As we exclusively discovered back in October of 2018, Ford filed to trademark the name “FX4 Max” with the USPTO. The filing was made on September 13th and listed the goods and services category of “Motor vehicles, namely, passenger automobiles, trucks, sport utility vehicles, off-road vehicles, and structural parts, fittings, and badges therefor.” Naturally, we believed the filing preempted a new, more off-road-capable version of Ford’s well-established FX4 package for Ford Trucks. But then The Blue Oval debuted the Ford Tremor package.
At a private event debuting the Ford Tremor Super Duty, Ford Authority learned that FoMoCo initially planned to call the Tremor package FX4 Max. Somewhere along the line, a decision was made to switch that name to Tremor. Try as we might, we couldn’t get Ford managers to explain the reason for the name change.
Though we like the Ford Tremor name over FX4 Max, using the FX4 Max name would have built a very logical stair-step structure: FX4 would have continued as the entry-level off-road package while FX4 Max is the more capable package. Alas, that did not happen.
But the Tremor name has some heritage within the Ford model line, as the nameplate was originally used on a street truck variant of the last-generation F-150. Offered only for the 2014 model year, the F-150 Tremor was a limited-run affair that served as an indirect successor to the F-150 SVT Lightning.
Offered only in a regular cab and short box configuration, the 2014 F-150 Tremor mated Ford’s twin-turbo 3.5L EcoBoost V6 (365 horsepower and 420 pound-feet of torque) with the Ford 6R80 six-speed automatic transmission and 4.10 gearing. That allowed the F-150 Tremor street performance truck to offer impressive performance, sprinting to 60 mph in a flat six seconds. The ensemble sat on 20-inch aluminum wheels wrapped in Pirelli Scorpion rubber, helping the street truck grip the earth with greater tenacity.
Fast forward back to the present, and the Ford Tremor name is being used on an off-road package for the Super Duty F-250 and F-350… and the rest is history.
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Comments
“Tremor” was a ranger trim level 10 years before it became an F150 trim. It had an upgraded stereo system. I think another ranger trim, the FX4 Level II makes more sense . Tremor does sound cool, though.
Tremor has much more marketing appeal and it does flow off the tongue much better.