On road handling with 315/70/17 & 2" + 1" Lift

[tony1985]

I own an EU 2025 RR on Method 305 NVs (25 offset), I also recently applied a tune by Goosetuned. The truck drives like a rally car and I really enjoy its on road performance and the way it handles.

I also have (but not yet installed) the GOAT offroad lift kit (2"+1") as well as a set of 315/70/17 BFG Ko2 tires.

Taking into account how the truck drives, especially after the tune (since it now has the brawn to back it up), I have become skeptical of installing the lift and larger tires, fearing it will spoil the way the truck drives on the road and how nimble it feels.

Can somebody who has a lift and 35s share how much the added ground clearance and the increase in unsprung weight affected on road handling?

Thanks!

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[Mystic]

My 2 cents:

Handling is slightly compromised in normal driving mode, but negative effects are lessened in sport suspension...it firms things up a bit to reduce lean and dive.

re: the extra unsprung mass (from a stop): it's there, but negligible in my opinion. Seems you already picked your setup, but as a general point recommend you shop around by weight and try to put the lightest package together to reduce this. It's been a minute, but I think my setup is only like 3-4lbs extra (per tire) vs the OEM setup.

Edit: to clarify, I'm running a 3" perch collar lift on all 4 corners, so I'm lifted a bit more than you're planning.

 

[ozraptor]

If you absolutely don't want to mess with the factory drivability of it and you're mainly doing the lift and tires for looks (not actually needing the clearance, etc) I wouldn't bother. That said, mine is lifted 2" front, 2" rear (1" spacer, 1" heavier coils to handle the canopy and roof rack weight) and I'm currently on 295/70r17 Micky Thompson Baja Boss A/T (LT) tires (heavier end) and I still love how it handles on road. Not the same as factory, but still awesome for a truck. And the benefit I get from the lift and tires offroad has been well worth it for me.

 

[Lion77]

LIke others have said, what are you doing with the truck? My build is more rally / track / baja focused, so I do NOT want to increase weight, especially rotating mass which is the worst spot to add it.

If you do a lot of 4x4 trails with large obstacles / rock crawling, tires and lift make some sense as a trade-off, but the RR was built as the "sporty" truck in the Raptor family, the F-150 is a "work truck" that can do Baja in big open spaces, the Bronco Raptor is the Rock Crawler extraordinaire and the Ranger Raptor is the Hoonigan who drifts around corners on dirt at stupid scary speeds!

It's also the sporty adventurers truck since it's small enough to fit on a lot of Jeep trails, back roads and mall adventures with the wife ;-), maybe even in your garage! Jack of all trades, master at none, but plenty good at a wide variety of tasks. Tires / Lift make it more "specialized" to one thing, going over rough terrain very slowly.

I don't have a Goosetune, but I do have a Pro Cal tune under warranty from Ford Performance, so it's not stock and I'm going lighter on the wheels from factory bead-locks to Method 705's that are 25~26lbs on stock KO3's, so actually making it lighter and even more responsive. Maybe with the added power of the Goosetune you won't mind the added weight of bigger tires, but who knows.

I mostly drive on highways, back country roads, gravel / dirt roads, sand dunes and some 1-5 level trails, so not much extreme trails, the lift / tires wouldn't make sense for me (not the trade-offs). I also occasionally tow, so durability is also a goal and stock tires are better long term for the drivetrain, particularly the torque lock durability when towing on the highway.

Consider all your goals and what you're doing with it. Also, larger heavier tires are going to force you into a longer brake zone (takes longer to stop), that's on top of the slight degradation in handling. Just depends on what you do with it, but at higher speeds in the dirt, especially if you drive it on prepped dirt tracks, the tires / height might start to matter more (negatively, think Racing ATV's, not the biggest tires, handling / response matters more in that application).

When the RR Race truck was being set up, the driver actually said in the video the stock ranger on 33's handled the woops better than his race truck did and they were messing with the suspension tuning to get it close to the stock chase trucks they did pre-running in. The ended up with 35's mostly for Baja, which is very rough and deeply rutted, so the added clearance they felt was a worthwhile trade-off, but he said the 33's were just as fast for Finke, which is a bit smoother, and the truck handled whoops better with 33's on stock suspension.

33's aren't exactly "small", they are a solid mid-sized off-road tire and until the last maybe 15~20 years, were considered the "standard" of off-road where 35's where more on the extreme end. 33's are still pretty much standard, even the F-150 Tremor has 33's, only the F-150 Raptors have 35's and 37's (also Bronco Raptor).

Basically, I want my RR to handle smoother higher speed stuff well, maneuvering, brake zones, acceleration and cornering, so the stock 33's on lighter weight wheels make the most sense for me. Some love their 35's for the harder trails with big rocks and shelfs or really deep ruts. To each his own, just think about what you do most with it.

 

[Cjhalili]

Let us know how it goes once you put in the Goat 2-1. I pretty much have the same thing you have. I also have a Tune(Ford Performance) and same exact wheels. I do however have stock tires that I dont plan on changing just yet. My Goat 2-1 is still on its way and should be coming in soon. Hopefully it doesnt affect on road performance much once it's installed.

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