If you are looking for a larger-than-full-size three-row SUV that can haul, tow, and do everything a super-sized vehicle is built to do with ease, we would recommend the 2026 Ford Expedition. However, our recommendation comes with a heads-up.
What Is the Heads Up?
We’ll sing the praises of the Expedition in just a moment. However, we strongly suggest that you think hard about how you will use it. Do you plan to take your $87,000 bigger-than-life vehicle into situations where there is no road, including no dirt road? Truly off the grid, off pavement, off the beaten path, and then use it to do some mud whomping and rock crawling. Let’s be honest with ourselves now. Rock crawling in a vehicle over ten feet long?. Meaning you will have nothing under the vehicle but a rock face or rocky terrain with no path. If so, buy the Tremor. If not, we have some opinions, based on testing the Expedition's various trims, about what you should and should not do.
The Expedition Trims - Active, Platinum, King Ranch
There are four Expedition trims. Even the base trim can tow up to 9,600 pounds, or the rough equivalent of the weight of two Ford Broncos. There's really no homeowner towing task the least capable Expedition can’t handle.
The King Ranch and the Platinum are the fancy, luxury versions of the Expedition. They come with various bits to make your life easier and more comfortable, all the while having the same towing and space specs as the Tremor. In fact, they can tow a smidge more.
The Tremor - What’s Its Specialty
The Expedition is big, tough, and capable, no matter which one you buy, but the Tremor has two features that make it stand out. The first is a rock crawl mode. We didn’t try it out because finding a place to rock crawl in New England is virtually impossible. The second feature is a set of 33-inch all-terrain tires. The ones on our media tester were General Grabber branded.
The Expedition we tested was unlike others we’ve had a chance to drive. For example, we drove the King Ranch back in November. We noted that it had a nice highway ride, was crazy-capable, and we found that, overall, it drove “better than you’d guess.”
The Tremor is different. It has no wind or powertrain noise, at least that we could detect. However, the tires were so noisy that we had trouble talking to a front-seat passenger. They hum on some surfaces, growl on others. They are always noticeable on pavement. Off-pavement, they were great. We drove a lot of Central New Hampshire's dirt roads, both well-maintained public ones and some pretty rough private ones. All roads, but varying in their level of holes, divots, and washboard sections. Here, the Grabber tires are a plus.
However, on the 95% of the driving we did on-pavement, they are a negative. For the record, I own a Ford SUV with all-terrain tires. I’ve tested all-terrain tires and trail tires many times, on multiple vehicle. None of them was as loud as this vehicle on its A/Ts.
The Expedition has a splendid powertrain; it’s larger than life, and its price point is roughly $80K to $90K, and the trim does not matter all that much when you configure your perfect version. Our suggestion is to simply ask yourself how important those all-terrain tires are to you. And maybe also check in with your favorite front seat passenger, because if they are not on board with the cabin noise, it could make for some hard-to-hear and uncomfortable conversations after you write that $87K check out of the family’s account.
About the Author:
John Goreham is a 14-year veteran of Torque News. An accomplished writer and a long-time expert in vehicle testing, Goreham also serves as the Vice President of the New England Motor Press Association and has a growing social media presence. He’s also a 10-year staff writer and community moderator for Car Talk. Goreham holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and an undergraduate Certificate in Marketing. In addition to vehicle and tire content, he offers deep dives into market trends and opinion pieces. You can follow John Goreham on X and TikTok, and connect with him on LinkedIn.
Images by John Goreham
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