Read what others are saying about the Ford Raptor (and frame bending)

[KaiserM715]

Bent Spindles watch around the 1:50 mark
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vuuUSUmwP8

Outlaw Raptor jump or double hop, hard landing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJAKpGihdAA

The cattle crossing, bottomed out and ripped the ABS connections off and didn't event stop, also the Kicker that bent the frame.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6eK-1Ld7sJY

Embedded the video.

 

[MagicMtnDan]

Bent Spindles watch around the 1:50 mark

The video - looks like he went over a 2nd hump and landed nose down into a 3rd hump.

Bent spindle guy (after collecting front fender liners and other parts): "Just going too fast dude"

An observation: The road is mostly flat and smooth. These roads give drivers a level of over-confidence that leads to higher speeds and then the surprises come up and bite them.

It's happened to all of us but the speeds they were running appear to be quite high which exacerbates things a lot.

 

[Highroller]

The video - looks like he went over a 2nd hump and landed nose down into a 3rd hump.

Bent spindle guy (after collecting front fender liners and other parts): "Just going too fast dude"

An observation: The road is mostly flat and smooth. These roads give drivers a level of over-confidence that leads to higher speeds and then the surprises come up and bite them.

It's happened to all of us but the speeds they were running appear to be quite high which exacerbates things a lot.

Agreed! When off-roading an organized run like this, nothing, but driver error, should jump up and bite you! Thats what prerunning is for!

 

[MagicMtnDan]

Yup, that's what pre-running is for. The hazards on the trails were communicated using (1) GPS and (2) race radios. Apparently most of the participants had neither so they weren't able to know for sure where the hazards were.

OPINION:

But asking people to use GPS and race radios to communicate locations of hazards is probably not the best way given that most don't have experience running trails at high speeds while using GPS and/or race radios (I haven't done that either). And asking a passenger to be responsible isn't (IMO) the answer. Seems to me the only and best way to warn folks would be to (1) mark each hazard with a flag, l(2) list the hazards on a sheet of paper/handout with distance between each (if possible) and, (3) number/count the hazards so each can be checked off.

I think the flag markers is the key to avoiding this in the future as it allows participants to focus on the trail and see what's coming up.

 

[Highroller]

Agree, my take is the lead truck or first truck tohit a hazzard should have stayed at the area to warn the next truck, before continueing on and so on down the line. This all should have been laied out during the drivers meeting. But as you can see from the video's no one even stopped, even after suffering damage, except for the spindle dude and that was only because the truck would go any further. Their mentallity during this run is way beyound my thought process. It appears even from the videos no one really cared if the tore the truck up or not. Reminds me of "Too much money, Too little brains.

Man sorry for the spelling issues, my typing is crap today.

 

[SVTRay]

Bent Spindles watch around the 1:50 mark YouTube - ‪Raptor Run Ford Raptor‬‏Outlaw Raptor jump or double hop, hard landing. YouTube - ‪SUPCO Raptor takes flight...... going huge in the company car.‬‏The cattle crossing, bottomed out and ripped the ABS connections off and didn't event stop, also the Kicker that bent the frame. YouTube - ‪Barstow to Vegas: Sneaky Cattle Crossing and Kicker‬‏It's hard to beleieve the guy with the bent spindles, was more concerned with wipeing the dirt off his camera, than the condition of his truck!

Thanks for posting those Highroller! You guys are right about the driving envolved in that run. I don't know if these guys were super over confident or what but they was hitting these jumps and kickers hard! I'm new to offloading but that looks like a novice run but was over driven by this group.

 

[Squatting Dog]

I say "herd mentality".

With the Raptor being such capable offroad vehicle it is hard not to get over confident. Especially, when you start catching up with the truck in front of you.

 

[MarkT]

who knows, Anyhow, I read your post on another forum which stated you didn't believe our trucks needed Hydrualic bump stops. Do you still stand by this enlight of what's going on with the frames? Either way, could you explain your dission? I'm just trying to better understand things.

Sorry guys... I haven't posted anything on any other Raptor forum since I was banned from the Z over a year ago... I've never said anything about the Raptor "not needing" hydraulic bump stops.

Do I believe the Raptor "needs" them? No.

Could they help if you took a huge hit either on purpose or one of those "gotchas"? Definitely yes. Anything that helps stop harsh bottoming will help. But there still is a limit. Hit something hard enough in a 6000 lb truck with limited wheel travel and you're going to break/bend something.

 

[SVTRay]

Sorry guys... I haven't posted anything on any other Raptor forum since I was banned from the Z over a year ago... I've never said anything about the Raptor "not needing" hydraulic bump stops. Do I believe the Raptor "needs" them? No. Could they help if you took a huge hit either on purpose or one of those "gotchas"? Definitely yes. Anything that helps stop harsh bottoming will help. But there still is a limit. Hit something hard enough in a 6000 lb truck with limited wheel travel and you're going to break/bend something.

Thanks, Ya, I've been reading on post and could have missed read a few things. Anyhow, I do agree there is a limit to our trucks ( everything for that matter) and these guys found it.

 

[GRT4DRT]

Ford F-150 SVT Raptor frames bending in off road use?