4" Lift??? 37" Tires??

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borzraptor

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looks good man! thinking ab the lift for myself but these hardcore off-road guys can be really discouraging lol, enjoy the truck!
 

zothen

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Hi, I'm considering buying a used Raptor and also doing something like a BDS 4" lift (the cheaper one that preserves factory shocks/springs/ front upper and lower control arms, etc.) for the following reasons:

1. I'm not doing baja. I'm doing trails
2. Given #1, I want a better approach, departure, and break-over angles.
3. I want 37" tires for slightly better axle and clearances and increased tire sidewall.
4. The wider track of a Raptor seems ideal for providing a more stable / less tippy lifted platform (relative to a non-Raptor F150 anyway).
5. I don't care about looks or other's subjective opinions about how my vehicle should be. But objective information about durability and capability is appreciated.

Regarding #1, I don't see a reason why a Raptor is unsuited for handling trails. Yes it is too wide for some, but other than that, why would it be worse than a non-Raptor lifted F150? I realize a solid axle front and stronger diffs of an F250/F350 may be better for trails, but for now, I want to understand if there is something specifically worse about a Raptor over a non-Raptor F150 for trails. Then on top of that, is the BDS kit making anything more brittle and prone to wear? It seems to preserve the front suspension geometry though I don't know about the rear.

This won't be a daily driver, though I will be driving it on the road to get to the trails, so I don't want to completely through on-road driveability out of the window.

Any info here would be appreciated. Unfortunately, I've searched all over the place and have seen many people say it's a bad idea but they never give actually datapoints that explain why.
 

MurderedOutSVT

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I got a 4" BDS lift on mine. The BDS lift has a few more components to the install but it was sort of out of necessity. The guy who I originally bought the truck from had put a leveling kit on it (SMH) to clear 37s. That caused the geometry of the front to be off and I was tearing CV boots every 3 months. I didn't want to go back to 35s and I actually heard good things about BDS. The lift is solid and I even had a shop here add in additional support. No more tearing CV boots.

So to the haters about lifting a Raptor... it's like lifting any truck, if you do too much then yes it's stupid and impractical. However, if are still conservative and put on a practical lift then there's really no issue. My truck performs great offroad and I have no complaints. Yes... I take it out every other weekend to some fairly remote locations so it's not a total street queen. However, on the street... that's what the super charger is for.
Damn couldn't a' said it better
 
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