Well after over 3 months of researching long travel suspension available for the Raptor, I have finally pulled the trigger on the H&M kit. Since there is little to be found of these on the Raptor, I decided to share my experience from start to finish.
Let me add that choosing a long travel kit has proven to be no easy task. There are a lot of options out there, and the tough thing is that most of the information you can gather comes from the builder, or the guy that spent big dollars on it. It's hard to find someone that has first hand experience with multiple kits to give a good unbiased feedback. I spent time on the phone with RPG, SVC, Rogue, Icon, Baja Kits, and of course H&M. I also spent my days scouring Instagram for long travel raptors, contacted the owners and asked their experience with the kit, and what they would get if they started all over. Also spent time talking to multiple people that participate in the expedition type runs to see what trucks they have seen that worked the best.
At the end of the day, I don't think any of them are bad, some have characteristics that may be more appealing to some groups. Brenthal (Baja Kits) is more narrow than most others, but also less travel before having CV issues. RPG uses stock mounting locations which is good if you don't have the ability to weld/fab. I have my personal reasons and opinions that ended me up at the decision of H&M, but I don't want this thread to turn into a bicker match about who has a better kit. I picked the one that I feel will be most suitable for my personal abilities and desires. I am by no means a professional fabricator, but I do consider myself an avid hobbyist. I have mostly done rock crawler and jeep related projects prior to this. I'm new to the high speed A-Arm world..
On to the build:
Prior to this my truck was mostly stock, running 37" tires on mid perch, with Fiberwerx front fenders to clear. I use my truck more for Off-road than I do for driving around town. In the short time of having it, I have knocked it out of alignment 3 times already, feel like the rear end rides like shit, and was overall unhappy with the performance of the truck in the desert and dunes.
Side Note: If anyone is interested seeing how well the stock suspension works in the dunes I made a video showing it fully cycle.
I have ordered the front kit with King 2.5 coil overs, and 3.5" Bypass.
For the rear I am doing Spring Under Deavers, 4.0 Bypass, and looking at either the SVC rear bed cage, or building my own.
First Step of course is to strip the front end of stock components.
Next, all the stock upper mounts need to be removed. Be extra careful on the driver side, as multiple brake lines run right behind the shock tower. I used a thin piece of sheet metal to push all the lines back and protect them.
While at it, I had H&M order a Currie rear axle for me 80" WMS, Pulled and sold the stock one.
I will be building my own bypass rack and bump stops for the rear, I prepped the bed for removal and the truck is now looking pretty sad.
