Fox 3.2 Live Valve Ranger Raptor

[DESKPOP]

The 3.2's for the F-150's have issues in general. My buddy has them on his truck and he just had his 3rd failure with them. And another guy down here had a failure after they were on his truck for 200 miles. I would expect issues no matter what at this point.

Ya that's not good

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[Raptor_Logic]

Has anyone tried to cancel their order and requested a refund? I requested a refund 2 weeks ago and still no answer if they're going to refund me...

 

[Lion77]

And yet the Ranger Raptor Race truck has completed Baja twice, Finke thrice among several other races on the stock 2.5's....they broke only one rear shock at Finke when pushing speed on whoops after passing the Silverado 1500.

Seems to me that if you want the 3.2's for lift purposes, the stock 2.5's with GOAT strut spacers are way cheaper and more reliable option at this point. I think the 2.5's have been proven quite reliable overall. I don't see people destroying the stock 2.5's and there are quite a few photos of people hitting 3-4 feet of air in the dunes! Then there's multiple RR Race trucks now (some in Thailand too with the bi-turbo diesel), Pre runners, two US spec race trucks etc.

Kings are looking to be a good option too, but I'm not yet convinced they are actually better. Without variable damping rates, the King shocks likely have a softer damping, making them smoother on rough terrain, but will bottom out quicker. They are going to "feel better" when just driving around, plusher, but once you start hammering them, you'll find their limits faster unless they have some sort of variable mechanical valving that mimics the live valve.

Damping rate is what limits energy transfer rates, the stock 2.5's can go from 300 lbs of damping to 700 lbs, that's a very large transition! Standard valved shocks have fixed damping rates that are linear, so they are tuned somewhere in a happy range, but may not offer optimal performance in any given condition.

Case in point, my buddy's 2011 Sahara Jeep rode smoother on bumpy stuff at the OHV park we went to than my Raptor. Everyone said the Raptor was a stiffer ride, but the gas struts on the Jeep quickly bottomed out with any speed where the Raptor just started begging for more. He could barely do 25~30 mph and was reaching the bump stops in the sand pit, my Raptor didn't get close to its limit over the same terrain.

At slower speeds, the softer damping rates worked better, at higher speeds, you need the stiffer damping to manage the mass of the vehicle. Variable damping of the 2.5's gives you a reasonable ride at lower speeds that isn't miserable, but not quite as good as gas strut, BUT, it can take seriously hard hits at speed too.

I suspect that the Fox 2.5 shocks that come from the factory on the Raptors are Ford spec, they likely are not the same as the aftermarket upgrades that Fox sells. OE's often modify designs to their specific needs as a private label part. So there are OE requirements they have and the design is tailored to that.

That's just like tires, the Ford OE spec KO3's are not quite the same as the mass market KO3's in the same size, they are tweaked for OE performance requirements in ride, handling and fuel economy.

 

[FairOaksRaptor]

Agreed! I'm on plus two strut spacers in the front and 1 in in the rear on 35x11.5. plus 30, 9 and three wheels. Trimmed nothing and nothing has ever touched or rubbed. Really the perfect setup. With that said, I will achieve the same thing with the new 3.2 setup and leave it at that. Also I went with Toyo AT 3 and between the forged wheel and the toyos I'm the same weight as the stock wheel and tire setup.

Sweet! Do you have photos of your rig?

looking for that exact setup for my 24 RR.
My buddy has 37” plus RR7-H with 0 offset for his Tundra. I think I’ll be taking the wheels because the tires won’t fit on my RR without heavy mods and 74weldnportals.

 

[FairOaksRaptor]

Sweet! Do you have photos of your rig?

looking for that exact setup for my 24 RR.
My buddy has 37” plus RR7-H with 0 offset for his Tundra. I think I’ll be taking the wheels because the tires won’t fit on my RR without heavy mods and 74weldnportals.

Forgot to attach a photo of the 37” he’s going to take off.

 

[Havasu RR]

Sweet! Do you have photos of your rig?

looking for that exact setup for my 24 RR.
My buddy has 37” plus RR7-H with 0 offset for his Tundra. I think I’ll be taking the wheels because the tires won’t fit on my RR without heavy mods and 74weldnportals.

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