Houston we have a problem! (the bent frame thread)

[gotSVT]

Gilligan was an idiot.

Or maybe a genious for wanting to stay on the island with Mary Anne and no competition.



Only two real solutions:

1. More suspension travel.
2. Drive over big, sharp bumps slower.

More travel doesn't mean much alone. You need dampening. Shocks, springs and bump stops. Finally, you need a suspension system that doesn't dissipate all of its energy into a single (in our case purposefully weakened) very small point on the frame where Ford cut a big ass hole in it.

Ford, why is an '07 2wd Silverado's bump stop mount stronger than the
Raptor's? The bump stop mount should have looked like this except without the guy cutting it off:

Not this:

BC, can you calculate how much difference in strength these two would have? THAT would be really interesting to know?

 

[Bad company]

More travel doesn't mean much alone. You need dampening. Shocks, springs and bump stops. Finally, you need a suspension system that doesn't dissipate all of its energy into a single (in our case purposefully weakened) very small point on the frame where Ford cut a big ass hole in it.

Ford, why is an '07 2wd Silverado's bump stop mount stronger than the
Raptor's? The bump stop mount should have looked like this except without the guy cutting it off:

Not this:

BC, can you calculate how much difference in strength these two would have? THAT would be really interesting to know?

The problem is that at high speed only travel will save you. The forces are simply too high. You could survive the kicker with no damping if you have more travel than the bump is tall. For every inch the bump is taller than your suspension travel, you need to move the massive truck up one inch in a VERY short time.

For the kicker example alone, your suspension itself would break the frame with required suspension loads EXCEEDING 85 TONS to not have metal on metal impact. Simply. Not. Possible. What happened is the suspension quickly compacted to solid height, and then the frame took the rest with forces much greator than 85 tons.

You are correct in your assumption that more damping, or stiffer springs will help prevent crashing, and a stronger frame would me more resistant to damage. However, da chebby frame would be banana'd as well.

 

[Madcowranch]

 

[IRONMAN]

 

[gotSVT]

You are correct in your assumption that more damping, or stiffer springs will help prevent crashing, and a stronger frame would me more resistant to damage. However, da chebby frame would be banana'd as well.

That's my point. It should have at least been as strong as the Silverado. It isn't by a long shot. Bad design.

 

[SOCOMech]

That's my point. It should have at least been as strong as the Silverado. It isn't by a long shot. Bad design.

But we don't see a forum dedicated to and hundreds of stories about Silverado's doing what Raptor's do. Could that area of the frame be stronger on the Silverado? Yeah.......but I'd still rather have everything else the Raptor brings. I know that if I had a Silverado and jumped it and bent something that I wouldn't be mad at Chevy's engineer's for a design flaw, I'd chalk it up to "oops, probably shouldn't have hit that spot like that". (not implying that's what you're doing) The F150 frame has long been known to be very stout and Ford had no issues in using it in stock form.....which is fine by me because then I didn't have to pay loads of extra money for the costs that would create. If Ford would've listed a "reinforced frame made for extra hard hits" then these tales would be of even more carnage and maybe even hospital trips. Plus, then people would start saying "well Ford should've built bed cage's".......give an inch, take a mile.

 

[Viper]

Damn, Bad Company.... Great analysis and defense of your points... I'll honor you with a PhD for that thesis...

 

[Aaron]

Owners (myself included) have complained about the lack of time, or effort, it appears SVT/Ford put into the rear spring and 3" block combo on the Raptor for well over a year. The problem is, the leafs tuning (or lack of tuning) cause the back of the truck to buck around while the front stays stable over rough terrain. The blocks cause severe wheel hop in sand or high traction situations by aiding leverage to the climbing pinion gear. Add the two together and its easy to criticize the rear suspension.

I understand there will always be limitations. But why go through all the trouble building an awesome truck with countless specialized parts (including the entire front suspension, steering rack ratio, steering linkage, motor mounts, complete rear and front axle assembly, engine cooling module, shock mounts, skid plates, heat guards, body work, wheels/tires, lights, electronics, interior, gages, and so on) just to let the rear spring and block suspension design fall short? A suspension that the whole concept was supposed to shine around...

With that said, I love the Raptor and think overall Ford did an awesome job. But I believe Ford should have put more effort into areas like the rear suspension and traction control system.

I completely agree with this; it's a workable design, but I will admit that I was surprised to see the setup on the rear end. Not a show stopper but I expected a little more, and really didn't expect blocks back there.

By the same token, I'm not advocating that Ford goes and puts Deavers in the rear, although that would be amazing, It'd probably also raise the price of the truck, which is already high enough for most people.

 

[DEADEYE]

I firmly believe Ford is fully aware of the Stress / Load points on this Frame or any other . I propose this design was intentional for numerous reasons and feel those reasons are rather apparent and will not go into detailing them beyond a quick point or two. .ie. Stress point or broke axel and stranded. If this were to become a military vehicle would you rather have a tweak to the box or a broke axel if you were under fire or in a support or rescue mode.

If you also consider the level of R&D , Crash testing , Super Computer modeling , a few years of experience in building trucks and oh yah something about a special vehicles team spending a little time building things. I pretty sure they know where there frame is loaded.

I do empathize with the people this has occurred to and it seems Ford has not slammed the door on anyone. I hope they take care of anyone found in this situation .

 

[debate]

marketing troll

Fair enough, I'm not very familiar with the frame construction.

So, where are the pics of your husbands' Raptor?