TK'S 2025 Ranger Raptor Build Thread

[midnight270]

Now the big question, do you notice an improvement over the stock brakes?

Yes. There is way more bite with these. I haven't even bed them in yet according to DBA. I'll do that today and report back.

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[Pieman]

Any first impressions performance wise after the pad/rotor swap?

 

[midnight270]

Any first impressions performance wise after the pad/rotor swap?

There is definitely more bite with these pads. I think with some heat in them they will be even better. It takes less brake input to slow the truck down now. I wish the brake pedal felt stiffer though. I think some stainless steel brake lines would help that. I also wonder if the master cylinder is flexing when applying brake pressure.

Back in my Subaru days they had a master cylinder brace you could add and it really helped the pedal feel.

 

[midnight270]

Got the RCI transfer case skid installed today.

 

[midnight270]

After driving with the new pads and rotors I can definitely feel a difference. The bite is there and it stops quicker for sure. I am happy with these.

Another note, I turned on the matrix headlights in Forscan and they are super cool. When it's dark enough it will be full high beams and then when it sees a car in front of you it only dims that section.

 

[Pieman]

After driving with the new pads and rotors I can definitely feel a difference. The bite is there and it stops quicker for sure. I am happy with these.

That's it, Im in. 1 month in and the OEM brakes are really my only gripe. Bite and progression (power curve?) feel totally flat, no matter what. It's the one aspect of the truck that feels one dimensional.
Thanks for sharing. Looking forward to the new hardware!

 

[midnight270]

That's it, Im in. 1 month in and the OEM brakes are really my only gripe. Bite and progression (power curve?) feel totally flat, no matter what. It's the one aspect of the truck that feels one dimensional.
Thanks for sharing. Looking forward to the new hardware!

No problem. If DBA had more aggressive pads I would have went with them. I got what was in stock. I’ll keep checking and maybe I’ll swap the front pads to something more aggressive when they’re in stock.

I’ve always had pretty aggressive pads on all my cars and I prefer them.

 

[midnight270]

Here's an interior POV picture. I'm always curious how other people have their interiors setup.

 

[midnight270]

So I love the Karga platform for the rear seat. Everything about it is great except the creaking. I had my Setpower RF20 strapped to it and I could always hear it creak. It drives me crazy hearing that. I might have went a little overboard but the drive home today was silent. Didn't hear a thing. I added some weight but if that what it takes to quiet it down it's worth it.

 

[midnight270]

I drove my buddy's Tacoma a little over the weekend and it's meh. It's quite loud in the cabin, power is OK only high in the RPM's, and the suspension is a little rough. I was getting the same fuel mileage as my truck too.

I do like that it has 60/40 rear seats and some nice storage behind the rear seats. Headlights were super nice also but that's all I like. I want to see my buddy's reaction to driving my truck. Maybe I can convert him to Ford haha.

 

[midnight270]

Took the bed rack off yesterday. 6 screws on each side and it lifts right up. The truck looks naked without it.

 

[midnight270]

Last night I changed the oil and cleaned my air filter in prep for my trip next week.

There was only about 3500 miles on this oil. It looks pretty good still.

Got about 8.8 quarts of oil out with the vacuum extractor. I put 8.8 quarts back in and it's right at the full mark on the dip stick. I also drained my catch can. I would say maybe a little more than half a shot glass was in there. The vacuum extractor measurements are in liters so 8.4L is roughly 8.8 qts.

 

[midnight270]

I also removed some fins from the active grill so I can fit my Whelen speaker. I need to make a mounting bracket but it should fit well once done. I'll probably be mounting the actual horn/siren unit under the front seat.

 

[midnight270]

Last night I got the speaker, control box, and wiring installed. I'm going to get a better bracket for the speaker but I used some metal I found just to get it in there for now.

The control box is under the drivers seat and currently velcro'd to the floor. I installed a momentary switch for the horn. I thought about using the OEM horn to trigger it but I didn't like how all the horns sounded at once.

I also moved my GMRS radio speaker to the little cubby behind the center console. Drilled a hole to run the cord and double sided taped it in. Fits very well and it's nice and loud.

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