2012 Silver Gen 1 SCREW

[SilverGen1]

I'm going to be documenting what has been done to my truck, and with big plans for the future, leaving room to document the future of my truck. So we'll start off with where it started:

March 31st, 2023

I went down to Milan, MI to check this Gen 1 out. Listed for $23,200, with 152,000 miles. It already had the SVC Frame cut front and rear bumpers, paint matched fenders, HID headlight conversion, a 40" Rigid light bar mounted behind the grille, with 6 Rigid D-Series pod lights in the SVC bumper. It also came with Eibach springs, with 17" ProAm RM2 beadlock wheels wrapped with 37x12.50r17 BFG KO2s, and one spare wheel. The truck already had the fuel pump fuse switched, along with a folder full of the entire service history of the truck. I was 19 when I purchased my truck


April 1st, 2023

The day after I got the truck, we took it to Silver Lake Sand Dunes on opening day, it was great, but definitely didn't push the truck at all during my first trip in the new rig


I bought the truck knowing it needed the blend door actuator replaced, and one HID bulb replaced, both of which the previous owner gave me. So the blend door actuator, was in fact, the first thing I did to my new Gen 1. It was a bit more involved than I had anticipated, but it helped me familiarize myself with the truck, where I later installed an aftermarket radio.



Then I ran into the typical Gen 1 electrical issues. The headlights would keep going out, and the truck wouldn't start so I took it to a local shop, they ended up replacing the wiring harness, and also threw in two new HID bulbs. This resolved all of my issues.


Thus far, I had no plans, or even knew of anything that was possible with the Raptor platform, regarding any sort of upgrades. If only I knew the inevitable want of more was to come, I may have steered clear of this beast (that's all a lie, I love it and it feels good setting goals for my truck and finances and being able to hit them) (plus I have got to ride in a couple of prerunners, and that's the answer)

 

[SilverGen1]

June 2023:

I was at Silver Lake for a day trip with the girlfriend, and was fortunate enough to meet members of Midwest Offroad Expedition, where I finally encountered some other people who enjoyed Raptors like I did, and started opening my eyes to the offroad world. They suggest I do the dovetailing of the bed sides, and pull the stickers off, which I had already thought of doing, but just hadn't pulled the trigger. So that was my first modification to this truck! I ended up lopping the tailpipe off right after the muffler as I thought this looked goofy with the tailpipe hanging down awkwardly. Also picked up a freshy dirtbike at the time, a 2022 CRF450RWE, and boy she looked good in the bed!!!





July 2023:

I had my first run in with your typical IWE experience. Clicking and grinding noises in 4WD. Coming from a FWD vehicle and not knowing as much about these trucks as I should have before purchasing, I was quite concerned. Ended up with new hubs from O'Reily's and actuators from Autozone. I would recommend these parts to nobody who does any off-roading. I'm sure they would hold only driving this animal on the pavement, but I ended up just continuing my IWEs until last week (Yes I bought RCV IWE delete sleeves, and yes it took two years for me to finally get them, I'll explain later)

We also spent a week Silver Lake Sand Dunes, which was amazing

August 2023:

I don't have a ton of pictures, but I do know that this is when I bought a tune from 5star for this truck, paired with the SCT Livewire TS+. I got the 87 perf and eco, along with the 93 eco and perf tunes. This kind of woke up the truck, definitely not a huuuge difference, but noticed smoother shifting, along with increased throttle response, with higher revving, letting this thing eat a little more on the streets. I also did an Apple Car Play radio, which I now use during offroad events for OnX Offroad to help navigate the trails.




September 2023:

I did my first lighting upgrade! I threw some Baja Designs S1 pod lights on my rear bumper, as it was a cheap first step for having some chase lights!




December 2023:

I had gotten the TYT-9800D 50W VHF/UHF mobile radio for Christmas, and used Rugged Radio's NMO 1/2 VHF/UHF pre-tuned antenna with the magnetic mount with it. I mounted the radio itself on the passenger side of the center console, and mounted the detachable face on top of the radio, where the old display was. I just put command strips on the radio at first, and eventually used screws with the bracket that it came with, and properly hard mounted the radio to the side of the center console. I really like this setup, and I think for how simple it is, it is very clean and sleek



Total edit here, but I had totally forgotten about this. My truck needed the lead frame, transmission control module, and the passenger side seat motor replaced. I racked up quite the heft bill at LaFontaine Ford of Birch Run, but luckily they are one of the M.O.E. sponsors, and they absolutely hooked it up. Shoutout them!! If you have a LaFontaine dealer by you, definitely go talk to them, great people, and even better service!!! I think my bill ended up being around $2500 for everything, warrantied. It was awesome.

 

[SilverGen1]

February 2024:

This was the month of the first offroad event I had ever participated in. It was Wendigo Watch '24, presented by Midwest Offroad Expeditions. This is an event held in Oscoda, MI, and if you are able to attend, I 10/10 recommend! (As I am writing this, it is February 14th 2025, and after work I am headed up to Wendigo Watch '25!!) I knew a couple of changes needed to be made to the truck to be more adequately prepared for WW24. First off, I knew I needed new tires, my 37 KO2s were very worn, and now was the perfect time to replace them. I ended up getting some brand new 37x13.50x17 Toyo Open Country M/Ts off of marketplace for a really good deal, except what I hadn't realized was that they were load range E tires (10 ply). Long story short, the beadlock ring on my wheels wouldn't properly seal with the 10 ply tire, so I ended up ordering a new set of Method Race Wheels' 315 17x8.5 0 offset in the machined raw finish. I ended up with a full size spare, and needed somewhere to put it, so I ended up making a bed mount for the spare. I also threw in a VP Racing Fuel can as well. I ended up ordering a Y-Strap and gas can strap from Speed Strap, but the Y-Strap didn't come in in time for the event, so I came up with some BS that worked for the event






and then here's a pic from the run with the new shoes!!



At Wendigo Watch, I blew out my IWEs and it ended up trashing my hubs, so I ended up running 3/4 of the event in 2WD. So that was my next project, new IWEs and hubs, and I unfortunately have no documentation of this.

 

[SilverGen1]

April 2024:

I started observing some weird on road behavior of my truck, so I decided to start replacing some front end parts. First on the docket was UCAs, as the ball joints on my were pretty shot, along with the bushings.

Picture is prior to diving into this project, which only grew.


Next up I decided to dive into the suspension, and at first I was contemplating just having the Gen 1 shocks rebuilt. I then found a killer deal on a set of Gen 2 Fox Racing Series Live Valves for a killer deal. Unfortunately I wasn't fast enough, and they were gone before I was able to get my paws on them. So then I was back to deciding on whether or not to rebuild my current shocks, or upgrade to the Gen 2, and I ended up landing on the upgrade to Gen 2. So I ordered KHC's front conversion buckets, and rear conversion brackets, and continued the search for a set of shocks. I finally found a deal on a set of non-live valve shocks from Oklahoma, and then just waited for everything to come in!



The project wasn't too bad at all, I followed a great video on YouTube by Minute Maintenance, (I also have a thread about it here:https://www.fordraptorforum.com/threads/gen-1-to-gen-2-suspension.102593/) and it was done in no time. It turned out really well, and I was very happy with the improved on and offroad feel of the truck. I also took the time to clean up the underside of the truck, threw some fresh paint on the frame, and then a lot of fluid film, and she was ready to rip!!

 

[SilverGen1]

Late June - July:

We went on the annual week long Silver Lake Sand Dunes, and while the trip is always a blast, the truck needed some love during this trip. I ended up doing both CV axles, IWEs, hubs, transfer case shift motor, and blew the tailgate off.



After this trip, I found a killer dealer on an Evil MFG Third Brake Light with Baja Designs S2 Pros for $300, and I was pretty stoked to get rid of the OEM third brake light, as it just looked out of place. Also, I hit a sandhill crane on the way to work one day, and the son of a bitch took out the "R" and "D" in my grille. I originally had intentions to buy a new one, but after talking to the dealership, they wanted like $1500 for one, and that just seemed ridiculous to me, so I ended up waiting for one to pop up on marketplace for a good price.

 

[SilverGen1]

August 2024:

Once my tailgate fell of, I knew it was time to just pull it off, and make a bed support. So that's exactly what I did. I decided to take inspiration from the SVC bed support, as I thought it was the most straight forward to build, and also would allow me to run a tailgate when I want, but also able to pull the tailgate off and not have to worry about shit flying out of the back.



Over the next couple months, I took a lot of overtime at work, and wasn't able to get out in the truck much, or continue to do any upgrades up to this point, although a friend of mine did get an avalanche grey Gen 3, so that was pretty sweet.



January 2025:

I began my Wendigo Watch 2025 prep, and also for Christmas had gotten a Badlands Offroad Jack, and I ended up getting the cutting files off of Etsy for the jack mount, and had a friend with a CNC plasma table cut it out for me.

For my prep, I did the standard maintenance stuff, cleaned the air filter, changed the oil and oil filter, made sure everything was up to *****. For the more in-depth prep, I decided to throw limit straps on the front end, buy a fire extinguisher mount to weld on the bed support, got RCV's IWE delete sleeves, made a metal bracket to hold the optima yellow top I threw in over the summer, as the OEM battery holder was not enough to hold optima in place, welded and mounted the Badlands Jack, and did some fluid filming and rust prevention.

 

[SilverGen1]

In the future, I have goals of replacing rockers and cab corners with NeverRust composite rockers and cab corners, along with replacing spark plugs and coils (Motorcraft), and finding some more 37" or 35" BFG KO2s to put on my beadlocks to run at the sand dunes this summer

Long term goals, I will be doing HM's 94" or 95" long travel front kit, paired with Giant Motorsports Daily Driver 3-Link, will have a very similar build to ntm's build. Eventually, I might go with a cage, but for the time being, I have no plans for a cage. Truck will be a weekend warrior and make several trips to Silver Lake each year, so for me, and my plans, a cage isn't practical to spend the money on it. If the truck goes with a true backhalf 4-link, and I am able to go out west more, then I'll probably throw one in.

Eventually I'll do a new rear end and throw some 4.88s in or something like that, along with Stainless Works/Kooks headers with an exit out the side of the bed.

And 39s or 40s, but I'll have to see about the different glass options at the time. I want to wait until I'm ready to do long travel and anything else that may come up, as I contemplating doing a one piece front end vs +4.5" fenders.

Also, would looooove some linked pod lights to go on the roof, as that's one of my favorite looks on the Gen 1s

A whipple would be cool, not on my list of parts though for right now, as I need more suspension.

 

[CecilK12]

Slick Truck

 

[TomDirt]

So, THIS is what my G1 will look like when I finish it.

Thanks!

 

[Bozz]

Awesome! Nice details.