^^^ This exactly! Bump stop kits work. Saying bump stops cannot absorb the energy from jumping a truck simply isn't true. Speaking of early Gen1 Raptors specifically, since that is my personal experience and the OPs truck, the weakest point of the frame was from a hard hitting donkey kick (off-timed whoops) bending the frame around the dense rubber OEM bump stop. Bump stop shocks can absorb more energy before transferring that to the frame than the OEM rubber does. Also the gusseting of the point of impact increases the amount of energy required to bend the frame at that point, dispersing it further along the frame. Where @KAH24 is completely accurate is at best the bump stop kits simply moves the weak point. If you hit hard enough, you are going to damage something no matter what precautions you take. The goal of the bump stop kit is to take a slightly bigger hit before causing damage and, as with most performance improvements, when damage does occur it will likely be worse and more expensive to fix than what it would have been if the OEM engineered weak point was damaged. Also to @KAH24's point, longer suspension travel will do more than the bump stop kit. If jumping were the goal, you wouldn't need bump stops; a smooth, well planned jump was never an issue with the trucks. The issue was carrying too much speed into whoops, where the front is being pushed up by the next whoop while the back is slamming down.
Not talking theoretically, but in real world experience.
I have a Gen1 with stock shocks and the SVC bump stop kit. I've run with a lot of people on this forum that would vouch I send it as hard as those shocks can handle, which means occasionally a little too hard. I am pretty good friends with someone that had Ford calling him back in 2010-11 about the bent frame issue because he was one of the first. I can tell you I've hit things harder multiple times over 10 years than he hit in the first year with the stock bumps. I do not have a bent frame.
