Three places the plan argues with itself

The point of a decision log is to catch this kind of thing early, so here are three places where the current direction works against a goal set at the start. None of them is settled. All three should be answered before the decisions they touch are closed.

Ride height against accessibility. The stated reason for downsizing from the F-250 was step-in height for kids and for aging family members. The Tremor already sits roughly two inches taller than a standard F-150, and the planned front lift of an inch to an inch and a half, on 35-inch tires, would put it at about Raptor height. That is the truck the F-250 was sold to avoid. A target step-in height needs to be set and then checked against the suspension and tire decisions rather than discovered after both are bought.

Tire size against towing. A 35-inch tire on the 3.73 axle behaves roughly like a 3.52 — about six percent less effective gearing. The 3.73 was specifically part of why this truck was chosen, for towing. Going to 35s gives some of that back at exactly the moment it is needed most, with 6,500 pounds behind the hitch and a long climb ahead. Tire diameter is being reconsidered against this rather than treated as settled.

Payload against everything else. Maximum payload is 1,815 lb. Steel ADD bumpers front and rear, 35-inch tires, a bed rack or topper, and Airstream tongue weight at 10 to 13 percent — somewhere around 650 to 850 lb — consume most of that before any passengers or gear. That arithmetic needs running properly before the rack-or-topper decision is finalized, because it is the decision most likely to be the one that puts the truck over.

None of these has an answer yet. They are recorded here so that when the suspension, tire and topper decisions do close, they close against the numbers rather than around them.