Scott Brady Editor's choice Tremor weight question

[kerouac]

Just finished reading the editors choice full size shoot out where the Ford Tremor won out. This was good to see as we are partial to Ford products. One question for Scott (or the forum)....several times throughout, the article stresses the need for camper weight to make the ride tolerable. For example...

"which can only be described as unbearable without a load"
"but this truck should only be considered with a camper"
"believe us when we say that even the 3/4 model requires a serious load (like a camper) to make the ride quality tolerable"

This is great info to have but the article never states what would be an appropriate weight to consider to help mitigate the issue. So, for example, an Alu Cab Canopy build could be around the 800lb mark. A Four Wheel Camper Hawk model is around 1100lbs stock. Is this the kind of weight necessary? Or would something even more be required, like an actual truck camper?

Thoughts?....and thanks in advance

 

[Riversdad]

Two weeks ago I drove 517 miles, unladen with weight, and tires aired to 65 and 80 and didn't find the ride punishing at all. The drive back with 1650 lbs. in the bed was smoother but I found the truck to be a great highway vehicle and did 1034 miles in a little over 16 hours with very little discomfort.
Forgot to add, F-250 with Tremor package.

 

[Explorerinil]

I’ve been driving my f250 tremor for 25k now, ride is not bad at all, it’s extremely smooth with a load. Remember people are trying to sell you suspension products.

 

[tacollie]

Guess I'm the odd guy out. On road they ride great but off road they are rough. Any weigh in the bed is going to help. More importantly if there's no weight in the bed don't run the tires at full street pressure.

 

[ITTOG]

Guess I'm the odd guy out. On road they ride great but off road they are rough. Any weigh in the bed is going to help. More importantly if there's no weight in the bed don't run the tires at full street pressure.

I am with you but think they are rough on road as well.

Remember people are often biased when it comes to self interest.

 

[plainjaneFJC]

I would never run the full pressure in the rear, makes a big difference to back it off 15 psi

 

[kerouac]

thanks for the replies everyone....but it still doesn't help me understand how much weight load would help this "harshness" issue as stated in the article. Any other's out there care to chime in?

 

[SDDiver5]

Maybe they only said it because they had to think of something to put in the con section of an awesome rig?

OP- I cant say first hand but It's really going to come down to what you are comfortable with. Are you old? Do you have back problems? Was your prior vehicle a cadillac or a Model T? Too many factors to give you an exact number. You may find that unloaded is just fine but it is also hard to pin point just how much you will need for it to be comfortable for you. With the two options you gave, I think that either of them would tone down any suspension in the rear and make the ride better. But also that might be able to be solved with some custom deavers and better shocks.

I can say that in my F150 when I am loaded up heading to the desert with maybe 400ish pounds in the bed (including RTT) the suspension acts differently but I wouldn't say it's necessarily more comfortable for me.

 

[Explorerinil]

thanks for the replies everyone....but it still doesn't help me understand how much weight load would help this "harshness" issue as stated in the article. Any other's out there care to chime in?

I think mine rides great, it’s a long heavy truck so that helps. It gets real smooth with 500 lbs or so in the bed. I have ran thuren and carli set ups on many ram trucks, and I think this tremor rides fine. I will not modify the suspension, wheels or get bigger tires, it does just fine as is.

 

[tacollie]

Their test was of a Toyota Tundra, Nissan Titan, Ram 2500, GM 3500, and the F350 Tremor. Out of that list the Tremor is the roughest riding. Adjust your tire pressure to your load and don't look back.

 

[jackflash]

Their test was of a Toyota Tundra, Nissan Titan, Ram 2500, GM 3500, and the F350 Tremor. Out of that list the Tremor is the roughest riding. Adjust your tire pressure to your load and don't look back.

How to you compare a 1/2 ton (Tundra, Titan) or a 3/4 ton (Ram 2500) to a 1 ton, as far as ride quality goes? An F350 Tremor will have a payload over 3k pounds. GM would be the only one close to that payload, but with IFS it will ride smoother. Otherwise, it's a truck, it was made to work not ride like a car.

 

[tacollie]

How to you compare a 1/2 ton (Tundra, Titan) or a 3/4 ton (Ram 2500) to a 1 ton, as far as ride quality goes? An F350 Tremor will have a payload over 3k pounds. GM would be the only one close to that payload, but with IFS it will ride smoother. Otherwise, it's a truck, it was made to work not ride like a car.

I think they picked their favorite full-size offering from each manufacturer. They were partial to the Ram 2500 with a Cummins or the Power Wagon. Both have a lighter payload. I think the diesel F350 Tremor won based on payload and off-road capability. The GM had the highest payload but was limited by the ifs. They really make it point to talk about payload when considering trucks.

 

[mk216v]

thanks for the replies everyone....but it still doesn't help me understand how much weight load would help this "harshness" issue as stated in the article. Any other's out there care to chime in?

To answer your question, I'd estimate ~1500lbs.
Not a Tremor, but I found the stock susp of my '19 F350 chassis-cab WAY too oversprung. My '19 F350 pickup was less so.

 

[Trixxx]

I just rolled 36k miles on my 2020 F250 Tremor w/ the 6.7 (build thread in signature). I ran it for 20k miles stock wheels/suspension because I wanted to make sure I ‘loved’ the truck to keep it a long time before I started the build. This month I purchased the Ford bumper to bumper 125k mile warranty, so needless to say I’m committed lol.

There several very important things to consider, and also very easy fixes to make. First, they come stock with 18’s and 35’s with a recommended air pressure of 60F/80R. This is only to be utilized when the truck is ran with it’s FULL PAYLOAD, as with all truck tires and their pressure ratings. Empty (I can’t remember off time since it’s been a while) I ran around 55F/45R. During this time, the truck rode great.

After this, I upgraded to 37/12.5r17 Ridge Grapplers, still on stock suspension. I ran around a 45F and 40R tire pressure, and this helped the ride considerably more (took some trimming up front). This was at around 20k miles.

Around 4 months after that, we added the Carli Back Country kit. The truck rides absolutely beautifully. With my wife and 11 month old we had no issues doing around 4000 miles last Christmas from Houston>Phoenix>Deep into Baja>Back. Last week we did 2000 miles round trip to northern Iowa and back to Houston.

I do have the full rear leaf replacement which does hinder the load capacity a bit. They have an airbag set up for this kit I’ll buy eventually just for when we are towing their trailer (also have an RSI smart cap and loaded truck bed when we do our trips).

Again, overall, I found the stock setup at the correct tire pressures to be just fine, and for many that will upgrade suspension/wheels/tires anyways, you can get a ride that will rival most any of the top tier off road vehicles out there.