I was clearly told on Monday by a dealer that I fully trust that it is either CF and/or Beadlocks holdig up orders. I DO think beadlocks are a problem. Perhaps Ford has a very limited supply which is why you see a few trickling out with them. I just know that I went from #7 in line to #1 on Monday because the folks in front of me wanted to hang on for beadlocks (a couple of them also had CF).
Limited supply is almost certainly correct. I suspect that Ford's strategy is to have dealers call a couple of months or so ahead to tell people the problem and that way, they more or less gracefully weed out the people who don't prioritize the wheels. That probably lowers demand to the point that they can mostly keep up.
I imagine that they have X number of Raptor spots on the line each week, but only Y sets of beadlocks. And because they underestimated demand, each week they have more beadlock orders coming up than Y. So if you elect to forgo the beadlocks, then the system will hopefully slot you into one of the spots for the beadlock trucks that it skipped over.
If that's the case, then it's true that if you drop them you'll probably get your truck pulled earlier, but also true that if you're patient then you'll get your wheels, just maybe a month later.
That's how I've placed my bet at least. I'm patient. I've told my dealer that if I have to go to '18 I will. I do really want the B&O speaker package, so if my truck gets pushed to June or something, I'll switch on my own anyway.
2018 production is set to start a couple of months earlier than last year, so mid-July. I guess potentially you could have an '18 Raptor as early as September if your stars are all aligned.
http://www.donlen.com/buildstart-trucks-ford.html
