FINALLY got a TRUE, removable towing solution..(see pics)

[Big-Foot]

As the owner of a small Fab Shop, kudos to you for not showing all of Desert Labs work. We all have families to feed and take pride in our work.
A very innovative solution was developed here.
I’m curious if you take your Raptor into places / areas that you could not take an FX4 into?
I take mine offroad a bit and find that desert trails are too overgrown in some places for a truck as wide as these and an FX4 might be a better solution.

 

[Mink]

Tag on. I think I need this.

 

[jaz13]

As the owner of a small Fab Shop, kudos to you for not showing all of Desert Labs work. We all have families to feed and take pride in our work.
A very innovative solution was developed here.
I’m curious if you take your Raptor into places / areas that you could not take an FX4 into?
I take mine offroad a bit and find that desert trails are too overgrown in some places for a truck as wide as these and an FX4 might be a better solution.

Only the fenders and tires are wider than a stock F-150 by 3” on each side. If brush is rubbing on your Raptor’s doors and mirrors, it would be rubbing on a FX4’s doors and mirrors.

 

[Big-Foot]

Only the fenders and tires are wider than a stock F-150 by 3” on each side. If brush is rubbing on your Raptor’s doors and mirrors, it would be rubbing on a FX4’s doors and mirrors.

Thanks for your note..
It may seem like it, but many times that few inches extra clearance would be all it takes.
We try to not damage or otherwise alter any desert foliage by sticking to the trails with the vehicles. We are there to explore and observe - much of which is done on foot after we drive in as far as we can. Jeeps and smaller trucks work better many times but don’t have the payload capacity of the bigger trucks.

 

[vr4henry]

Looks great! My only comment is that in my experience the bumpstop solutions only ride poorly when you have the trailer disconnected... when you're loaded up it's fine. (And I don't even have the long versions) ~10mins to swap the extensions hasn't annoyed me yet.

But on the flip side, with a full bumpstop, you get a bumpstop for when you're out having fun!

 

[Loufish]

Very interesting idea...using a removable air shock...if keeping the rear end up is for you then, this looks like a good way to go..

My present truck (have a 2018 Raptor on order) is a 2wd Titan set up for DD and prerunning. The rear end has a Deaver mini pak, custom shock mounts, 2.25 SAW piggy backs with a custom tune and a very custom air bump setup. Running about 11" travel out back with about 7" of compression travel...my last tow was a enclosed trailer just at 5000 lbs, and with out weight dist bars the back end dropped 2.25". Don't care about the "droopy" rear end, but man does it ride nice and hit some really big dips on the I15 to Vegas getting into my bumps but never felt it...

My background includes a lot of race car fabrication, my specialty being TIG welding cages and aluminum...and run into the guys who think my quotes are way over priced because they have a MIG welder in their garage...and anybody with a tube bender can make a cage...Yeah right...

Sorry for the long post...

 

[rtmozingo]

As the owner of a small Fab Shop, kudos to you for not showing all of Desert Labs work. We all have families to feed and take pride in our work.
A very innovative solution was developed here.
I’m curious if you take your Raptor into places / areas that you could not take an FX4 into?
I take mine offroad a bit and find that desert trails are too overgrown in some places for a truck as wide as these and an FX4 might be a better solution.

Have you considered a Zr2? They are wider than a normal colorado, but should be narrower than an F150, I would think.

 

[Big-Foot]

Have you considered a Zr2? They are wider than a normal colorado, but should be narrower than an F150, I would think.

They are nice trucks. We’ll probably just use the Jeep Rubicon Unlimited to see how that does. With a track width more than 13” narrower than the Raptor, it should do better on the narrow stuff...

 

[WhatExit?]

They are nice trucks. We’ll probably just use the Jeep Rubicon Unlimited to see how that does. With a track width more than 13” narrower than the Raptor, it should do better on the narrow stuff...

Captain Obvious here...

Dude, almost every off road trail is a "Jeep trail" and they're called that because Jeeps and other vehicles that wide make them and keep them open (clear of brush).

Vehicles wider than Jeeps will run one side's tires in the trail and the other side's tires will ride on the rough stuff. And wider vehicles will get "desert pinstriping" from the brush which is just open/clear enough to fit Jeeps - since they keep the bushes from growing into the Jeep trail.

 

[Blkz06]

Hey thanks man. Glad to help

Not into camping and towing, but I really enjoyed your instagram page. Also great job by your fabricator to get a solution that looks factory. As a mechanical engineer and self professed "better mousetrap" guy I can appreciate the amount of time and ability it takes to provide solutions outside the box.

Great job.