Jeep Guy Maybe Moving Over

[TipsEZ]

Hello everyone! I'll try to stay on topic and to the point here... I'm a Jeep guy, I'm on my 2nd one (only 28) and love rock crawling and basically getting out of cell phone range to camp. My current Jeep is in some middle ground right now of "Do I finish building it for Rubicon?" or "Do I sell it and give up technical crawling"? The misses and I both have bad backs so the tech rock crawling is hard on us. I'm thinking the Raptor would be a good choice to cover truck needs (track day for the bike) as well as off road fun. My question is this...

Has anyone any thoughts on rock crawling with the truck?

I know I won't be nailing Rubicon in it, and approach/departure angles are alot worse than a Jeep. I guess I'm curious to know if it can handle moderate to difficult trails, or if it is really just a speed demon meant for sand.

Thank in advance folks!

 

[ARH1956]

The biggest obstacle will be the sheer physical size of the Raptor. It is much wider, longer and taller than the Wrangler. While the Raptor's drivetrain is certainly capable of rock-crawling its size will eliminate it from many Jeep accessible spots. My other current 4WD is an FJ, so I sense your concern. As a surprising side note my Raptor S'Crew matches my M/T 6-Speed FJ's mpg. I tend to "get-on" the FJ pretty good to keep a pace I'm happy with in traffic whereas I can achieve the same pace in the Raptor barely using any throttle.

 

[TipsEZ]

Good to know. I knew it was a lot heavier, longer, and wider but I wasn't too sure if the crawling ability would be suitable for the rocks. Honestly it would probably make a good bit of sense for me to get one as the misses ends up hiking when we do the technical stuff, while I stand the Jeep up on two or teeter over obstacles. Thanks for your thoughts ARH, I appreciate it big time.

 

[The Car Stereo Company]

morning..........

you could build it to be rock crawler, but it would be a waste..... keep it as a desert ass hauler.........

if you really want to go with it, check out xxxtraction.com they do wat you are looking for.

 

[Fred]

Afternoon...there was a post awhile back, where a member, went over some rocks, in a dry creek bed or something...the underside looked like someone took a sledge hammer to it

why do you want to be out of cell phone range? Somebody nagging you...

 

[Macman]

I have a Jeep JK and the Raptor, and the Raptor is way bigger. The jeep feels small now when driving it. I can imagine the biggest issue would be getting to the trails and getting through some of the narrow trails. Also if you are going to be doing any rock crawling definitely go SCab over SCrew.

 

[torrin]

Hello everyone! I'll try to stay on topic and to the point here... I'm a Jeep guy, I'm on my 2nd one (only 28) and love rock crawling and basically getting out of cell phone range to camp. My current Jeep is in some middle ground right now of "Do I finish building it for Rubicon?" or "Do I sell it and give up technical crawling"? The misses and I both have bad backs so the tech rock crawling is hard on us. I'm thinking the Raptor would be a good choice to cover truck needs (track day for the bike) as well as off road fun. My question is this...

Has anyone any thoughts on rock crawling with the truck?

I know I won't be nailing Rubicon in it, and approach/departure angles are alot worse than a Jeep. I guess I'm curious to know if it can handle moderate to difficult trails, or if it is really just a speed demon meant for sand.

Thank in advance folks!

Keep the Jeep and buy a Raptor.

Completely different experiences. My '07 JK is built to wheel (35's, 4" Long Arm, lockers, winch, etc. etc. etc.) I use it when I want to do technical climbing and go places most people would poop their pants thinking about trying.

The Raptor is about speed and control. I love running it at high speed on the dirt roads and through whoops. If you like high speed and pre-running, the Raptor is the ticket.

I kept both, because I can afford too.

 

[Nv Guy]

I sold my '03 Rubicon (lifted & such) when I decided I wanted a Raptor. We have had a lot more fun with the Raptor, and getting to the trails isnt as much effort as it was in the Jeep (anyone with a modded Jeep knows about their highway quirks) . But- you are not going to run the Rubicon in the Raptor, it's just way to big in every way posible.

 

[TipsEZ]

Thanks for all the insight folks! I've got a test drive set for a 2013 here locally, but I do indeed plan to buy a 2010 Super Cab (if I go Raptor at all) to keep the length down a bit. I may end up keeping the Jeep, but I highly doubt it. Having 5 vehicles for two people would be a bit much. Ideally I'd be able to buy the Raptor to haul my new JKU Rubi, but I don't see that happening any time soon.

I'm curious to know more about the sledge hammer to the undercarriage... I browsed around a little bit but gave up and went back to looking for Sport Bike parts (making my trackbike streetable again).

Thanks again folks.

 

[Nv Guy]

Thanks for all the insight folks! I've got a test drive set for a 2013 here locally, but I do indeed plan to buy a 2010 Super Cab (if I go Raptor at all) to keep the length down a bit. I may end up keeping the Jeep, but I highly doubt it. Having 5 vehicles for two people would be a bit much. Ideally I'd be able to buy the Raptor to haul my new JKU Rubi, but I don't see that happening any time soon.

I'm curious to know more about the sledge hammer to the undercarriage... I browsed around a little bit but gave up and went back to looking for Sport Bike parts (making my trackbike streetable again).

Thanks again folks.

I can understand to many vehicles for two people- one of the reasons for selling my Jeep.

Big J here on the site armored up his Raptor's belly pretty well-do a quick search and that ought to answer most of your questions- Raptors do have some exposed parts.