Tim’s Alaska Ranger Raptor Build + Adventures

[Tim_AK]

Welcome Tim. What kind of running boards your RR?

Thanks! Mine are RCI frame mounted sliders. 5° with top plate. My wife is only 5’2”, and it’s nice to stand on the back of them when messing with the tent, so that’s why I chose 5°. Sliders are what I hit the least (skids the most). 3 hour install with a friend, but wasn’t too bad.

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[Tim_AK]

Regarding high speed stuff, I got some rear travel position sensor guards from Ark and installed them earlier this summer.

https://arksplashguards.com/product...MYbI7t2SLXehG77RYYtPCYguWL_E02Wi1mGl-NFTrvo2v

I saw some metal options for like $250, but I don’t foresee smashing them into anything (maybe I’m ignorant on that)? But I did foresee them getting pelted with road debris on high speed dirt road sections or the odd high speed trail. These are some sort of durable plastic so I was interested to see if the cheap route would pay off. Took them out to a dry river bed in the area (normally the land of side by sides and drunk people on a nice weekend), went downstream far from the crowds and let the truck go in Baja mode. I’ve had the Tacoma out here tons of times with the family (the kiddos like to play next to the river) but I don’t think I’ve ever driven above 25mph. The rocks always made the suspension feel “loose” even though it wasn’t. Well, the RR had no such issues. 70mph (without the kids haha) was cake. Took the random whoops with ease. I even accidentally hit a 3 foot deep angled rut that I didn’t see coming, hitting the up sloping back side at 50mph… the truck basically laughed it off. My buddy and I were in disbelief that it handled it so well.

 

[Lion77]

Thanks for the heads up on the sensor guards. I actually like the plastic guards better since the ONLY instance I have ever seen of the sensors getting debris was a tree branch that got caught in one of the wires and unplugged the sensor, throwing the whole vehcile into fail safe mode. Never seen anyone damage them otherwise during use. People have broken them when doing lifts by not disconnecting them first when taking off the shocks, but beyond that user error issue, the tree branch was the only actual in use incident ive seen.

Great info on the offroad performance. The 2.5 Live valves are so well tuned and offer so much better real world performance than its competitors that the RR is in a class of its own even IF it didnt have the 3.0L.

Between the Fox 2.5s, 10R60 transmissiom, Watts link and 3.0L, its one heck of a truck for the money compared to everything else in the mid-sized segment. And the FP Pro Cal under warranty is yet another level above (which I and many others have). Who else offers factory high performance calibrations with OE reliability and warranty?

People complain about the ground clearance of a stock RR, but a full sized F-150 Tremor comes stock with 33s and only 9.4in of ground clearance! Even the Ram Rebel with its adjustable air suspension only hit 10.7 at max height, same as a stock RR. Both full sized trucks are in the mid 60k range and up.

The F-150 Tremor also only has 27.6 degrees of approach and 24.3 departure vs. the rangers 33 and 26 degrees respectively. The Ram has worse approach and departure angles than the F-150 and had worse articulation due to the air suspension. It also couldn't take bumps / ruts at speed as well as the F-150 Tremor and the Tremor isnt even close to the Ranger Raptor!

I think the Raptor is a really great mid-sized truck that excells offrod but is dtill very livable onroad and while rock crawling and massive ground clearance aren't its top strengths, its not lacking compared to most of its competitors in those areas while massively outperforming them at higher speed off roading which it accels at. It was built to be driven hard!

 

[Lion77]

@ Tim_AK, just a couple of tips if you eventually want to improve traction in looser trerrain with better tire flotation, I HIGHLY recommend METHOD Beadgrip wheels. I run the 705's because they are the lightest beadgrip wheel offering and have only a moderate off-set (+35, stock is +55), so they don't screw up your scrub radius or deviate from the factory range of permissable bearing side loads.

Bronco's have factory wheel off-sets ranging from +55 up to +30. The Bronco and Ranger share the same or similar chassis, same powertrain etc. Bead grips allow you to air down your tires like a beadlock and maintain 95% of the performance of a beadlock but are far more street safe (DOT approved).

They require NO regular maintenance like a factory alloy wheel. For 99% of off-roading, beadgrip wheels are better than bead lock wheels. That increases flotation and traction in loose terrain.

The OTHER side of the coin is, when you need new tires eventually, the Ford OE spec KO3's are stupid narrow. They are 1/2" narrower tread that standard KO3's and standard KO3's are 1/2" narrower than industry standard 285/70R17 tires from Falken, Pirelli, Yokohama etc.

I would highly recommend the new Pirelli XTM's. They offer the best wet traction of any off-road AT tire out there, better steering precision etc. That would be a boon for Alaska with frequent snow, wet / icy roads etc. You also gain almost an entire 1" of tire width, without increasing diameter and with wheel off-sets between stock +55 to +35, you should not have any clearance issues on stock suspension.

That extra inch plus airing down will help with flotation on loose gravel / sand, making you less likely to get stuck / sink in. Also helps reduce loading of the powertrain as it's less rolling resistance on loose surfaces.

I already have the Method 705's, once my stock KO3's are worn out, I'll be replacing them with Pirelli XTM AT's. KO3's are really good tires and have been the gold standard, but Pirelli finally beat BFG and set a new benchmark.

I Tested 8 Of the BEST All Terrain Tires in the Dry, Wet, Snow and Dirt!

There's a whole thread on this forum in the tire section about this, but there is timed / benchmarked testing that consistently shows how good the XTM's really are.

 

[Tim_AK]

@ Tim_AK, just a couple of tips if you eventually want to improve traction in looser trerrain with better tire flotation, I HIGHLY recommend METHOD Beadgrip wheels. I run the 705's because they are the lightest beadgrip wheel offering and have only a moderate off-set (+35, stock is +55), so they don't screw up your scrub radius or deviate from the factory range of permissable bearing side loads.

Bronco's have factory wheel off-sets ranging from +55 up to +30. The Bronco and Ranger share the same or similar chassis, same powertrain etc. Bead grips allow you to air down your tires like a beadlock and maintain 95% of the performance of a beadlock but are far more street safe (DOT approved).

They require NO regular maintenance like a factory alloy wheel. For 99% of off-roading, beadgrip wheels are better than bead lock wheels. That increases flotation and traction in loose terrain.

The OTHER side of the coin is, when you need new tires eventually, the Ford OE spec KO3's are stupid narrow. They are 1/2" narrower tread that standard KO3's and standard KO3's are 1/2" narrower than industry standard 285/70R17 tires from Falken, Pirelli, Yokohama etc.

I would highly recommend the new Pirelli XTM's. They offer the best wet traction of any off-road AT tire out there, better steering precision etc. That would be a boon for Alaska with frequent snow, wet / icy roads etc. You also gain almost an entire 1" of tire width, without increasing diameter and with wheel off-sets between stock +55 to +35, you should not have any clearance issues on stock suspension.

That extra inch plus airing down will help with flotation on loose gravel / sand, making you less likely to get stuck / sink in. Also helps reduce loading of the powertrain as it's less rolling resistance on loose surfaces.

I already have the Method 705's, once my stock KO3's are worn out, I'll be replacing them with Pirelli XTM AT's. KO3's are really good tires and have been the gold standard, but Pirelli finally beat BFG and set a new benchmark.

I Tested 8 Of the BEST All Terrain Tires in the Dry, Wet, Snow and Dirt!

There's a whole thread on this forum in the tire section about this, but there is timed / benchmarked testing that consistently shows how good the XTM's really are.

I actually had method 702’s with bead grip on my Tacoma. Was definitely a fan but I’m not routinely airing down to crazy low pressures (often around 20-22 psi). Bead always held, but then again I’ve never lost a bead on either of my 2 builds before my Tacoma. My “high speed” running is often at 28 psi on rough dirt roads for long sections (up to 1000 miles).

Regarding tires, I appreciate the feedback, but I have run multiple sets of KOs, KO2s, and now this will be my second set of KO3s. It does great for Alaska and holds up well, and it does rather well during winter in southcentral AK. I’ll probably stick with them, likely in stock size, but thanks! My only concern is the C load rating, I’ve never had a flat but I’ve run E load on all my midsize vehicles, so we will see how the C does!

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