Help & advice needed !!!!!

[Dougie from Scotland]

Hello all, I am a new member and just joined today, so this is a brief introduction. I have driven Ford Lightnings for the last 13 years and am considering changing to a 2013 Raptor hence joining the forum for help with a few questions. I have the following cars :~ Ford Lighting, 1966 Myers Manx dune buggy, Citroen Mehari (you wont have seen one of these before !) and a Fiat 4x4 Panda Cross. My bikes include :~ BMW R1150GS, R1200RT, Triumph Scrambler, Yamaha XTZ660 and my race bike is an Aprilia RSV4

A few questions about the Raptor that I would appreciate help with :~

"real" highway MPG ? ( my Lightning does 17MPG at 70 MPH) Gas costs close to $10 a gallon over here !

What is the height of the Raptor to the top of the radio antena ?

I regularly carry my race bikes so am keen to know if the height of the Raptor is a problem when loading bikes ? If so can you get longer tailgate cables that lower it by a few inches to help with loading ?

If the tailgate has the built-in step can it still support heavy ramps with bikes being loaded ?

Any help / advice would be greatly appreciated

Thanks

Dougie

 

[Fred]

Is that you Busa?

 

[willis68]

What part of Scotland are you from? I left Edinburgh 3 weeks ago and the price for petro was around 2.14 pounds a litre if i recall correctly so that is around $10.00 a gallon, with a 36 gallon tank, expensive Just sayin

 

[KaiserM715]

Welcome!!

"real" highway MPG ? ( my Lightning does 17MPG at 70 MPH) Gas costs close to $10 a gallon over here !

It all depends on headwinds. I think 17 mpg is obtainable if you are not fighting headwinds (I have seen as high as 18+). Add a 15-20 mph headwind and you will be looking at 14.5 mpg.

I regularly carry my race bikes so am keen to know if the height of the Raptor is a problem when loading bikes ? If so can you get longer tailgate cables that lower it by a few inches to help with loading ?

The tailgate height is pretty high, but I don't have any experience w/ loading bikes. I have not heard of extended cables for these trucks.

 

[Dane]

I've loaded bikes in my previous pickup which had a comparable height to the Raptor. It's going to be more annoying and difficult than other trucks, but it's doable. Now, the short bed is also a pain in that regard. Remember, the Raptor has one foot less bed space than your typical truck bed.

 

[RaptorWifey]

 

[Dougie from Scotland]

Thanks guys all your answers are much apprecaited ! Hi Willis 68, I am in Glasgow, about 40 miles west of Edinburgh, at the moment gas is around £1.40 ($2.24 / liter) which is pretty much bang on $10 a gallon ! Kaiser M715 - 18mpg would be fantastic, over here it is very hilly and this would probably knock back the MPG more than headwinds. Any other help would be apprecaited. Thanks

---------- Post added at 07:55 AM ---------- Previous post was at 07:52 AM ----------

Thanks Dane - the older I get the more dangerous loading the race bike becomes - more so than the actual race that i am going to !

 

[MotuMute]

Welcome Dougie. It is hard to hypermile a Raptor - because is hard not to romp on it occasionally. Would make for some really scenic pics there

 

[6gun]

Per specs, overall height is approx 1993.9000mm. I think this is on the bottom perch. Mid and Upper shock perch would be higher of course. I think this would be to the top of the roof rather than the antenna, which is higher...I went with a shorty antenna because it always hit my garage.

As far as ramps, I was able to load a golf cart in the back of mine with 12' ramps.

Gas mileage, Expect 14 on the Hwy, 12-13 in town. These trucks, like all big vehicles suck in the gas mileage area. I wish these trucks either hd a diesel or V6 Ecoboost option... maybe someday sooner vs. later, the Ecoboost. Other consideration depending on how narrow your roads are might be the width of the truck, it's 7 inches wider than a normal F150. The width makes a huge difference to it's outstanding handling, but it might be something to think about.

 

[Dougie from Scotland]

Welcome Dougie. It is hard to hypermile a Raptor - because is hard not to romp on it occasionally. Would make for some really scenic pics there

Thanks, if I can get 16 /18 mpg when I need to then I will be happy. The Raptor will not be a daily driver as I ride a motorcycle most days that does around 50 MPG - so my average could even be considered "green" !!!!!

---------- Post added at 07:38 AM ---------- Previous post was at 07:32 AM ----------

Per specs, overall height is approx 1993.9000mm. I think this is on the bottom perch. Mid and Upper shock perch would be higher of course. I think this would be to the top of the roof rather than the antenna, which is higher...I went with a shorty antenna because it always hit my garage.

As far as ramps, I was able to load a golf cart in the back of mine with 12' ramps.

Gas mileage, Expect 14 on the Hwy, 12-13 in town. These trucks, like all big vehicles suck in the gas mileage area. I wish these trucks either hd a diesel or V6 Ecoboost option... maybe someday sooner vs. later, the Ecoboost. Other consideration depending on how narrow your roads are might be the width of the truck, it's 7 inches wider than a normal F150. The width makes a huge difference to it's outstanding handling, but it might be something to think about.

Thanks, and yes the width is going to be a bit of an issue on our narrower roads, over the years I have lost a couple of mirrors off my Lightning with trucks coming the other way clipping them ! I load my bikes using quad bike ramps similar to yours - so maybe all will be well.

The Raptor will clear my garage door by 3" so the antenna will hit it - I read some threads on here about shorty versions so might have to go for one of these. I also read that some guys had problems removing the original antenna, but I did not understand how that could be difficult - maybe I am missing something ?

Thanks again for your help and advice.

Dougie