Ranger Raptor at Trona Pinnacles

Did a quick run this past weekend. I thought I would do it before it gets too hot. I was wrong. It was 109 degrees.

But it felt good to be on dirt.

Awesome pics! Yah know, it's kinda strange, if you read many of the threads on this forum, you would think that the RR can't go off-roading without 37's, Portals, Custom tune making 600 hp, built bottom end, 700lbs of overlanding gear, big brake kit, 20,000 additional lights.....but I keep seeing most of the actual off-roading done by stock or nearly stock RR's!

Who would have thought!

BTW, it's a good thing Ford Performance development team had the sense to develop the truck in Australia to deal with intense desert heat under demanding driving conditions. Something the truck does quite well from what I've seen, even when towing.

Lion77 said:

Awesome pics! Yah know, it's kinda strange, if you read many of the threads on this forum, you would think that the RR can't go off-roading without 37's, Portals, Custom tune making 600 hp, built bottom end, 700lbs of overlanding gear, big brake kit, 20,000 additional lights.....but I keep seeing most of the actual off-roading done by stock or nearly stock RR's!

Who would have thought!

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With just skids I've taken Rowdy (My RR) on a 7 out of 10 trail. I got some scratches and a couple of dents. Made every obstacle

Here's what I've come to learn from my own personal experiences and observations of other's. It's very easy to strain at a gnat. People get fixated on something someone said where something didn't work "perfectly" in one particular situation, then they obsess over solving a problem they never actually had themselves.

Case in point, "gotta have 35" tires".

Pros:
Increases ground clearance by 1"
Looks cooler (a little)

Cons:
Reduction in final drive ratio decreases acceleration
Significant increase in unsprang mass at the worst possible spot (the outer most portion of the tire)
Higher ground clearance means higher CG = worse cornering speed both on and off-road for higher speed uses.
Higher strain on the drivetrain
Worsens fuel economy
Voids warranty for Pro Cal tuned trucks
Increases cost because most people are swapping out these tires on nearly brand-new trucks instead of using up the factory 33" K03's already on the truck

All for a measly 1" that doesn't make a bit of difference in 99% of situations. I'm not saying there isn't legitimate applications for 35" or larger tires. If you want a "budget raptor rock crawler", I get it, the RR is MUCH cheaper than the Bronco Raptor even with a few basic mods to enhance crawling and larger tires make some sense there.

But at the end of the day, pickups aren't really the ideal platform in general for rock crawling. Jeeps / Bronco's / 4Runners are due to the shorter wheelbase, approach and departure angles. So, I'm of the mindset to preserve the base DNA of the Ranger Raptor, a Baja truck, that means high speed in the sand dunes, open fields, plenty of power on the highway and doubles as a light duty utility vehicle that can still do "truck stuff". A truck that does very well on the majority of off-road applications like trails and novice to intermediate crawling with some limited ability to do more advanced crawling courses with skilled drivers even if not ideal.

To each his own though. Not saying any of the other stuff is wrong, but I find it quite irritating that people portray it as some kind of "must have" or that it makes some massive difference when in reality there's more negatives than positives and the benefits of the positives are actually quite small in reality. Straining at a gnat as they say!

hsun85 said:

Did a quick run this past weekend. I thought I would do it before it gets too hot. I was wrong. It was 109 degrees.

But it felt good to be on dirt.

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Ford puts a strong AC in these trucks.

hsun85 said:

Did a quick run this past weekend. I thought I would do it before it gets too hot. I was wrong. It was 109 degrees.

But it felt good to be on dirt.

Click to expand...

I would LOVE to do this! I am retired now and I have a 2025 Ranger Raptor that I am dying to try in the dirt. Living in Iowa, there are less that minimal areas to drive like that! LOL!!