Marfa, TX Raptor Run 20260606

[RRaptorscallion0331]

The videos work perfectly. Man, it sounds so rough

Yea, but this truck is a champ, didn’t even need to get an alignment… but definitely gotta be more meticulous about putting loctite or thread locker on certain stuff… my S&B CAI BOV recycle port screws backed out which caused my intake to be exposed to the dusty environment downstream of the air filter… which resulted in some metallic particles attaching themselves to my oil drain plug

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[Watchdog62]

Great post! I love the Chihuahan dessert between Marfa and Terlingua

 

[Jabberwocky]

@Jabberwocky please tell me about the Ranger Raptor that didn’t survive TRR! What happened?

Great photos and awesome videos! I need to make time to put mine together and post on youtube as well.

The Ranger Raptor that didn't survive was the Exodus truck. He had a matte black wrap, full suspension setup, and gold wheels I believe. First day at the private airport course, he must have taken one of those curves with too much confidence and he rolled/flipped his truck. Fortunately he and his gf/wife were okay and suffered no injuries. The airport course was one of my favorite but the dirt was so loose, and the ruts were getting worse as the hours passed. By the second day some guys were almost losing it on the front straight.

 

[RRaptorscallion0331]

Great photos and awesome videos! I need to make time to put mine together and post on youtube as well.

The Ranger Raptor that didn't survive was the Exodus truck.

no way!! I was talking to Greg Foutz and he was showing me all the work they put into that suspension! Man that sucks! That was my favorite course as well, but my BOV recycle port screws on my S&B CAI backed out over the weekend and I already sucked in so much dusty that I retired the truck. It was fun and it was easy to loose grip in turns, I guess a positive for our low-stance stock suspensions was our CG because there wasn’t much roll compared to the ass end just sliding out which was easier to anticipate and compensate for… glad everyone is okay!

 

[Jabberwocky]

no way!! I was talking to Greg Foutz and he was showing me all the work they put into that suspension! Man that sucks! That was my favorite course as well, but my BOV recycle port screws on my S&B CAI backed out over the weekend and I already sucked in so much dusty that I retired the truck. It was fun and it was easy to loose grip in turns, I guess a positive for our low-stance stock suspensions was our CG because there wasn’t much roll compared to the ass end just sliding out which was easier to anticipate and compensate for… glad everyone is okay!

Yeah it was a beautiful truck, and he had just got it tuned by GooseTuned like 2 hours prior as well! Yes, I think his high center of gravity contributed to the crash, he looked top heavy with the two spares wheels in the back.

Sorry to hear about your truck. Are we talking retired like, truck just needs an oil and filter change, or like, you'll need a motor replacement-retired?

Which reminds me, that Exodus Ranger also had a new motor replaced by Ford with an extended warranty such bad luck

 

[RRaptorscallion0331]

Sorry to hear about your truck. Are we talking retired like, truck just needs an oil and filter change, or like, you'll need a motor replacement-retired?

oh sorry, I meant like in Formula 1 if they have a hint of engine issues they say “retire the car” meaning the race is over for them so they don’t do more damage to it. Yea I changed filter out when I got back and just 200 miles later I changed the oil (saw some metal particles attached to my magnet oil drain plug) but no large pieces so also ordered an oil test kit from blackstone so they can give me an analysis of the Total Suspended Solids (“TSS”) so I can have a baseline and then I’ll change the oil out like 1k miles, then by the time I’m at 2k miles the truck will be close to its warranty and if I still have solids in my oil then I’ll opt for an extended engine warranty if they’ll let me.

 

[Lion77]

The Exodus truck was on portals and 37s I believe. It started out with a lift and 35s, then long travel suspension, then got even more extreme because all that wasnt big enough, so then came the portals and 37s. Probably would been better to stop at 35s and lift, then upgrade to a Bronco Raptor.

Long travel / lift with portals and 37s = bad combination for CG! That is one of the reasons FP made the Bronco Raptor so wide, becuase they calculated the roll forces so the vehicle wont roll over in hard turns with the factory setup. Same thing with F-150 Raptor. The RR is very stable on stock tires and ride height, maybe a 1" lift and 35s would be just fine too (similar to the RR Race truck), but a lift, long travel, portals and 37s....too much up and not enough out!

I saw a lifted Jeep Wrangler on 35s that rolled on the highway just this spring and it was pretty trashed and looked like a serious accident. Coming from the performance car world, im not a big fan of raising the CG except maybe by tires and a mild front lift to help eith fender clearance, that way you maintain stability in hard corners, especially ones that are off camber.

That truck should never have been driven at high speed, at that point it was a rock crawler/tail hero, not a rally truck built for speed. Stability matters!

 

[Lion77]

Here are similar builds also using Weld74 Portals and 37" tires. Thats really a crawler setup, not a high speed setup due to stability limitations.

https://www.therangerstation.com/74weld-ford-ranger-raptor/#gsc.tab=0

So they had long travel suspension and portals and 37s....that just asking for stability issues!

Now this is a legit pre-runner built for speed:

35" tires, stock shocks, no lift, only perch collars up front to adjust ride height and limit straps for shock reliability with additional preload. This was in part due to class rules, so they sacrificed some travel for ride height adjustment and to clear 35s along with some fender trimming.

There are plenty of photos and videos of them taking corners pretty hard, no roll overs.

If I ever do 35s, im gonna do custom fender mods to avoid needing a lift. Rear will actually take 35s with very little trimming and no lift, its the front that needs more trimming to clear 35s, but for quite a while im sticking to 33s, at least til its well out of warranty.

 

[RRaptorscallion0331]

If I ever do 35s, im gonna do custom fender mods to avoid needing a lift. Rear will actually take 35s with very little trimming and no lift, its the front that needs more trimming to clear 35s, but for quite a while im sticking to 33s, at least til its well out of warranty.

yea I thought the point of the portals was you don’t have to bother with suspension because you’re gaining something like 4” of offset (not in the wheel centerline sense) from the axle to the hub?

I have been following your posts @Lion77 and I think we are thinking similarly on how to gain ground clearance without sacrificing CG. This tragic news has swayed me from even getting GOATs recommended lift products (for now, since I’ve not been able to witness a RR with different levels of their lift perform against stock height). Next time I get my tires rotated and balanced at discount tire, I’m going to remove the front crash bars and front fender liner(s) and ask them what they can squeeze in there, then take photos of where clearance will be an issue (I’m hoping they can oblige and use a floor jack to simulate compression). That will give me an idea of what can be removed or relocated without jeopardizing the structural integrity of the body surrounding the engine bay.
Like I’ve said before, the suspension that came from the factory did everything I asked for it to do… and I would personally like to ease into any modifications to be able to have my own experience with how the vehicle can handle whoops as well as corners as I get more comfortable with the truck. I was going 60 mph on the straights and didn’t feel in complete control, how these pros like Menzies top out at over twice that speed is other worldly to me!

 

[Lion77]

The three best mods for the RR is Pro Cal, Pirelli XTM AT tires and TriboTEX DLC coatings for powertrain. Next best three mods are GOAT fab 20 degree sliders, tonneau cover and L-track in the bed for cargo managment.

Id suggest staying stock size for a while on tires and just learn the truck and really exploit its stock suspension first. Just upgrade to XTMs when the KO3s are needing replaced.

Im not opposed to bigger tires down the line MAYBE. But yah, ill take more of the RR Race truck approach than sky high lifts etc. Trimming the fenders may really be the safest option for bigger tires.

Now of your turning the RR into a ZR2 Bison equivalent, aka a lifted 4x4 optimized for clearing large obstacles at slow speeds, lifts are fine, but dont go driving it like a rally truck then...just asking for trouble!

Thats why performance cars go down lol. Roll center and CG matter a lot in corners at speed.

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