Creating a suspension system that meets the wide-ranging uses of a vehicle like the all-new 2025 Expedition, it turns out, is a lot like many things in life. It’s all about balance.

With the outgoing Expedition, we already had a full-size SUV that delivered a highway ride our customers liked. But what their feedback also told us was that we needed to reduce the impact harshness when driving over small bumps, potholes, and other surface imperfections. The challenge for us was achieving those improvements without compromising the elements of ride and handling the customers already liked.

To get there, we started in a logical place: We took the front suspension from F-150 pickups.

With that Build Ford Tough-proven framework in place, we set out to make changes tailored to Expedition. We retuned the springs and shocks, updated the stabilizer bar attachment location, softened the body mounts, and redesigned elements of the rear frame and hitch.

Collectively, these changes help the suspension breathe better when driving over bumpy road surfaces. Now, the vehicle follows the curves of bumps better and feels much more isolated from the road. The entire vehicle absorbs those undulations without feeling “floaty.”

The end result? Expedition drivers will feel less input through the seat when driving over bumps and have a more comfortable overall ride, especially on long-distance trips.

Guided by customer and test-drive feedback

Between durability testing and prototype drives, we put the all-new Expedition through its paces and used all of that test-drive feedback to create a vehicle with more of what our customers want.

The feedback came from a broad spectrum of users — from folks who pull a trailer regularly to those who primarily use the vehicle for a daily commute to those who have their sights set on off-road adventures.

For the former, the redesigned frame and suspension help enable 7,000-pound towing without a weight distribution bar. Weight distribution bars weigh about 50 pounds each and take about a half-hour to install. But with the all-new 2025 Expedition, hauling small trailers or boats can be done without needing to add heavy-duty gear, making it a positive experience for the customer. For customers hauling heavier loads, the Expedition towing capacity increases to 9,600 pounds with weight distribution bars installed — an increase of 300 pounds over the current model.

Delivering a Tremor to Expedition off-roaders

And for the latter off-road-minded group, we built the all-new 2025 Expedition Tremor. To more confidently take on the trails, we retuned the suspension further, but once again, didn’t sacrifice on-road handling and comfort. During their daily commutes, Tremor owners will feel a comfortable ride, even with the larger tires.

Once off-road, the Tremor features a taller stance, a significantly improved ground clearance of 48.3 mm, and unique steering tuning compared to the Expedition 4x4 base model. It also has a suite of features such as Rock Crawl mode, Trail Turn Assist, Trail 1-Pedal Drive, and robust underbody protection that makes off-roading a blast. The shocks and springs are also all-new for Tremor with completely unique tuning designed to handle rough trails.

We spent a lot of time driving Tremor across rocky terrain at rock parks. We drove it through sand. We took it to the United Arab Emirates and challenged it with sweltering desert heat. Tremor handled it all with ease and felt very comfortable doing so.

Through all of our work on the suspension system, we had the additional challenge of improving cabin noise levels, a challenge made even more difficult with the arrival of the all-new split gate. Guided by customer feedback, we aimed to improve communication between first- and third-row occupants by redesigning the exhaust mufflers and adding a robust sound package and meticulous sealing on the new split gate.

With a vehicle like the all-new 2025 Expedition, which has use cases ranging from soccer team transporter to vacation toy hauler, there is much to consider when designing the perfect suspension system. Creating a system that takes on choppy terrain, preserves its excellent highway ride, and increases towing capacity required a lot of trial, error, and driver feedback. And balance.

Kartik Ramanathan is Expedition Vehicle Engineering Manager at Ford.