These days, off-road fans have a plethora of choices when it comes to capable turnkey OEM offerings. On the Ford pickup side of things, first came the F-150 Raptor, which has since spawned a trio of slightly less hardcore Ford Tremor offerings available on the Ranger, F-150, and Super Duty. Each comes with a bevy of upgrades, some of which a lot of owners would have, in the past, added themselves via the aftermarket. And that had the folks at MotorTrend wondering – would it be cheaper to replicate the Ford Tremor package than buying the truck itself?
It’s a compelling question for certain, particularly as the price of new trucks continues to skyrocket. Each of these three Tremor models comes with different equipment, so prices obviously vary. On the Ranger and Super Duty, it’s a fairly straightforward package that costs $4,290 and $4,375 to each truck’s MSRP, respectively, but on the F-150, Tremor is its own trim level available in Standard, Mid, and High package options, though the former adds around $2,800 to the cost of the pickup.
The next sticking point is parts availability. While many of the things that the Tremor comes with – wheels, tires, shocks, springs, and locking differentials – can be purchased via the aftermarket, they aren’t exactly the same. There are also unique features like Trail Control and Trail Turn Assist, as well as decals and other little details that are only available via Ford. Regardless, for this exercise, we’ll just assume that owners want something unique and don’t care about that kind of stuff.
The most important takeaway from this exercise is that one cannot replicate a Ford Tremor pickup of any kind for the sort of price you’ll pay to just buy one in the first place. After crunching the numbers, MT found that merely purchasing a few of these components from the aftermarket – wheels, tires, shocks, a leveling kit, and a locking diff – easily exceeds the price of any Tremor package.
So why would anyone do such a thing? Well, there’s the desire to be different than anyone else, or build a truck with your own personally curated parts list, or perhaps you want an F-150 Tremor with the Ford’s 5.0-liter Coyote V8, and the automaker will only sell you one with the 3.5-liter EcoBoost V6. But on the flip side, if you just want a capable off-roader, the Tremor trio is seemingly one heck of a bargain.
Source: Ford Truck Enthusiasts
