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I bought my Raptor in July and have been lurking and learning here ever since. I've always been a "car guy" so this is my first truck and there is a lot to learn. I really appreciate all of the in-depth threads here on suspension tuning, off-road preparation, common problems, etc.
I've put around 2,500 miles on the Raptor and I'm liking it more every mile. My previous daily driver was an Audi sedan, which was faster and had a more refined ride, but wasn't as fun and didn't generate nearly as much respect on the road (people get OUT OF THE WAY of the Raptor). The Raptor is a way better daily driver than I was expecting, and the interior is seriously luxurious. We took it on a 1,000-mile road trip last week, and it was perfect. The only downside so far is my wife laughing at me about how many times she sees dudes checking out the truck. The Raptor is a major dude magnet: I had a guy ask me for my phone number while getting gas for the first time. Seriously.
I finally had a chance to do some light off-roading last week in the Oregon dunes. The truck is really, really capable out there, going up hills that I would have thought were too steep and/or too tall. I learned the hard way that Sand/Mud mode is the wrong mode in the dunes: it's Baja Mode all the way out there. It is still more fun to be on a quad or rail, but it feels good to have an on-road capable vehicle that works as well in the dunes as the Raptor.
I'm looking forward to getting the Raptor out into the desert to see what it can do. I'm not as young as I used to be, and this wasn't a cheap vehicle, so I've signed up for a course on vehicle recovery to learn how to do kinetic recovery, in-field tire repair and some other skills I'm sure I'll need (and do not currently have). I'll start small from there, and hopefully get good enough to join some of you on a Raptor Run without feeling like a liability to the group. See you out there!