2021 Ford F250 Tremor Adventure Rig

[BretEdge]

My son had his first NICA Junior Devo MTB race in Cedar City this weekend, so we packed up the Funhawg and spent the weekend at the race and exploring the area around Cedar Breaks National Monument. We stumbled upon a killer campsite overlooking the Monument and after negotiating a steep (21 degrees), rutted out road we pulled up to a cliffside site without a soul around. A couple hours after setting up camp two other vehicles showed up and proceeded to camp about 100' away from us, despite the fact that there were several other campsites that would have provided them much more privacy. I dunno, if we wanted to camp with people we'd stay a campground somewhere but whatever.

Every time I use Ford's Trail Control it amazes me. Coming down the steep road I set it to 1 MPH and the truck maintained that speed the entire way down. On the way back up, in 4Hi, the Godzilla motor just tugged us along without breaking a sweat or slipping a tire on the loose surface. Impressed with the performance of our Toyo Open Country R/T's thus far, both on road and off.

Few photos from the weekend.

 

[Tex68w]

Toyo R/T's still remain as my favorite tire I have ever run on a 4x4. If they had been readily available when I bought tires for my 3500 that's what would be on there right now. I really like the KM3's I am running at the moment but I'll have a hard time not going back to the R/T's when they need replacing.

 

[BretEdge]

Toyo R/T's still remain as my favorite tire I have ever run on a 4x4. If they had been readily available when I bought tires for my 3500 that's what would be on there right now. I really like the KM3's I am running at the moment but I'll have a hard time not going back to the R/T's when they need replacing.

That's great to hear. I ran Toyo M/T's on my FJ Cruiser and they were also great. We had Nitto Ridge Grapplers on our last rig and though I liked them, I feel like the Toyo's are a better tire. The Nitto's seemed to get louder as they wore out but thus far the Toyo's are still quiet. Offroad traction seems better too, though that's just based on anecdotal observations.

 

[Klutch7]

Thanks! Glad you're enjoying our build and adventures.

Yes, the Pintop = King.

We did consider several other pop-up brands including Overland Explorer, Bison Overland Campers, Supertramp, Phoenix and Hallmark. Both OE and Bison were the main alternates but in the end we opted for FWC in large part because we're former FWC owners and...brand loyalty. Bison is a little too new and unproven, and at the time OE had very little information available about their flatbed camper, their website was worthless, the camper layout wasn't finalized, it has less storage than FWC and the fridge was too small. That said, now that there's more information about the OE HBE camper, we would probably opt for it instead of the FWC. That isn't to say we're not happy with ours because we love it. LOVE IT! But, the OE campers are built with only the very best components, they're better insulated, and now that I've seen one in person, I'm very impressed with the overall build quality. They're here to stay and I think as they ramp up production they'll start taking marketshare. That's a lot more than you asked for but, there ya have it.

Nope, that is exactly what I was hoping for! these are the two which have my attention (won't be in the market for at least a year). The OE looks awesome and the reviews from people currently using them seem great. I haven't seen one in person, but I want to better understand the significant price difference between it and the FWC. Either way, those are my top two contenders.

 

[BretEdge]

Nope, that is exactly what I was hoping for! these are the two which have my attention (won't be in the market for at least a year). The OE looks awesome and the reviews from people currently using them seem great. I haven't seen one in person, but I want to better understand the significant price difference between it and the FWC. Either way, those are my top two contenders.

When you see one of the OE's, you'll understand the price difference. They use better components all the way around and there's an attention to detail that you don't see in the FWC. They're also much more solid. You can bang your fist on the OE exterior but I wouldn't do the same to the FWC unless you want to dent the crap out of it. That should translate to increased puncture/scratch resistance when you're squeezing through trees, etc. Also, the OE's actually have an R value. FWC, not so much. Like I said, we're happy with our FWC but they haven't really had any competition in this space for decades and with some of the new products coming online, i.e. OE, they'd better start innovating or they'll lose market share.

 

[givemethewillys]

What a cool thing to be able to take the camper to the mtb race, in such an incredibly scenic location! My son is only 3, but I'm hoping he'll get into mountain biking someday. When I grew up in the early-mid 90's, we rode the heck out of our specialized rockhoppers, but definitely didn't have anything organized to race!

Your truck is my dream truck. I absolutely love it. I have an f150 right now, which I love, but in a few years I'll more than likely swap it out for a godzilla powered Tremor.

 

[BretEdge]

What a cool thing to be able to take the camper to the mtb race, in such an incredibly scenic location! My son is only 3, but I'm hoping he'll get into mountain biking someday. When I grew up in the early-mid 90's, we rode the heck out of our specialized rockhoppers, but definitely didn't have anything organized to race!

Your truck is my dream truck. I absolutely love it. I have an f150 right now, which I love, but in a few years I'll more than likely swap it out for a godzilla powered Tremor.

I was right there with you on those old fully rigid MTB's in the 90's! I learned to ride on one while living in Phoenix, hitting trails like National and crashing all the time. Kids these days are so lucky to have killer bikes and amazing trails.

Appreciate the comments on my rig. We love it and every single day we realize how lucky we are to have it. Our last rig was an F150 with an FWC Raven in the bed, and it was a hoot. We spent almost 100 nights in it over about 18 months of ownership. It was just a bit too small for the family, which is why we upsized to the F250 and flatbed FWC. No regrets, except once a month when I write the mortgage, er...car payment check. ;-)

 

[BretEdge]

Last weekend we took a chill trip to the San Juan Mountains to run a few passes and camp in the cooler weather. We drove Ophir, Hurricane, California and Stony Passes and the rig managed them all well. The Carli suspension combined with Alcan leaf springs is pure magic. I've driven nearly every road in the San Juans over the last twenty years in a variety of vehicles equipped with all manner of popular suspension systems. Nothing provides the kind of ride quality of the Carli system. It's truly outstanding. On Ophir's super narrow shelf section we had to go slow and really watch the camper as it hovered a few inches from the rock wall. Hurricane and California are both cake walks. Stony got...interesting, and by interesting I mean scary. On what is one of the narrowest sections of the trail we crossed paths with a Tacoma and neither one of us had a pullout nearby that we could easily back up to. So, he pulled over on the inside as far as he could, my wife got out to spot me, and I started creeping by on the outside. I wish we'd gotten some photos and/or video but the whole affair was so tense that everyone was 100% focused on the task at hand. My outside tires had just 1-2" of room on the cliff side, and with mirrors folded in another 2-3" between my rig and the Taco. I crept forward, making minute adjustments as directed by my wife and at one point, the driver of the Taco tried to pull forward a bit but he was so high up on the slope that it just caused his back end to slide toward my rig. In the end, we made it through but not without a serious adrenaline rush that I don't care to repeat.

We camped in Velocity Basin and atop Stony Pass. At Stony the elevation was just over 12,600' and my wife and I both awoke in the middle of the night with wicked headaches. Damn altitude sickness zapped us. Also, the air was so thin that the sail switch on the heater wasn't functional which made for a bit of a chilly night, but not too bad. Didn't realize that those sail switches were so sensitive to elevation. Never been a big fan of the Dometic heaters so now we're looking into replacing it with a Truma. Ugh...it never ends.

Hope you enjoy the photos.

 

[phsycle]

Nice pictures. I am heading to the San Juans next weekend. Just learned of Imogene closure from the Telluride side, which is a bummer. But looking forward to what is probably my favorite part of Colorado.

 

[Superduty]

Great stuff. Thanks for sharing.

 

[BretEdge]

Great stuff. Thanks for sharing.

Glad you enjoy it. Thanks!

 

[BretEdge]

Nice pictures. I am heading to the San Juans next weekend. Just learned of Imogene closure from the Telluride side, which is a bummer. But looking forward to what is probably my favorite part of Colorado.

I wasn't aware of the closure. That's too bad. What are you going to do while there?

 

[BretEdge]

Last weekend my son had a mountain bike race in Richfield. The race was on Saturday morning and we were done by noon so we split for Capitol Reef as we hadn't enjoyed a Gifford House pie since last year and he certainly earned one at the race. It's still a little warm in the desert so when we hit Torrey we headed south and climbed up Boulder Mountain on Hwy. 12. We drove two random dirt roads, walked one more that looked a little sketchy and finally found a nice site at the end of a two track that traversed around a hill before depositing us amongst a large grove of ponderosa pines. As a bonus, the site was perfectly level! Views from camp weren't spectacular but a short walk took us to the edge of steep slope that provided outstanding views toward Capitol Reef in one direction and the Waterpocket Fold and Henry Mountains in the other. A wild storm blew in just before dark, pummeling us with huge rain drops and non-stop lightning for 30-45 minutes.

The next morning we slept in but wasted no time packing up camp and heading to the Gifford House in Capitol Reef to ensure we had our choice of pies before they all sold out. We got lucky and picked up the last peach pie, along with an apple and cherry. We made sandwiches for lunch and ate them at the picnic area by the river, then gorged on pie while watching all of the tourists disembark from ginormous buses with sack lunches in hand.

We're stuck at home for the next two weekends but have a few adventures planned in October. Stay tuned. Until then, enjoy photos from last weekend's escape.

 

[montypower]

Your Stony Pass adventure definitely sounds interesting. Risking damage is one thing... but rolling down a mountain is less good.

Have you weighed your rig fully loaded for travel? I'm curious what your front / rear axle weights are.

 

[phsycle]

we hit Torrey we headed south and climbed up Boulder Mountain on Hwy. 12. We drove two random dirt roads, walked one more that looked a little sketchy and finally found a nice site at the end of a two track that traversed around a hill before depositing us amongst a large grove of ponderosa pines. As a bonus, the site was perfectly level!

Hwy 12 is such a nice drive. I’ve always wanted to explore some of those dirt roads that are scattered throughout Boulder mtn

I wasn't aware of the closure. That's too bad. What are you going to do while there?

Typically, I like going up to Yankee Boy, then Alpine Loop. Haven’t done Ophir and may try that this time around.