Ford Performance Ranger Raptor @ NORRA 1000 (Stage4)

[TSY]

We just finished stage 4 today & spotted the Ford Performance Ranger Raptor behind us at the finish line party…

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[Havasu RR]

We just finished stage 4 today & spotted the Ford Performance Ranger Raptor behind us at the finish line party…

How is it doing in the race?

 

[rocsteady]

Video available on Brad Lovel's facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/search/top?q=brad lovell facebook

 

[Lion77]

I see they stuck with the non-street legal race spec BFG tires in 35x12.5in. The first time they did Baja and Finke, they had DOT legal 315/70R17 KO2's, but in 2025 they switched to race spec tires (not street legal) and not surprisingly they did better that year, taking two class wins.

Hard to tell from the pics, but there is not much rake on that setup, maybe 1" at most, I know they use adjustable perch collars up front since the rules don't allow lifts but do allow for pre-load adjustment to compensate for the added weight of safety / race gear and to accomodate larger tires. They can also trim fenders, but can't replace shocks or chassis parts to lift.

I'm still thinking of doing a 1" front strut spacer, no lift in rear and running 285/75R17's (plus upgraded tie rods) as a "near 315/70" setup. But man those 35x12 + MR207's gotta be HEAVY. That's a 30lb forged wheel and I don't want to know what the true 35" race spec tire weighs...I know the driver in 2024 in the video said he actually preferred the stock chase truck over the race truck, wondering if they ever got the suspension sorted out of if he just learned to live with it?

BTW, it looks like the truck took a nasty hit to the rear passenger rocker, right by the fender. Huge dent there, good thing there's no passengers in rear because I don't think that door is gonna open!

BTW, that's not the actual RR Race truck that won Finke, must be another build. No Snorkel, different colors.

 

[Lion77]

BTW, if you watch this video (Part 2) for 2025 Finke, Ty gives a lot of insight into the RR Race truck. Remember, this is a factory / production class, so there are a lot of limitations on what they can cannot do.

The 2.5" Fox Live valves have threaded bodies to allow for pre-load adjustment, since the spring rate is higher due to pre-load, they used limit straps to prevent harsh top-outs that would potentially damage the stock shocks from the additional preload and mass of the tires.

Other than the straps and threaded bodes / perch collars, they are STOCK 2.5" Fox Live valves. If anyone is saying the 2.5" "overheat" or you need cooler running shocks, I call B. S.

Running Finke, Ty said the fronts never got past 108F and the rears 120F, he noted that they stayed running cool. So, if you need cooler running shocks than the factory 2.5" Fox...I guess you're pushing your RR harder than the race truck at Finke or Baja....good luck!

Some cool snap shots I got from their 4k 2025 video on Finke (Part 2):

Stock IC and ECU calibration (per class rules).

In 2024, they ran KO2 315/70R17's (aka DOT legal tires), in 2025 they switched to BFG Race spec 35x12.5's (not sure what compound, guessing soft), but those are NOT DOT legal for road use.

No fender mods required in the rear that I can see (with a bit more pre-load, the perch collars limit travel some, so that likely off-sets the bigger tires, plus the rear end has a bit more headroom for fender clearance than the front):

Now the big question on everyone's mind, how did they clear 35x12.5's on the front with only a perch collar? Simple: 1. Fender modification and 2. perch collar will limit travel more, so they may have only gotten 9" or 8" etc. of travel with the perch collar for pre-load adjustment.

Between the collar and fender liner being cut out considerably, it cleared 35x12.5 race tires.

You can see the fender liner being all cut up, but the actual fender flare did not get modified as best I can see, just the inner fender liner. Here is a photo of the front with the fender liner removed when they were replacing the front diff that gave out at Finke in 2025 (whoops are brutal on the drive train):

And the mudflaps are mounted underneath to clear the large tires:

The RR Race truck required a LOT of body modification to clear the big tires, thus far, they broke 1 rear shock in 2024 and destroyed the front diff in 2025. Note that this same truck ran Baja 1000 and won its class there and has now run Finke 3x, winning class all three times and finally setting the to and from time record for class in 2025.

 

[Lion77]

And for a street truck that does a variety of things, there's really kind of three options that make sense depending how much you want to trade off and spend.

1. Stick with stock suspension and just change out the factory KO3's for a standard width 285/70R17 like the AT4W or XTM AT's from Pirelli, both of which are nearly 1" wider tread than a KO3, the Pirellie's are the lightest at just 53lbs, AT4W's are stupid heavy for their size at 67lbs!

If you pair something like the Pirelli XTM AT with a Method 705, your down to just 78.2lbs rotating mass per wheel (stock Alloys + OEM KO3 is 85lbs, stock Beadlock + OEM KO3 is 92lbs), 1" wider tread width which helps with flotation, no clearance issues and should provide best fuel economy and durability of the drive train under hard use (jumping etc.), but has the least ground clearance for trails, although sliders and something like the SVC bumper would help a lot for practical trail riding by giving you up to 4" more side clearance and better approach with picking your lines a bit more carefully (I think this is the route I'm going).

Remember, 33" are the stock tire size on Jeep Rubicon's (have been for quite some time), Bronco's, RR, Tacoma TRD / Trail Hunter, Colorado ZR2 (non-Bison) etc. They aren't "small" by any means. You're talking only 3" short of being a full 3 feet in diameter and a true 35x11.5 is only giving you 1" more minimum ground clearance....a lot of trade off's for very little gain there.

This is probably the best option for maintaining factory towing / payload / primarily street use with off-roading more focused on higher speed stuff and smoother terrain (like dunes, dirt roads, farm fields even prepped tracks etc.). They are going to maximize handling in corners at higher speeds, controllability, acceleration and braking etc. CG is actually lower than stock due to wider wheel off set, but no change in ride height. Suspension geometry is as designed from the factory and tuned by FP.

2. Go intermediate with a 1" front / rear lift, run a 285/75R17 tire. Probably offers the best balance between on road / towing and off-road clearance for wheelin'. I doubt the 1" increase in tire diameter is going to affect towing significantly, still has factory rake for full payload also. Minimal changes in suspension geometry, but you might get a bit more bump steer and wear long term. You get 90% of the "bigger tire look" of a 315/70R17, but better overall drivability, but I'd suggest sticking with lightweight wheels and watching your tire weight at this point. CG with the wider wheel offsets is about same as stock since it mostly off sets the change in ride height. This would be a strong second possibility for me and something I might consider after warranty is up.

3. Go all out for off-road and run 2" front / 1" rear spacer, UCA's, Tie Rods and 35x11.5's. You're giving up some towing and payload though. You're also raising the CG beyond stock or beyond what the RR Race truck ran at because they did not increase the strut length.

I would probably take off 1k lbs of max tow with this setup for stability / safety (basically same as what a Bronco Raptor can tow). Note that with this option, you're pushing the front geometry the hardest and it's not the same as the Race truck because your front suspension is now extending downward 2" further, the race truck only adjusted ride height via perch collars, so that didn't increase the max travel, but actually reduced it, due to class rules.

This option is probably the hardest on the CV's and suspension joints long term. This is something I would do once the truck is paid off, and I replace one of my daily drivers with a tow capable vehicle where I can turn the RR into a "weekend toy" to maximize its off-road capability on rough terrain at the expense of utilitarian capability, but yah, it looks cool and will wheel like a champ!

For me, I like the higher speed stuff, I also like touring on road, so I think options 1 or 2 are better suited to my uses and a bumper + sliders will give it a nice boost for intermediate trails + good old driver mod which counts for more than all the hardware mods!

 

[RRaptorscallion0331]

Hey Lion I really appreciate your summation of their mods! I don’t know what video I saw but at one point it showed the F150 Raptor bed view

I see the tires, the fire extinguisher, mat trax, what looks like a spare drive shaft, and one more smaller driveshaft in the middle?

My question is do you happen to know what kind of spares or recovery gear the Ranger Raptor had/has for any of their races?

 

[TSY]

Finally back in the office / found a shot I took of the bed. There are 3 extra coolers in the back, one for oil and AT - the third one I didn't see it's spec. (Plus fast fill w/fuel cell)

I'll add that when I took a quick look under it, there were def. limit straps front and rear. Tie rods, UCA etc. all were factory oem. ( I didn't notice a perch collar, but it could have been there and I just didn't think to "see" it. ) . The rear was oem w/dif skid and some shock debris protectors mounted.

Oh yea - that rear door - nobody is riding in back, the rear pass seat was stripped out - safety cage and fresh air systems were residing back there.

 

[Lion77]

Hey Lion I really appreciate your summation of their mods! I don’t know what video I saw but at one point it showed the F150 Raptor bed view

I see the tires, the fire extinguisher, mat trax, what looks like a spare drive shaft, and one more smaller driveshaft in the middle?

My question is do you happen to know what kind of spares or recovery gear the Ranger Raptor had/has for any of their races?

I dont think they have any recovery gear that I know of. Any chase trucks for the Ranger Superduty would have that. I think their concern is more about parts failing from inpact and shock loads from high speed impacts and particualry the whoops at Fink which are brutal on drive trains.

In 2025 he said they passed at least 10 trophy trucks and buggies that broke down and several UTVs (assuming stuff like Can Ams etc.), the RR made it!

Spares are both the 35x12.5 race tires, but im not sure what compound they are running, I'd imagine same as whats on the truck.

They do have a jack and tools and im sure nuts / bolts for parts they expect might break.

I would be surprised if they didnt have spare tie rods too, but ive not seen a single report of those failing in any of the racing thus far. Maybe UCAs, but again, no breakage of the UCA. Only reason to change out a UCA from stock is for lifts, not durability.

In 2024 they broke a rear shock top hat and shaft at Finke, then replaced it in the field at the next pitt stop. In 2025 they broke a front diff and almost got stuck in sand with 2wd, but made it to next Pitt stop where the diff was replaced.

Some of the images from the video of 2025 are what I posted above. But yah that race truck is mostly stock.

BTW Ty specifically says they did have the fox shocks bodies threaded with adjustable perch collars for preload (like most aftermarket race shocks), the shocks are bone stock otherwise. The rules do allow for preload adjust to compensate for the additional weight of the safety gear / parts / fuel etc. They can also trim fenders to fit bigger tires but cannot use lifts or other suspension mods like upgrade shocks etc. for production class.

Limit straps are for shock reliability with the added preload since they will top out harder on rebound due to the higher spring tension. Other than that and fender liner trimming up front to clear the 35x12.5s, suspension is bone stock.

 

[Lion77]

Btw, if you look carefully at the front, the snapshot where the fender liner is removed while they were swapping the diff, I see zero evidence of any trimming of the fender flare.

But the actual fender liner looks pretty cut up to clear, my guess us they trimmed it up whenever it was rubving and maybe fabbed some brackets to push it up higher.

If I ever run bigger tires, I may just do some home fab of the liners instead of doing a lift, RR Race Truck style!

That will keep my front geometry in the ideal factory range, add real ground clearance and minimize added CG to no more than what the tires do.

 

[TSY]

On the rear of the spares there were lug nuts individually zip-tied to the safety chassis. (which I thought was pretty smart fysa. )

.... speaking of chase trucks, there was a F250 diesel running in the Safari Class. It finished w/o issue, and Safari route is no cake walk either....

 

[RRaptorscallion0331]

Thanks for all of that insight, to both of you! I’ve heard of the lug nuts trick on donut’s YouTube about their ford ranger trophy truck build. My goal is to have one truck that I can easily/hastily change the bed configurations to match the “modes” I’m using. (Daily driver, overland, and probably pre runner/chase truck more than fully caged trophy truck) so I agree a little bit of trimming or creating some more room with the stock suspension is preferred over any sort of lift and associated parts. probably won’t go so far as to have two spares, or even a spare driveshaft, but seeing their set up is good to consider; I feel better knowing that not upgrading tie rods beforeTRR isn’t a death sentence! One thing I may rethink is my 1.5T off-road jack after seeing their 2T (I also have a 7T bunker ind. hydraulic jack for recovery)

 

[TSY]

Thanks for all of that insight, to both of you! I’ve heard of the lug nuts trick on donut’s YouTube about their ford ranger trophy truck build. My goal is to have one truck that I can easily/hastily change the bed configurations to match the “modes” I’m using. (Daily driver, overland, and probably pre runner/chase truck more than fully caged trophy truck) so I agree a little bit of trimming or creating some more room with the stock suspension is preferred over any sort of lift and associated parts. probably won’t go so far as to have two spares, or even a spare driveshaft, but seeing their set up is good to consider; I feel better knowing that not upgrading tie rods beforeTRR isn’t a death sentence! One thing I may rethink is my 1.5T off-road jack after seeing their 2T (I also have a 7T bunker ind. hydraulic jack for recovery)

Check out Foutz's Single Tire Carrier - Quick Release Modular Bed Organizer. Easy in for off-road rips and easy out for hauling at home (and holds a jack). In one of our chase trucks we went really stealth, and used 3 Mac's 3 bolt bed-tie downs with backing plates to hold our 35" second-spare (kept the oem under the bed so we had two). Also does good double duty for extra tie down spots when we load up dirt bikes.

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