 5-6 days the water gets heavy)...but the baby-diesel looks to get 5-8mpg better than the Ford does, which seems nice.

No strong brand preference for me, just looking for a rig that will get us through the next 8-10 years until the kids are out of the house and we maybe downsize back to something more manageable.

Any thoughts welcome. Thanks!

Tough call. Both nice trucks. Drive them both and see which one you like better. Like you said, more payload in the Tremor but better mileage in the Chev.
I *think* the F150 may offer more room in the back for the kiddos.

Another option would be to go FX4 or Trail Boss. That way you can get the 6.5" bed for more room to pack stuff. Plus you might get even more payload with either make without the softer off road biased suspension. I went with crew cab with the 6'5" box for this reason. It's been nice having the extra space vs the 5'5" box of my previous truck. With the money you save vs Tremor / ZR2 you could upgrade the tires and suspension when and if needed. Depends on where you're going and difficulty of the trails I guess.


I've got about 40,000 miles on my F150 so far. Had 4-5 recalls but nothing that has left me stranded. It's all a crap shoot.

Any reason you aren't looking at the Ram or Tundra?

 

[SDDiver5]

X2 for driving them both. They are true competition to each other, which I am a big fan of. I personally like the looks of the tremor more if the rake is fixed and cant stand the front facia of the ZR2. The 3.5 EB in the Tremor is a pretty awesome engine and is hard to beat but the diesel in the Chevy offers a cool factor.

Regarding the front locker vs torsen. Don't think too much on that, The chances of actually using it are pretty slim.

 

[(none)]

Regarding the front locker vs torsen. Don't think too much on that, The chances of actually using it are pretty slim.

Exactly.

How big is the Chevy fuel tank size? Ford at least has a 32 or so gallon?

Also, i keep mentioning in threads that talk about the small chevy duramax motor...they have a wet belt in the back of the motor for the oil pump. People keep saying they are good for 100 or 200k miles... We know from seeing them in similar applications for a few years now they many times do not make it long. Just keep it in mind if you plan to keep it.
Not that the EB isn't without issues...

 

[Todd n Natalie]

Exactly.

How big is the Chevy fuel tank size? Ford at least has a 32 or so gallon?

Also, i keep mentioning in threads that talk about the small chevy duramax motor...they have a wet belt in the back of the motor for the oil pump. People keep saying they are good for 100 or 200k miles... We know from seeing them in similar applications for a few years now they many times do not make it long. Just keep it in mind if you plan to keep it.
Not that the EB isn't without issues...

Yep. ANY truck has the potential to have issues. New / Used/ GM/ Ford/ V6 TT / V8 / gas / diesel/ whatever....

Get extended warranty if possible and hope for the best.

Just buy the one you like best.

 

[SDDiver5]

Exactly.

How big is the Chevy fuel tank size? Ford at least has a 32 or so gallon?

Also, i keep mentioning in threads that talk about the small chevy duramax motor...they have a wet belt in the back of the motor for the oil pump. People keep saying they are good for 100 or 200k miles... We know from seeing them in similar applications for a few years now they many times do not make it long. Just keep it in mind if you plan to keep it.
Not that the EB isn't without issues...

99% sure the Tremor comes with the extended range tank which is 36 gallons. I have one in my truck. Hurts to fill it up, especially with CA gas prices. But I get 500+ miles and it lasts me 2.5-3 weeks if I am just doing my normal commute.

 

[Furaites]

Always hurts to fill up 250$ to fill up my F150 up in Canuck Land.

I drove em all, and I just bought what I like best.

You can play opinions and reviews all ya want, BUT it all is neat meaningless if you don't like the vehiclr.

 

[plainjaneFJC]

Seems they have worked out the kinks on the Chevy small diesel- I’d go that route

 

[deserteagle56]

big is the Chevy fuel tank size? Ford at least has a 32 or so gallon?

This was a major consideration for me when truck shopping as I travel in some very remote areas.
The F150 was the only one with a 36 gallon gas tank, GM and Ram were only mid-20s, so at least 10 gallons of gas less. That makes a big difference in the back country unless you like to pack along extra fuel. I can regularly get over 600 miles to a tank on my F150, and have gotten over 700.

 

[badm0t0rfinger]

99% sure the Tremor comes with the extended range tank which is 36 gallons. I have one in my truck. Hurts to fill it up, especially with CA gas prices. But I get 500+ miles and it lasts me 2.5-3 weeks if I am just doing my normal commute.

I am terribly jealous.

 

[Nikilrho]

I have the 24 zr2 with the diesel. My husband is daily driving it and we haven’t had a chance to take out because a) it’s new and b) we still have snow everywhere. There’s no winch on the truck and it’s too new to have many options for bumpers.

We didn’t get any options other than the multiflex tailgate but the extra 2k for the tech package was definitely on our list, we just didn’t add it soon enough. No big deal.

If you want payload/towing vs off-road capability get a trailboss or tremor. We don’t have kids, just a 75lb dog. We are looking at a small trailer and popping our bikes in the back or a cargo trailer, but as we just bought a truck, it’s tenting this year with the bikes in the back. (Edit: motorcycles not bicycles)

But there is oodles of room in the back seat. A friend of ours is 6’4 and 250lbs and didn’t have any issues back there. (Rear seats are heated as well.) Pretty sure it’s the first vehicle we’ve owned that hubs hasn’t had to move the seat (he’s 6ft with long legs.)

Seats are a little stiff right now but we’ve made use of both the heated and cooled option.

Just had to fill up (still had 100miles on dash) and averaged 25mpg. Our commute is long, so a tank was just over a week.

Here’s the sticker for the payload and tow rating

 

[Tex68w]

Both are great but the F150 Tremor would get the nod for me due to the better cab and what I perceive as the better engine overall.

 

[Bigc3031]

If you like waiting for the 1 diesel pump to open up as well as paying significantly more for basic maintenance go diesel.

I hated running diesel for those two reasons but another consideration is that it can be hard to find in some remote locations.

 

[McCarthy]

I really like the new 3.0 Duramax, however the Tremor wins elsewhere for me.