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

[SPRSNK]

Having been on the Raptor Run and plan on doing more I guess I will chime in.

The terrain was NOT tough. Maybe a 4 out of 10. As it was previously said, it was mostly fire and utility roads. I never left 2wd. If my frame bent where everyone elses did, it is not noticeable. Most of the trucks there did bend. Why? Dunno. I am not an engineer or a mechanic. Theories and speculations abound about why so many did. Do I think there is an inherent weakness in the frame. Yes. The payload is a moot point because I had less than 1000# in the bed of the truck. 1 tire, 2 gas cans, cooler and the rack weigh in probably around 400# total. All in all, the weight is probably weight distributed fairly evenly throughout the bed. I caught air, a lot of it at speed. Some jumps were landed correctly, most were not. Corners were taken sideways (especially the water reservoir!) and I was not nice on my truck.

 

[BlueSVT]

Hey guys,

I'm still waiting for ANOTHER call-back from Ford, who are having my truck sent to a dealer that also has an in-house body shop. They will send an engineer out to inspect my truck in person. I have provided them a variety of pictures of other trucks, details of the suspected problem area, angles, etc.

As of now, the rep seems VERY helpful and has only expressed interest in Ford wanting to help fix the problem... No indication of accusations of abuse, UNLIKE my local dealer (who I'm never taking my truck to again).

For clarification, I know the EXACT point my damage happened. It was the last 30 miles of day 2, about 6 hours into the run... Which further supports the temperature issue. I too noticed a softer suspension midway through both days. Mine happened hitting a roughly 18" tall kicker (basically a dirt speed bump) at roughly 55-60mph. I hit MANY kickers much larger the first day with absolutely no issues, the truck handled them flawlessly.

I truly feel I drove the truck in a responsible manner the entire run, no damage to my skid plate or anything else... Just a tweaked frame. GOTSVT and GRT4DRT were riding in front and behind me, and we were all driving well within our limits, sometimes MILES behind the lead truck!

I'll keep my progress updated.

- Matt
(BlueSVT)

 

[Nv Guy]

What I think happened were a few different things, when taken separately don’t add up to much, but when you combine them frames bend.
A lot of this is rehash from previous posts, but I have another theory-#3 shock positioning due to weight in the bed.
1. The shocks most likely got hot from the extended running time. This caused reduced damping.
2. The trucks had a load in the bed. We all know that the Raptor is softly sprung, so it doesn’t take a lot of weight to compress things. And this leads to 3:
3. Since the beds had weight in them, the relative position of the shocks were changed, and these are position sensitive shocks. This might have also contributed to allow the bump stop to be contacted.

In my non engineer opinion, the bump stop design isn't the best Ford had ever done. Placing the bump stop on the flange of a frame isn’t a great idea, but placing it in the middle of a crush zone makes me wonder. They have got to anticipate the bump stop getting hit sometime, so why not plan on spreading the resulting load?
I have seen bump stops on older Ford trucks that were attached to a "bridge" that in turn was bolted to the frame. This spread the load out. I don’t know why Ford didn’t reuse that idea.

One fault with the Raptor is that it is so good at what it does; you can cross over the design line with no real warning until it's too late. It's like an airplane that gives you no warning that it's about to stall.

 

[BlueSVT]

What I think happened were a few different things, when taken separately don’t add up to much, but when you combine them frames bend.
A lot of this is rehash from previous posts, but I have another theory-#3 shock positioning due to weight in the bed.
1. The shocks most likely got hot from the extended running time. This caused reduced damping.
2. The trucks had a load in the bed. We all know that the Raptor is softly sprung, so it doesn’t take a lot of weight to compress things. And this leads to 3:
3. Since the beds had weight in them, the relative position of the shocks were changed, and these are position sensitive shocks. This might have also contributed to allow the bump stop to be contacted.

In my non engineer opinion, the bump stop design isn't the best Ford had ever done. Placing the bump stop on the flange of a frame isn’t a great idea, but placing it in the middle of a crush zone makes me wonder. They have got to anticipate the bump stop getting hit sometime, so why not plan on spreading the resulting load?
I have seen bump stops on older Ford trucks that were attached to a "bridge" that in turn was bolted to the frame. This spread the load out. I don’t know why Ford didn’t reuse that idea.

One fault with the Raptor is that it is so good at what it does; you can cross over the design line with no real warning until it's too late. It's like an airplane that gives you no warning that it's about to stall.

For the record, in my bed I only had a 5 gallon gas-can, 5-Gallons of water, HiLift jack, and that's it! They were all mounted against the cab too, to reduce weight at the rear which moves the most.

 

[IRONMAN]

Hey guys,

I'm still waiting for ANOTHER call-back from Ford, who are having my truck sent to a dealer that also has an in-house body shop. They will send an engineer out to inspect my truck in person. I have provided them a variety of pictures of other trucks, details of the suspected problem area, angles, etc.

As of now, the rep seems VERY helpful and has only expressed interest in Ford wanting to help fix the problem... No indication of accusations of abuse, UNLIKE my local dealer (who I'm never taking my truck to again).

For clarification, I know the EXACT point my damage happened. It was the last 30 miles of day 2, about 6 hours into the run... Which further supports the temperature issue. I too noticed a softer suspension midway through both days. Mine happened hitting a roughly 18" tall kicker (basically a dirt speed bump) at roughly 55-60mph. I hit MANY kickers much larger the first day with absolutely no issues, the truck handled them flawlessly.

I truly feel I drove the truck in a responsible manner the entire run, no damage to my skid plate or anything else... Just a tweaked frame. GOTSVT and GRT4DRT were riding in front and behind me, and we were all driving well within our limits, sometimes MILES behind the lead truck!

I'll keep my progress updated.

- Matt
(BlueSVT)

So does this mean your getting BANNED now for becoming a member here since your a MOD over there.lol
Welcome but you'd better watch out, Clay's got a twichy finger on that BAN button.

 

[SOCOMech]

So does this mean your getting BANNED now for becoming a member here since your a MOD over there.lol
Welcome but you'd better watch out, Clay's got a twichy finger on that BAN button.

I was gonna pm him that but hey, we love stuff out in the open here, lol. Regardless, glad to see you came here to share with us your input on this situation. The more info we have, the better we can hopefully understand what happened.

 

[A.I.I.Raciing]

For the record, in my bed I only had a 5 gallon gas-can, 5-Gallons of water, HiLift jack, and that's it! They were all mounted against the cab too, to reduce weight at the rear which moves the most.

Hope you decide to leave that place and stay over here.

Anyways, I saw this and thought it was pretty odd

ENSENADA, MEXICO, Nov. 25, 2008 – The Ford F-150 SVT Raptor R race truck, based on the production version of the upcoming 2010 F-150 SVT Raptor, survived the grueling 41st Tecate SCORE Baja 1000, finishing the 631 mile race in 25:28:10.

Considered one of the toughest off-road races in the world, the Ford F-150 SVT Raptor R race truck that participated in the Baja 1000 was a collaboration between the Ford Special Vehicle Team (SVT), Ford Racing, and Foutz Motorsports Inc. The pickup was entered into the race to test the durability and performance of the 2010 F-150 SVT Raptor, which goes on sale in the summer of 2009.

"We engineered the F-150 SVT Raptor to be the best high-speed off-road performance truck available right off the showroom floor, and finishing the Baja 1000 proves this," stated Jamal Hameedi, SVT's Chief Nameplate Engineer. "Now we need to analyze all the engineering data from the race and apply lessons learned to the production truck, ensuring that the truck delivered to customers exceeds their expectations."

Prepared for racing in long distance off-road endurance events, the Ford F-150 SVT Raptor R uses stock components of F-150 SVT Raptor, including the transmission, brakes and axles. The frame - the part of the truck that will take the most stress - is the same proven fully boxed frame that delivers class-leading towing and hauling in the all-new 2009 Ford F-150 that went on sale in October. The Raptor race truck is powered by a specially-calibrated version of the available 6.2-liter V-8 engine, making 500-horsepower.

Even if the typical Ford customer will not be putting their truck through the punishing paces of the Baja 1000, the point is, they could.

The Ford F-150 SVT Raptor R in the Baja 1000 also served as a test bed for the development of a lineup of race-proven, desert-tested, off-road performance parts that will be available through the Ford Racing catalog.

 

[Nv Guy]

For the record, in my bed I only had a 5 gallon gas-can, 5-Gallons of water, HiLift jack, and that's it! They were all mounted against the cab too, to reduce weight at the rear which moves the most.

Ohhh, from what I had read other places, it was mentioned that "everyone" was fairly loaded down with fuel & such.
Well, that shoots my theory about shock positioning all to hell.

 

[BlueSVT]

Being a member on both sites is NOT an issue to Clay, nor should it be. Recruiting, and trying to stir the pot between sites is obviously frowned upon! I'm an enthusiast before anything else, and the more information we all share, the better for the Raptor owners.

 

[Squatting Dog]

Hope you decide to leave that place and stay over here.

Anyways, I saw this and thought it was pretty odd

ENSENADA, MEXICO, Nov. 25, 2008 – The Ford F-150 SVT Raptor R race truck, based on the production version of the upcoming 2010 F-150 SVT Raptor, survived the grueling 41st Tecate SCORE Baja 1000, finishing the 631 mile race in 25:28:10.

Considered one of the toughest off-road races in the world, the Ford F-150 SVT Raptor R race truck that participated in the Baja 1000 was a collaboration between the Ford Special Vehicle Team (SVT), Ford Racing, and Foutz Motorsports Inc. The pickup was entered into the race to test the durability and performance of the 2010 F-150 SVT Raptor, which goes on sale in the summer of 2009.

"We engineered the F-150 SVT Raptor to be the best high-speed off-road performance truck available right off the showroom floor, and finishing the Baja 1000 proves this," stated Jamal Hameedi, SVT's Chief Nameplate Engineer. "Now we need to analyze all the engineering data from the race and apply lessons learned to the production truck, ensuring that the truck delivered to customers exceeds their expectations."

Prepared for racing in long distance off-road endurance events, the Ford F-150 SVT Raptor R uses stock components of F-150 SVT Raptor, including the transmission, brakes and axles. The frame - the part of the truck that will take the most stress - is the same proven fully boxed frame that delivers class-leading towing and hauling in the all-new 2009 Ford F-150 that went on sale in October. The Raptor race truck is powered by a specially-calibrated version of the available 6.2-liter V-8 engine, making 500-horsepower.

Even if the typical Ford customer will not be putting their truck through the punishing paces of the Baja 1000, the point is, they could.

The Ford F-150 SVT Raptor R in the Baja 1000 also served as a test bed for the development of a lineup of race-proven, desert-tested, off-road performance parts that will be available through the Ford Racing catalog.

A lot of cage work on the raptor r baja truck.
View attachment 2936

View attachment 2937

They might used a new Raptor for the baja, it was heavily modified and by no means a stock truck..

They got rid of cast lower a arms
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