FORD.
A name that could be in the American national anthem and not a single person would bat their eye. Ford is synonymous with the good ol’ USA. From its roots in the early 20th century all the way to the 2020's, F-Series trucks have been the top selling trucks in the world by a comfortable margin.
We decided to break down some of the best mods you can do to the Ford truck lineup to make it an even better truck. Who’d we talk to? Well, DECKED customers of course, these guys and gals have some of the baddest, sickest, gnarliest, most epic trucks around, so if you’re looking for some Ford inspiration, right here is a great place to start.
To lead the charge, we’ll start with one of Ford’s big hitters, the F-250 Tremor Edition . The Super Duty is the workhorse of the Ford lineup, available with three engine options: 6.2L 2-valve SOHC Flex Fuel V8, 6.7L Power Stroke V8 Turbo Diesel Engine, 7.3L 2-Valve V8 Gas Engine. The Tremor edition also came standard with 18" matte black wheels, 35" Goodyear Wrangler Duratrac tires, a 2" front-end lift, rear stabilizer bar, 1.7" piston twin-tube dampers, 10.8" of ground clearance, 33" of water fording capability, and a shorter air dam. So you could say the Tremor Super Duty can handle some $#!+. Just wait, it can get even better. To find out how to improve the Ford Super Duty Tremor experience, we reached out to @the.overland.professor to see how he took his truck to the next level.
Joey has driven both generations of the Ford Raptor , but realized that for his longer journeys he needed something that was more oriented towards crushing highway miles but still had the capabilities to take dirt, mud, rock challenges in stride. Here’s what he had to say,
“I drove a 2014 and a 2017 Ford Raptor, because I thoroughly enjoy the dirt. However, I soon learned that I’m not necessarily a fan of hard core wheelin’. I prefer to find beautiful remote locations, and just relax and enjoy my time there. The problem I face is that I live in Texas, and all I want to do is drive out west. That drive is a minimum of 10 hours, possibly double that if I’m trying to get to Wyoming or Montana. In order to make that drive comfortably, I needed to carry lots of gear with me. The soft Raptor suspension is not designed to handle a ton of payload and while still performing like a Raptor. I needed the off-road capability of a Raptor with the payload capacity of a Super Duty . In 2020, Ford introduced the Tremor package to their Super Duty lineup, and I couldn’t build one fast enough.”
There it is folks, the man has spoken. The dual capabilities of the Ford Super Duty Tremor edition is second to none. For real though, are there any other diesel optioned, full size trucks, sold from the factory with that level of off road capability, not that we know of.
Despite being mega capable from the Ford factory, Joey had to add a few more upgrades to make the truck fully his own (as well as a palace for his three dogs).
and of course the DECKED Drawer System .
“Because I do travel with three dogs, a lot of my interior space is spoken for, so I needed storage solutions bolted to the truck. That is where the DECKED Drawer System and FrontRunner roof rack come into play. Those two bolted pieces allow me to have certain pieces of gear permanently on my rig. Storage and organization makes for a much more efficient and enjoyable time while out on the trail.”
Whether it's dogs, kids, 1 million rolls of toilet paper, or even your Uncle Larry taking up your back seat, having dynamic storage solutions will make any amount of travel, on or off road, easier, more efficient, and safer.
While the Ford Super Duty isn’t the ultimate off road offering from Ford (don’t worry we’re getting there), it certainly is no slouch, especially in the Tremor guise. Thanks to @the.overland.professor for his insight, follow him to see his Ford build inevitably get better and better. Also some quality dog content...
You didn't think we were done yet, did you?
You knew it was coming, you can’t just write about Ford Trucks and off-roading capabilities without immediately thinking…. RAPTOR . The Ford F-150 Raptor is arguably the most capable factory built off road truck currently available (Ram TRX might be giving it a run for its money). However, something a stock Ford Raptor has done and the Ram has not, is complete the Baja 1000 , an 850 mile, brutal off road race. Yes that is correct, aside from a few safety modifications, a stock 2017 Ford Raptor, finished Baja. Wild.
With 450hp, a 0-60 in around 5 seconds, 13 inches of suspension travel in the front and 13.9 inches in the rear (trust us, 13inches is above average). Since 2017, the Ford Raptor came standard with an Twin Turbo Ecoboost V6 (to the grand dismay of the fan’s of the old Raptor’s V8). The V6 puts out more power, is more efficient (barely), but offers tons of driving modes, everything from Snow to Baja. The Ford Raptor is an obvious choice for overlanders and offroaders. But as you have seen and would expect, many Raptor owners keep their truck stock for all of two seconds. A great example, one that we’ve featured recently in our Build Of The Month series, is the @becker_family_adventures Raptor. This rig has every modification on God’s green earth. Like the photos? Check out @mavt4r for some more killer overland photography.
If you want to see the whole build list (bring something to drink, it’s a long one) check out our Build of the Month post here . We’ll stick to what we think are some of the best modifications done by Travis, his wife, and most importantly his daughter Kaci and their three dogs. There appears to be a trend with overlanders and their dogs. Anyway, back to the metal, and HDPE .
“Just before Covid hit we knew we wanted to get out more and begin camping and getting off grid for some fun and relaxation as both my wife and I have careers that demand exorbitant travel, computer and phone time. One of our goals was to just get out of town and away from the city to restore work-life balance. One of our key philosophies on this journey, is to always learn through experience and adapt our set up to make camp easier, faster, and more relaxing.”
“The DECKED Drawers are the foundation of this entire build. The drawers have amazing capacity and allow us to always keep the camp necessities in the truck. The DECKED Drawer System gives us the ability to store, secure, and organize all of our comfort items. We have our chairs, tables, hammock, tent accessories, lanterns, and extra batteries and much more in our drawers. With this set up, we can load up and be out the door in under an hour.”
That right there, is what DECKED is all about, perfect organization and easy access. So often we are scrambling around the garage last minute whether before work or before a big weekend adventure looking for some essential piece of equipment. DECKED Drawers or the all new DECKED Tool Box allow you to securely store all those important items so they are ready to go at a moment’s notice. Save time and stress less when DECKED has your back.
Here are a few more essential pieces Travis added to his Raptor build:
-
Leitner Designs ACS Forged
bed rack
-
Two small
GearPODs
- One for recovery equipment and air compressor
- One for a dry goods pantry
- Three Rotopax mounts (2x 2-gallon water and 1x 3-gallon Fuel)
- Quickfist shovel mount with Krazy Beaver Shovel
-
Two small
GearPODs
- iKamper Skycamp 2.0 RTT with upgraded EXPED mattresses
- 23 Zero Peregrine 270 Drivers Side Awning
- ARB 50 Qt Classic Series fridge mounted in the bed (to the DECKED Drawer System)
- Fridge slide is a DFG Offroad tilt slide
- Fridge power comes from the main vehicle battery wired into the bed ( Optima Yellowtop )
- Jackery 500 with 100 watt solar panel serves as the fridge’s camp battery
- Waterport 5-gallon pressurized water container for washing and shower duty
- Mountain Hatch tailgate table
The list goes on, but at the heart of it all remains the Ford Raptor. The American built, off-road, powerhouse of a truck. Jump, plow, drift, and bash your way through some of the roughest country out there with a Raptor. If you’re on the hunt for one of these trucks, we hear @theraptorconnection is your one stop shop.
For the grand ford truck finale...
Just because you’ve gotten to the bottom of this article doesn’t mean you should stop reading, because Ford’s undercover heavy hitter is here, The FORD F$^%&%G RANGER . A name that has been in the Ford brand for a while, but most recently used on their mid-size pickup truck, the Ranger is regarded as the younger sibling of the F-Series and Super Duty line up. That, by no means, takes the Ford Ranger out of the running from being a real contender when it comes to pick-up trucks. For our fine friends over the pond in Europe, Africa, and Asia who don’t have roads as wide as the the Nile River, the smaller Ford Ranger can really be in its element. Or for the guy (or gal) who likes to take it off the grid on those tight fitting national forest fire roads or southern Utah slick rock canyons, the Ford Ranger is a perfect solution. But don’t do this .
Honestly, if you’re looking to heavily outfit your truck, the Ford Ranger provides a great starting point. The truck comes stock with a steel frame, frame mounted steel bumpers, and is powered by a turbocharged 2.3L gas engine. With a starting price of $24,820, that leaves YOU, the buyer, with some cash to put into some epic aftermarket mods. Speaking of mods, our guy Bryce ( @harkanfilms ), has some very tasteful upgrades and was nice enough to share them with us.
Build List
- Fifteen52 Turbomac HD Wheels
- The Falken Wildpeak (295 70R17) Tire
- Roam Adventure Co Vagabond RTT
"I didn't want to spend too much on bells and whistles so I ordered the necessities. The build started very minimal and for months it looked like I owned a lawn mowing business but I knew soon it would be different."
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![DECKED Storage Drawers Ford Ranger]()
Landscaping rig no more, Bryce has put together a seriously clean truck and really shows how much you can do with a mid-size truck. The smaller the truck, the more creative you have to get with modifications because there is a lot less real estate to work with. DECKED Drawers are a great solution to maximizing the space because they still allow bed usage but increase the area where you can store gear that might otherwise have to go inside your cab to be safe from weather and prying eyes. DECKED can ease the paranoia of gear theft or damage.
You've heard enough from us about how much we like DECKED drawers, but why don't you hear it from Bryce, a hard working family man who uses his DECKED drawers for both work and play.
"For family trips we use one drawer for cooking gear and camping stuff and then in the smaller drawer we throw our clothes in organizers. I'm a filmmaker and have quite the expensive camera setup. I used to do the ol "throw the blanket over the gear in the back seat and hope no one can see it" ordeal. With DECKED I can put it in my drawer, lock the drawer and lock my tailgate so no one is even tempted to see what gear I have in my truck."
![Mid Size Truck Bed Storage]()
If that didn't get you pumped to buy a Ford something must be wrong with you.
