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All kinds of off roading except extreme rock crawling.
37” Nitto Ridge Grapplers on my 2nd gen Raptor…no modifications were done that I can remember, and no problems.So, my Gen 3 order has been pushed to 2023. I am keeping the order on the chance it will actually happen. But I see a lot of change happening in the world and with a little soul searching I have decided to find a clean Gen 2 so I can have a Raptor before everything goes EV and the shit hits the fan.
The biggest reasons I want(ed) a Gen 3 is 37's and the rear suspension.
The biggest reasons I am going Gen 2 is they actually exist and modifications available to make it my own.
Modifications are why we are here, at this point suspension modifications. I am looking for advise/input on what works and what doesn't.
Let me give you a little back ground so you will know where I am coming from.
25ish years ago I had a vehicle that I decided I wanted to start modifying. Some things went good, but over all in the end I had a blown engine, an engine that had become pretty rare and hard/expensive to replace. In the end I kept the suspension mods but put the drive train back to stock form. That little lesson cost me about $15,000
Admittedly I was A: a head of my time, in that technology for tuning has come along way in the last 25 years. B: I picked a vehicle that had a very small niche following and that hurt also.
I have been "off roading" since I was a child in the 1970's, Family all used F250/350's back then and with that since 2002 I have been using a 2002 F350 PSD 6 speed for my off road adventures. it has low miles for it's age. 108,000 but a good 70% of those have been off road and the other 30% have mostly getting to the end of the asphalt to start my adventure. Just last weekend I put about 300 miles on it of which only about 80 miles was on asphalt. The truck has been on many of the trails you guys have taken your Raptors on in Moab and southern Utah.
I have the suspension set up pretty good, most of you would probably shit with where I taken it. The truck is in amazing shape, when it was about 6 months old I pinstriped the living heck out of it, over time most the pinstriping has disappeared. it has one scratch on the bed, and one small dent by a rear tail light. It has been garaged it's whole life. I consider trucks (vehicles in general) tools, not status symbols. As such in 20 years it has only probably been washed about 20-25 times in its life. But when it is washed it looks damn near new (amazing how the sun degrades stuff). I had it fully detailed last year and everyone was shocked how good it looked. Most the time it is dirty,dusty, muddy from my adventures. I like to look at it and think of all the places I have taken it, when I wash it those memories fade just a little bit.
I tell you all this so you know how I will treat my Raptor, also the F350 will not be leaving my stable EVER. I always own vehicles long term and the Raptor will be around for 15 years minimum but probably well past 20 years.
Okay, that was a lot, now to the real reason I am posting. My Raptor will not ever go to a Starbucks, It may on rare occasions go to Home Depot. it will probably only get driven around 5000 miles a year. I have a "company car" so to speak so my trucks only get used for actual truck stuff. We use my wife's car for running to the store and daily life stuff.
But those 5000 miles (hopefully more) will obviously off road. I will probably carry around 500lbs (maybe more it adds up quick sometimes) of gear most the time, (spare tires, tools, coolers, recovery gear)
So I read about some of the suspension modifications you guys are doing, but I don't read WHY as much and I read "rides so much better" but that is subjective. My focus is ride quality as far as off roading goes, which for me is a soft,plush ride that soaks up the bumps and obviously I don't want to bottom out.
This is what I am considering but again am I ******** myself and should I just leave things alone.
2019-2020 Gen 2 Ford Raptor Performance Pack #2 - FOX Racing Shox Live Wire
Gen 2 2019-2020 Ford Raptor SVCOFFROAD 1.5" BILLET UPPER CONTROL ARMS, Aluminum Steering Tierods, Deaver Springs, SVC Bump Kit, Fox Racing Shocks 3.0 Race Series Live Valve Coilovers and Rear Bypass Shocks Featuring Internal Bypass Technology. The Perfect Aftermarket Suspension System For Your...svcoffroad.com
along with a DSC suspension control module.
what do you guys think or have experience with? The Deavers make me a little nervous, do I need HD's? Remember I have a Superduty to do Superduty things.
I really really want to do a Baja run some day (at least a year away for me right now) The stories I read say the stock trucks are more reliable so that mostly rules out a "mid-travel" kit for me. Also, in that kit are UCA's, what problem do they solve ( would probably do a slot reinforcement/delete kit also). I am okay with rebuilding the UCA's on occasion, (every 2-3 years) but are they a maintenance nightmare?
I would like to do '37's but not with a bunch of hacking/grinding to sheet metal, if that is not possible then will get crossed off the list pretty fast.
thanks for listening, what are your thoughts?
