Anyone wanting to lift/level a Ranger Raptor should read this!

[ag02m5]

Cool. I'm surprised you got a full inch without the bottom part. I'm still debating what I want to do - leaning toward the full 2" lift. The front is so low.

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[joprato]

Hello guys.
Just want to make sure I understand all this correctly.
should I make some sort of an overland setup with my 6G ranger raptor, I shouldn’t lift it ?
I’m fine with stock tires, I don’t have massive rocks or obstacles to cross over, mostly sand and the occasional hole, but I’m planning on adding some weight in the back (bed rack with some recovery gear, propane, rotopax, jerrycans, cooler, not sure about an RTT yet… )

should I not look into some lift kit at that point ?
Appreciate the inputs !
Cheers

 

[LFRR13]

If it was that big of an issue, you would not have seen the Ford Performance racing team use perch collar spacers and dominate at the Finke Desert Race in Australia when they fitted 35" tires. You are still within the realm of expected travel of the dampener and are not changing spring rates. It is recommended to reset the ride height sensors when sitting static so the live valve doesn't react like it is nose high and increase dampening expecting to settle.

It’s not a “big” issue - it shortens the service life of the shock, because it is forced to operate for longer in a stressed state than otherwise engineered. And OEMs do TONS to cars when competing…many of which actively shorten the lifespan…for the purposes of racing. What Ford is willing to do on a marketing vehicle, that might get crushed or disassembled after its intended use bears little correlation to the general public.

sure, you can do ALL the same mods…but guarantee you that car doesn’t last as long as a stock vehicle.

 

[Catalyst]

It’s not a “big” issue - it shortens the service life of the shock, because it is forced to operate for longer in a stressed state than otherwise engineered. And OEMs do TONS to cars when competing…many of which actively shorten the lifespan…for the purposes of racing. What Ford is willing to do on a marketing vehicle, that might get crushed or disassembled after its intended use bears little correlation to the general public.

sure, you can do ALL the same mods…but guarantee you that car doesn’t last as long as a stock vehicle.

I understand and agree; that’s a trade off I’m willing to make. Been modifying vehicles I’ve owned for over 30 years and I plan mods with realistic expectations after doing research.

By the time more options exist from Fox, (74Weld is working on a project with them soon), I’ll likely be replacing them early anyways.

Scheduled getting my FMI perch collars installed next week along with an alignment and powder coating my bead lock rings. Then I will run the calibration in FORScan afterwards.

 

[RaptrJr]

From the What did you do to your Ranger Raptor Today thread…

what happened to that thread? I can’t seem to find it anymore

 

[Catalyst]

what happened to that thread? I can’t seem to find it anymore

It is active still: https://www.ranger6g.com/forum/threads/what-did-you-do-to-your-ranger-raptor-today.10015/

 

[Erikpra]

Hello everyone,
So I just got off the phone with a very knowledgeable tech at Fox Factory NA. I specifically asked him if Fox signs off on any existing Lift/leveling kits on the market for the new Ranger raptor platform. He said that, although some drivers won’t feel the difference, it absolutely negatively affects the performance of the suspension on these trucks. The 2.5 live valve shocks on these trucks are designed with a “droop” zone, “static sag” zone, and “compression zone”. When you add a lift kit or spring perch spacer the shock then statically rides outside of its factory sag zone. This throws everything off about the compression and rebound circuits throughout the positive and negative travel.
The external “ride height” sensors don’t really care about actual ride height, they care about how fast any particular shock is compressing or rebounding. This is what gives feedback to the computer to make instantaneous adjustments to the damping circuits. The only way to correctly calibrate these OEM live valve shocks for a change in ride height is to dismantle them completely and modify those zones internally within the shock. There is no “Recalibrating” to be done software wise. He did say that if you send your shocks in to Fox, they can do it as part of a standard service.

More excitingly he did tell me that they are working on an aftermarket kit for this new platform. It would be a complete shock replacement, which would allow you to change ride height and compression/rebound damping adjustments on the fly but still have 100% plug and play compatibility with the factory drive modes and live valve system. He said that it was probably a year out and would be a factory level shock.

I 100% agree. The perch collars I got to level my full-size raptor definitely negatively impacted the ride. It took away the comfy/plush ride that absorbs everything so well which is one of the best characteristics of this truck. And that was noticed without going off road. It had a little less lean/body roll with sharper turn in but that was the only plus. You could definitely feel the stiffness with the increased preload. I wish there was but it looks like there is no easy way to level the truck without giving that up. A lot of engineering went into dialing in this suspension just right. It’s not a compromise I want to make again. Otherwise I would probably level the truck. It does look better.

 

[ag02m5]

I 100% agree. The perch collars I got to level my full-size raptor definitely negatively impacted the ride. It took away the comfy/plush ride that absorbs everything so well which is one of the best characteristics of this truck. And that was noticed without going off road. It had a little less lean/body roll with sharper turn in but that was the only plus. You could definitely feel the stiffness with the increased preload. I wish there was but it looks like there is no easy way to level the truck without giving that up. A lot of engineering went into dialing in this suspension just right. It’s not a compromise I want to make again. Otherwise I would probably level the truck. It does look better.

Just do a spacer on the top. It limits some travel but doesn't impact the ride. I'll take that compromise.

 

[Erikpra]

Just do a spacer on the top. It limits some travel but doesn't impact the ride. I'll take that compromise.

I have read from other sources and was told by an off road shop that spacers have the same effect.

 

[MAV]

As an owner of a Ranger Raptor with spacers, I can attest that they do not appreciably affect the ride. Even my 85-year old father, who is hyper-critical of a vehicle's ride, commented to me last week, "This thing sure does ride smooth."

 

[ag02m5]

I have read from other sources and was told by an off road shop that spacers have the same effect.

Wow. Run away from that shop. They don't have a clue what they are talking about. Only perch spacers add more preload to the spring, which in terms gives a rougher ride. And the shock is not sitting in its normal rest position. A top spacer lift doesn't affect any of those.

 

[ag02m5]

Top spacers do change the angle of the drive shafts and steering tie rods. Those can have some negative effects but if the spacer is not too big, it shouldn't be too noticeable. This will apply to either type of lift.

 

[Catalyst]

I personally do not care what anyone decides to do to their own vehicles. Cross-posting this quote from someone who worked on the Ford T6 platform regarding shock mount spacers, perch collars and spring swaps for some additional insight from the 2024 Ranger Raptor-Will it need a leveling Kit thread.

Given I worked on the design of T6 platform before retiring, I would recommend not to fit strut spacers to any IFS regardless of vehicle brand, as you are better to do it with just the springs or the method of spacing the lower spring seat up with a collar, that way you still maintain the factory wheel travels defined by the shock absorber lengths. If you do it by using a strut spacer, all it does is move the total wheel travel down which basically increases the rebound travel that the suspension sees, by the spacer amount ratio, impacting half shaft joint angles and other ball joint angles which can lead to this items failing when off-roading. The Ranger IFS is like the F150 IFS in that it has a variable rack travel at full lock defined by stops on the LCA and a tapered feature on the knuckle. Going beyond these features in vertical travel will result in the suspension being able to return to full rack travel and then its a case of what breaks first, more than likely the outer tierod, then half shafts, ball joints and so on.
By all means fit Strut spacers to front beam axles or multi link rear beam axles, but in my opinion not IFS, my vehicle is done with springs. Also just be aware if you just raise the front, when you place a load in the pickup box at some point or tow with it, the rear end will look like its dragging its arse on the ground. A Raptor has less rise to kerb then a standard leaf rear end, think its about 60mm if I remember correctly.
Hope that helps

 

[Erikpra]

Wow. Run away from that shop. They don't have a clue what they are talking about. Only perch spacers add more preload to the spring, which in terms gives a rougher ride. And the shock is not sitting in its normal rest position. A top spacer lift doesn't affect any of those.

Just curious what brand of spacers did you use? Also, which springs are people using to level and are there any major downsides vs spacers? Wonder why more people don’t use them?

 

[AlpineBike]

All of the misinformation being posted on here about strut spacer “not adding any preload” and spring perch spacers “making no difference to the ride” are cracking me up!

It’s your vehicle, do what you want with it, share your own experience and feedback, but please stop telling everyone else that the engineers are wrong.
You don’t know more than them!

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