Rough ride on the road (2012 SuperCrew)

[2manytrucks]

I picked up my 2012 Screw in June...has 4k on it now. I can feel damn near every crack in the road and there is "static/vibration" in the steering wheel and I swear I can feel something banging in the steering wheel from low on the truck. I was like you guys expecting this amazing truck to swallow all of this small crap with ease....nope...mine doesn't do jack with the small stuff. It feels like there is no give in the coilovers unless you really bang on them with larger bumps.

Oh and I haven't owned a car in about 20 years...all Ford trucks. I am not saying the Raptor is the worst by any means overalll, just not what you would expect on the street.

 

[Squatting Dog]

This is NOT directed at any one member!

First and foremost a Ford Raptor is a truck, if you wanted a car like ride. Then follow some of the suggestions for OG Raptor owners.

Adjust your air pressure in your tires.

Put some miles on your truck, to break in and loosen stiff parts.

Adjust front shocks to mid perch. This allows an additional 1" or so of bypassed (softer) shock travel.

Replace factory leaf springs with progressive leaf pack (national, deavers, custom)

Get rid of low profile sidewall tires, the Raptor suspension is designed to work better with tires that have a sidewall.. No 50/40/30 aspect ratio sidewalls!

Remove the swaybar, increases the body roll, but keeps front end harmonics down across little stuff.

And if all else fails and you still want a car like ride, buy a car..

-Greg

 

[JP7]

This is NOT directed at any one member!

First and foremost a Ford Raptor is a truck, if you wanted a car like ride. Then follow some of the suggestions for OG Raptor owners.

Adjust your air pressure in your tires.

Adjust front shocks to mid perch. This allows an additional 1" or so of bypassed (softer) shock travel.

Replace factory leaf springs with progressive leaf pack (national, deavers, custom)

Get rid of low profile sidewall tires, the Raptor suspension is designed to work better with tires that have a sidewall.. No 50/40/30 aspect ratio sidewalls!

And if all else fails and you still want a car like ride, buy a car..

-Greg

^^What Greg said.

Having had a 2010 and now the 2012 Scab - I noticed a big difference when I got the new truck. It was so stiff that I was uncomfortable at first on loose gravel roads.
I've been too busy to get the mid-perch done, but I removed the front sway bar a few months ago and it made a huge difference.
Beating on the truck a bit offroad has made the most difference, and now it has 10,000 miles and is worked in nicely - ride is soft and smooth.
If you want some recent videos which show the relative difference between a Scab and Screw, have a look at Strafe's (orange) truck vs mine (black) from last weekend on this thread.

Both trucks were running 45 psi in the tires, and doing about 40mph.

 

[khcdave]

Stop by the shop- we arent far from you, I can check it out for you but it sounds like a stock Raptor. You can drive mine and compare the 2. 40psi in the tires is a good start to softening things up a little and wont set off the TPS light. National leafs in the rear will get rid of all the hopping around and ready smooth out the rear. Tie rods and upper control arms tighten things up also but some of the harshness will never be gone unless you upgrade the coilovers. I love the way mine rides- better than a stock truck. Give me a call (973) 769-8837. I will be at the shop all day tomorrow if you have time to swing by. Dave

 

[eugeneorange]

Stop by the shop- we arent far from you, I can check it out for you but it sounds like a stock Raptor. You can drive mine and compare the 2. 40psi in the tires is a good start to softening things up a little and wont set off the TPS light. National leafs in the rear will get rid of all the hopping around and ready smooth out the rear. Tie rods and upper control arms tighten things up also but some of the harshness will never be gone unless you upgrade the coilovers. I love the way mine rides- better than a stock truck. Give me a call (973) 769-8837. I will be at the shop all day tomorrow if you have time to swing by. Dave

Awesome! Will be calling you later today.
Thanks!

 

[RedBaron]

I just traded a 2008 3500HD SRW for my 2012 SCrew Raptor. My truck is 100% stock and I'm running the stock tire pressures (44 PSI).

Similar to MikeD's experience, I find the ride a bit rougher than I expected based on reviews by car mags and blogs. The impact of smaller bumps at moderate speed sends quite a jolt through the truck, both on the road (pot holes, expansion joints, etc.) and off road (rocks, bumps, holes, etc.). Going faster tends to smooth things out, but that's not always possible. To my butt sensor, I'd say the jolts of these smaller impacts are the same between my old GMC and Raptor. Larger impacts or higher speeds are much better, but at normal driving speeds, I can't tell a difference.

The truck tends to wander a bit more than my GMC, and follow the crown of the road more. I'm writing this off to the larger tires though. Nothing comes for free.

I may try taking the pressure down a little (maybe to 40 PSI), but it seems the only solution is the mid perch mod and a new rear spring pack.

That said, I love the truck. I love the way it handles (so I'd like to keep the sway bar), but taking the edge off some of the sharp bumps would be nice.

 

[408RCLB]

holy crap yo... y'all that are complaining about the ride, come for a ride in my truck and ill give you a new appreciation for yours! but my truck wont be stock for much longer, my new suspension will be here soon, so hurry if you want a ride my sisters raptor rides MUCH better then my truck does.. then again, mine is 500+ pounds heavier with 31's and shocks a 1/4 of the size of y'alls trust me, a raptor rides great compared to anything else, especially a 3/4 ton

 

[eugeneorange]

I think there is a disconnect in understanding what this thread is about. I know what (standard) truck ride feels like, I've been in a truck for the past 10 years and drove (and rode in) many types and brands. And after getting the feedback from both - SCAB and SCREW owners, there is a clear delineation between the experiences in on-road smoothness. Looks like Screws ('12) are much stiffer. Period. Do me a favor, take a street ride in one of them... you'll see what we're talking about. I do not regret getting a Raptor because of that, but I'm not too happy about having to plop down another few grand to get what the rest of you enjoy from the get-go.

 

[Pynenut]

This thread cost me $2500 + Shipping

 

[SterlingE55]

I'll just throw this out there. My 2012 Screw rides similar maybe a little stiffer than my 2011 ram 1/2 ton 2wd hemi crew cab. Eff that's a long description. I wish the raptor was a bit stiffer and didn't have the nose dive under braking. Other wise very happy with the ride. Not saying you guys don't have stiff trucks. Just posting my experience. Maybe the rides are inconsistent due to.inconsistent shock valving or something? Oh and I'm almost to 4k.