2014 Ruby Red SCAB - Is it that rare?

[Deleted member 12951]

It's an F150 with a mild factory mid-travel suspension setup. It's not a trophy truck. THAT is a purpose built off-road truck.

If it was truly a purpose built off-road truck, I'd question why are there a dozen upgrades from gusseted knuckles, to alignment lock out bolts, to ABS/wheel speed rock shields, air bumps stops, etc needed to actually make them off-road worthy? If it were pupose built ot go off road, it'd have all that. The owners have found out that those things are needed if you really off road these trucks hard. So no, they are NOT even close to a purpose built off road truck.

But the SCAB is a better platform to build upon if you use it for off-road purposes.

 

[EricM]

But the SCAB is a better platform to build upon if you use it for off-road purposes.

For tight stuff, yeah. Is it better in high speed rough stuff though? I'd think a longer wheelbase would be advantageous in that off road scenario..

 

[Sernas]

For tight stuff, yeah. Is it better in high speed rough stuff though? I'd think a longer wheelbase would be advantageous in that off road scenario..

Yeah just like all the long wheelbase trophy trucks racing around.

 

[EricM]

Nice sarcasm, but those trucks' wheelbases are dictated by the series rules, not what is the best or fastest necessarily. Hell, F1 still runs the cars on 13" wheels until they finally go to 18" wheels next year.

Maybe the 125" WB of a trophy truck is the best for a certain speed? Is this the magic number though? Would an even shorter wheelbase be even better? How short is too short, and how long is too long? Obviously the track width comes into it as well. How does that affect things?

I've witnessed the longer wheelbase SxS perform far better in he same whoops as an "identical" shorter wheelbase SxS, so shorter being better than longer is not THAT cut and dried.

Is there really any right answer to optimum wheelbase length and ride quality, or is the right answer that anything can go fast over rough stuff with a correctly engineered suspension? I'm not a suspension engineer, so I just don't really know.

I do agree the shorter overall length is a vast advantage over the longer crew cab in all other off road scenarios though.

 

[MrFord626]

It's an F150 with a mild factory mid-travel suspension setup. It's not a trophy truck. THAT is a purpose built off-road truck.

If it was truly a purpose built off-road truck, I'd question why are there a dozen upgrades from gusseted knuckles, to alignment lock out bolts, to ABS/wheel speed rock shields, air bumps stops, etc needed to actually make them off-road worthy? If it were pupose built ot go off road, it'd have all that. The owners have found out that those things are needed if you really off road these trucks hard. So no, they are NOT even close to a purpose built off road truck.

Never compared the Raptor to a trophy truck. That's like saying a F-350 isn't a purpose built towing and work truck because it can't tow as much as a semi. The Raptor was a truck that was built to go off-road and stay street legal.

 

[allinon72]

For tight stuff, yeah. Is it better in high speed rough stuff though? I'd think a longer wheelbase would be advantageous in that off road scenario..

No, it's not.

 

[EricM]

No, it's not.

So would even shorter than a SCAB be better? Did Ford leave a bunch of performance on the table by not going with a RCSB setup for the Raptor?

 

[Deleted member 17706]

Is that what it's was built for? I guess I was was under the impression that it was built to generate profit for a Detroit, MI based vehicle manufacturer called the Ford Motor Company.

That is simply a consequence of bringing a good product to market. Any business to be sustainable has to be profitable. When the Raptor project started it wasn’t simply out of pragmatics: how can we make something that is profitable because you can design a lot of things that are profitable that don’t require off-road racing.

 

[Deleted member 17706]

Never compared the Raptor to a trophy truck. That's like saying a F-350 isn't a purpose built towing and work truck because it can't tow as much as a semi. The Raptor was a truck that was built to go off-road and stay street legal.

Perfect counter example. Well done sir.

 

[EricM]

Never compared the Raptor to a trophy truck. That's like saying a F-350 isn't a purpose built towing and work truck because it can't tow as much as a semi. The Raptor was a truck that was built to go off-road and stay street legal.

Aren't all 4WD trucks built to go off road and stay street legal though? The Raptor just went with more off the "off" and less of the "on" part?

It's semantics at this point, but I still don't consider a Raptor anywhere near a truck built solely for the purpose of off-roading. If I paid someone $75K to build me an "off-road truck" and they came back with a F150 with the capabilities of a stock Raptor, I would not be happy.