Blue Dino's Raptor gets its wings!!

[BlueDino]

OK the last two weeks I have been busier than a one legged man at a butt-kicking contest.
So haven't posted in that time. Let's jump right in.

To summarize the truck history,
Ordered truck on Sept 20, 2012
Hit the factory assembly line (in Dearborn, MI) - (where it would return for special tuning - but I'm getting way ahead of myself - you'll have to wait) on Oct 20, 2012.
On Nov 23, 2012 in Kane, PA it arrived at the dealership where the build saga started.
On Dec 17, 2012 from Boston I flew to Buffalo, NY where I arrived at 9am and after a 2.5 hr ride I arrived in Kane. After spending 2-3 hours checking it all out as well as other project cars (including a "Jeep" wrangler that is now a "Ford" with custom everything) I droved off around 2pm. After a 500 mile maiden flight / trip (it has Whipple wings) I arrived at my driveway at 9:30pm.

Model: 2013 Blue Flame SCREW 6.2L Raptor

Options:
801A Equipment Group: HID lights, folding heated mirrors, Sony CD changer/ HD radio, Navigation system, Travel sync, Sirius, adj pedal w memory, rear camera, 10 way power seats, SYNC, remote starter, rear sensors, etc (includes Power, Luxury & Trailer Tow packages)
Blue Accent leather seats
Hood & Box graphics
Power Moon Roof
Stowable Bed Extender
Step Tailgate w stripper pole

MODS LIST:
A-blue whipple supercharger (600+)
B-blue valve covers
C-RPG Stage 2
D-Bakflip VP cover
E-bakflip box
F-rear winch
G-SDHQ rails (swapable)
H-SDHQ front trophy winch bumper w winch
I-SDHQ rear trophy bumper w winch
J-SDHQ blue heavy duty power steering reservoir
K-SDHQ blue heavy duty Alternator
L-SDHQ ABS sensor guards (4)
M-SDHQ lock box (conceal) under frt seat
N-SDHQ security entry lock plate (2)
O-SDHQ lock box under rear seat
P-SDHQ skid plates
Q-SNAP on 18v Bump Impact Wrench
R-ARB CKMTP12 portb air compressor w tank
S-Rear (bed) power receptacle
T-SECOND battery (Ken)
U-MID perch
V-TIREGATE ON BED spare tire holder
Z- HiLift Jack


And here we go:

A-Blue Whipple Supercharger (the wings) ( specs here)

Let's talk horsepower (torque follows along)
Our 6.2L Raptors come with 416HP at the flywheel or crankshaft, which means approximately 335 horse at the rear wheel which is what counts. Nice to know how fast your heart beeps but it's how fast your sneakers move that wins you a race. The difference is because you loose about 80% going through the transmission, differentials, etc. By the way up with HP also goes Torque goes up. I'm interested in Torque because I'm using this puppy off-roading on weekends and I'm adding some weight so dont want to loose any speed or power. By the way whipple is one of the only SC makers that quote you rear-wheel hp and torque instead of engine hp & torque. It's like when amp people quote you RMS power instead of INSTANT or PEAK power. RMS wattage is what counts on sound.

Back to cars and trucks.
So a stock 6.2L SCREW at the rear wheels is about
Stock RW SAE HP: 335
Stock RW SAE TRQ: 366
(deflating, isn't it? - your badass truck has about 335 horses at the REAR wheels)

After popping the Whipple blower you should (proof's in the pudding at a dyno of course)
SC RW SAE HP: 508
SC RW SAE TRQ: 492
(for comparison the Whipple should generate about around 600+ (say around 610) horses at the engine.
"roots" type blowers like EATON and most ROUSCH while requiring less power which is good for smaller engines do not generate as much power as a twin-screw blowers like Whipple does.

Anyway I have not done a dyno run yet but here's what it could look like (from Whipplew website)

Now for a little drama:
This was the first attempted mod. It was initially held up because the heavy duty DC POWER blue generator (bought it from SDHQ) took a while to come in. However once in, there was trouble in paradise. When Whipple got the PCM (computer) to reprogram it there were issues between them and Ford Racing. They sent it back saying it was not copied correctly. Turns out it was. Fast forward and after a few weeks of back and forth Dec 17 was around the corner and still NO sc. Best PCM made it go at 20 mph. So Ken from Zook Motors put the truck on a flatbed and off to Dearborn, MI it went. On Saturday Dec 15 history was made. The first 2013 6.2L SCREW Raptor ever was properly fitted with its new wings. In two hours and a road test Ford Racing & Whipple engineers figured out the correct settings. I know who was number 2nd but this truck was THE FIRST (1st) 2013 supercharged with a Whipple twin blower!

So How Does It Drive?
Like if your pedal was magic.
No matter at what speed you are, what gear, whatever you just step down on that sucker and shit YOU MOVE. If you slam on the metal, it literally jumps forward, if you smoothly step on it, it just keeps accelerating and accelerating. NO MATTER WHAT SPEED you go to, the car feels like it's just cruising merrily along. Come on, let's go faster it seems to say.
Any car on the rear view mirror will shrink away to nothing and any car ahead of you will immediately show up in your face. Watch that rear bumper in front of you.
I put in the best first 500 miles ever.
Did 500 miles from 2pm to 9:15PM keeping in mind, half-hour pit stop, half hour in traffic and the first 45 minutes going below the speed limit (left the Valentine One home).

I have purposely have NOT upgraded the exhaust (wanted to get used to stock sound and wanted to hear others before going that route). I may NEVER upgrade it. Don't forget my Raptor Mon-Friday it's a commuter vehicle.

Inside the cabin, when when it engages it sounds like a jet turbine. Not a blender, but a jet engine.
IF I COULD ONLY do ONE mod (besides the RPG) I would do the blower.


B-blue valve covers

Yes, purely for cosmetic and sex appeal. They match the Whipple 100% but not the Blue Flame, but I'm still proud as freaking peacock on the way it looks.

C-RPG Stage 2
I will probably end up with Stage 3 - But I want to experience the original springs plus determine if I will need the Heavy Duty or regular National Springs. (The springs that make RPG stage 2 into RPG Stage 3).

We had some delays here - wrong part was sent (2 for the same side)

But here they are:
Here's the raptor naked:

Here's a close up of the original itty bitty bump to stop (not) spring and to avoid (not) a bent frame:

Here's the best peace of mind for any Raptor owner (DOES avoid bent frame) the legenday RPG2:

Beautiful, no?


D-Bakflip VP cover
I POSITIVELY LOVE the Bakflip VP cover.
I did research the others.
The F1 and yes it's strong as an ox, steady like concrete and light as a... heavy feather. But I'm NOT planning on carrying weight on TOP and security is something that as long as you have a tailgate, they could get in.

The VP is the "stealth" version.
Looks almost seamless like a single piece (it isn't) and it is the MOST waterproof. So much so it doesn't need tubes off the channel.

The photos I have are at night - so will post daytime photos.


E-bakflip box
As I said above I love Bakflip and their covers but...
This is the one mod (sorry BAK) that I kind of regret doing. It's the infamous BAK BOX. While they make THE best bed covers, their BOX is like... well... **** on a bull. May (in the eyes beholder) look good but do absolutely nothing. Yes it DOES fit under a cover. Yes it's watertight (in fact using it as a cooler might be a potential use) but the damned thing while good on a level street is practically useless offroading. Why? it has to be strapped down and otherwise secured. I'm NOT crazy about it at all. May end up selling it.

But here it is:

-- OK time to catch some shut-eye -- TO BE CONTINUED --

 

[07Alloy]

Sounds like u have been planning this out well. Can't wait to see the pics. What is in Kane pa? Is this the dealership. I live very close to Kane. Congrats.

 

[BIG_TEXAS]

wow!

 

[Reptar]

awesome mods!

hit up the 1/4 and post some times with the whipple lol.


oh and the bakbox, just pop a couple self tappers into the rails to keep it from falling in if you're worried about it. I assembled mine so it was a tad wider than the width of the rails, so it's always in compression outwards, it's never once moved nor fallen in on me despite everything else flying around in the bed offroading.

 

[pat'sRAPTOR]

That's SWEET!!!

 

[Aaron]

Nice build! Loving the all blue engine bay theme.

 

[RaptorWifey]

Great build, congrats on your beast!

Sounds like u have been planning this out well. Can't wait to see the pics. What is in Kane pa? Is this the dealership. I live very close to Kane. Congrats.

Yup dealership its Zook motors, owners screen name on here is Fordfan. Oh and there is also flickerwood winery and jack bell meats in Kane...yum


Sent from my VS920 4G using Tapatalk 2

 

[BlueDino]

On with the show: REAR WINCH

F-rear winch

I often joke that I live in the "tundra" (New England / MA), the bottom line is that instead of wide open spaces or deserts I have rocky, hilly trails. Although I definitely plan on doing runs out in Nevada or even the west coast.

Recovery is a fine line between total paranoia and carelessly being stranded. Everyone needs to find what compromises work best for you. I may be going out sometimes by myself and at other times my kids may be with me so a fair amount of recovery must be part of my plan.

I decided my RAPTOR should have both a rear and front winches
Here's the Warn 9.5 XP HD winch installed under the rear of the bed right where the truck ends.

The rear winch without the bumper:

With the bumper sitting in front of it:

The winch is a 9,500 lbs heavy duty winch.
Everyone claims all kinds of stuff. This one claims to be the fastest under load speed and best water proofing.
What matters is that at 9,500 lbs of pulling power we are talking 1.5X plus times the weight of the truck.
This version as pictured has four rollers to avoid fraying.

Here are the specs.
The front winch is exactly as in the spec page, but the rear has only steel cable and the four roller "mouth".

In order to mount the winch, it meant having to relocate the spare from under the truck. A spare under the bed saves space but it reduces clearance (departure angle) and it's not a lot of fun to change specially when covered with mud. Besides the space formerly occupied by the spare will be put towards better use besides making room for the rear winch.

A nice feature is that the socket where you plug the remote control for the rear winch is mounted on right rear of the bed:

[ next post front winch and bumpers]

 

[BlueDino]

Front/Rear Bumpers(SDHQ), FRONT winch(WARN) & lights(Vision X)

H-SDHQ front trophy winch bumper w lights

Choosing the front bumper was a project.
Lots of variables to take into consideration.
For off-road usage, ideally should improve front clearance (attack angle) or at the very least not make it worse. Need to preserve the tow hooks.

For daily commute and public parking it should provide some sort of protection.
But let's face this is RAPTOR! - so it also needs to be able to hold extras.

Extras like additional lighting and in my case also a FRONT winch.

The front winch is exactly this model with synthetic line as shown here. It comes with a wired remote pistol-grip like operating switch.

There were a couple of bumpers that satisfied the bill but enter another complication, the Whipple required a cooler/exchange that sits in front of the radiator so instead of sitting in that space in front of the radiator, the winch needed to fit totally INSIDE the front bumper.

As you can see in photo above and below the winch sits nicely below both radiators the engine's and whipple's all nicely contained by the wonderful SDHQ front Trophy bumper

Finally, two additional requirements... since the truck will sit in public garage in a city (Boston) the front lighting needs to be protected enough to at least delay passerbys with sticky fingers.

So meet the winner of the quest, meet the SDHQ Trophy bumper with a winch inside of it.

A requirement not listed above but filled nicely by the SDHQ bumper is good looks.
This bumper is gorgeous, specially because of the custom curve that just follows and hugs the front curve of the Raptor.
And because it 's made of molloy steel is tougher than nails.

The front SDHQ Trophy Bumper w Winch also has a support structure.

The lighting configuration is two Vision X 50 watt Xtreme HIDs which put out 10,000 lumens. In between the lights above sits a Vision X Prime Xmitter LED 11 inch bar. I would had put a second one but the winch opening is right below the LED bar.
After some thought I chose amber color because in a fog and or a dust cloud white is not very helpful. So the bumper holds 18,000 lumens in addition to the 2013 stock HIDs. Not sure how bright those are, but they are blinding bright. (anyone knows the lumens?)

One thing worth noting: the SDHQ Trophy bumber can be customized in many differnt ways: LED bars only, HID round lights only, combos, etc. You just change the faceplate.
In fact the bumper also looks really nice without any faceplate at all!

By the way I live in a two-plate state so as you can see in the photos above, the lights took over the center so the LP was fixed up to the side.

I-SDHQ rear trophy bumper w winch


Once I made up my mind on the front, the rear bumper choice was a cinch.

Meet the SDHQ rear Trophy Bumper also with extra lights and another winch.

[ NOTE: in addition to the rear bumper you can see the BakFlip "VP" cover mentioned in my previous post as well as the 2013 rear box graphic ]

We already discussed the rear winch above.
For lighting, went with two (2) Vision X Xmitter low profile Prime XP light bars each 12 inches long and putting out a combined almost 9,000 lumens.

Next, Electrical power

 

[BlueDino]

Electrical Power

ELECTRICAL POWER

In addition to all that lighting I also want to be able to have easily available power. Besides all the power stuff in our trucks, extra lights, winches, we have GPS, off road GPS, VHS radios, etc.

So three mods address power.

T-SECOND battery (Ken)

I already mentioned that the spare needed to be moved to make room for the rear winch. And I mentione the need for EXTRA electrical power.

So that empty space became a no brainer to be put it to use with a second battery. Ken (FORDFAN) outdid himself making this battery look factory installed. See for yourself:

You already saw rear winch control socket on the right rear of the bed.
Here's what's on the left rear of the bed, a multi-purpose 4 gauge electrical outlet.

It fits a custom HD set of booster cables, a HD compressor and tank system and anything else I may want or need to be powered

Two batteries are nice, but what keeps them charged?

The "most heavy-duty" alternator in the planet
Find below the worst photo ever of this beast of an alternator,

You can see a better photo of the alternator in my previous post on the Whipple blower and the valve covers. It sits nestled right there.

Anyway at 370 Amp, here's the alternator right off from SDHQ's pages.
They also have a better picture (the only difference being, mine is coated blue)

-- The posts of the mods will continue later today or tomorrow. --
Want to make a run to the range