Raptors... frames too weak for offroading?

Yup, they didn't continue the boxed frame over the rear bumpstop. Easy to prevent but hard to fix.
 
I'm having a tough time figuring out how this happened. Was it high centered? I'd think it would bend the other way if it were from jumping the truck.
 
Fart said:
I'm having a tough time figuring out how this happened. Was it high centered? I'd think it would bend the other way if it were from jumping the truck.
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If you could see a picture of the frame it's pretty obvious. Rear bumper, bed weight, spare tire weight hanging off the rear of the frame, gets thinner just above the bump stop. A hard impact at that point combined with all that weight over hanging having momentum in the opposite direction is the cause. LOL at the caption under this picture.
http://trucks.about.com/od/2007fordtrucks/ig/Ford-SVT-Raptor-Pictures/SVT-Raptor-Frame.htm
 
Skimmed the raptor forum, seems the dealers refuse to fix it too even though its obvious they slacked off in the rear frame area to make room for the bumpstops.

Good for Ford... lol
 
Here's the thing, though....

The guy posted video of the incident.

And... they were moving pretty good. And hit a couple of BIG kickers... by their own estimate, 12-18" high.

Now... what do you think would happen if you were rolling down the interstate at 70mph and hit a 12" high speedbump? Think it would fawk some shit up? Imagine that. :rolleyes:

Threads like that are what's wrong w/America. Duder wrecked his truck. He needs to suck it up and pay to get it fixed. Ford might have done better with the bump placement, but then something else would have broken... probably the housing.

We rode around w/a Raptor at KOH the year before last. They do pretty well in factory trim... for a factory built desert truck. But a lot of people apparently think they can drive them like they're prerunners worth 2x as much.
 
Shawn said:
Here's the thing, though....

The guy posted video of the incident.

And... they were moving pretty good. And hit a couple of BIG kickers... by their own estimate, 12-18" high.

Now... what do you think would happen if you were rolling down the interstate at 70mph and hit a 12" high speedbump? Think it would fawk some shit up? Imagine that. :rolleyes:

Threads like that are what's wrong w/America. Duder wrecked his truck. He needs to suck it up and pay to get it fixed. Ford might have done better with the bump placement, but then something else would have broken... probably the housing.

We rode around w/a Raptor at KOH the year before last. They do pretty well in factory trim... for a factory built desert truck. But a lot of people apparently think they can drive them like they're prerunners worth 2x as much.
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WORD.

After reading the text of this guy describing what happened, one could be swayed into thinking he may have a point. After watching the video, he come's off as a whiny little bitch.

He jumped his truck and landed on the face of the next hill instead of the back side of it. Had he cleared the hill the impact may not have even been hard enough to bend anything.

Regardless, if you take your truck offroad at 70+ mph over whoops and jumps and ANYTHING happens to it, expecting the dealer/manufacturer to pay for it is absurd.
 
13bullets said:
WORD.
After reading the text of this guy describing what happened, one could be swayed into thinking he may have a point. After watching the video, he come's off as a whiny little bitch.
He jumped his truck and landed on the face of the next hill instead of the back side of it. Had he cleared the hill the impact may not have even been hard enough to bend anything.
Regardless, if you take your truck offroad at 70+ mph over whoops and jumps and ANYTHING happens to it, expecting the dealer/manufacturer to pay for it is absurd.
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So true. I'm amazed at the lack of quality design by some truck manufacturers. A friend of mine owns a newer Tundra, I think it is an 08, and they put a pallet of rock in the bed and the frame bent so the top of the bed was hitting the cab. :shaking:
 
I will type out a better reply when I'm on my computer but a Raptor is not a trophy truck and can't do 125 across the desert and expect damage. They clearly abused their trucks.

sent from ...... I don't know where I am.
 
Blaze said:
So true. I'm amazed at the lack of quality design by some truck manufacturers. A friend of mine owns a newer Tundra
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A Tundra isn't a truck, it's a truck-shaped car for people who like the look of a truck.

How much did this pallet of rock weigh? I'm guessing 2-3k? Max payload on a Tundra is only 1200-1500#, including the driver and whatever else is in the car.
 
Blaze said:
So true. I'm amazed at the lack of quality design by some truck manufacturers. A friend of mine owns a newer Tundra, I think it is an 08, and they put a pallet of rock in the bed and the frame bent so the top of the bed was hitting the cab. :shaking:
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Doesn't surprise me, have you seen the Ford vid where they compare frame rigidity between fullsize 1/2 tons when they were introducing the new boxed frame? They ran them across alternating speed bumps so the truck had to quickly "articulate" across them side to side. The bed on the Tundra looked like it was going to fall off it was flopping around so bad. IIRC it may have even contacted the cab in the test.
 
XJfreakHO said:
Skimmed the raptor forum, seems the dealers refuse to fix it too even though its obvious they slacked off in the rear frame area to make room for the bumpstops.

Good for Ford... lol
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A Ford Truck forum I'm on has several certified Ford techs, as well as a few dealers/salesmen perusing the site...and everyone of them say that the warranty pretty explicitly states that the Raptor can't be used as the desert runner that so many folks think they were built for...and if they are, the warranty work is refused and in a lot of cases warranties are voided.
 
UTfball68 said:
A Ford Truck forum I'm on has several certified Ford techs, as well as a few dealers/salesmen perusing the site...and everyone of them say that the warranty pretty explicitly states that the Raptor can't be used as the desert runner that so many folks think they were built for...and if they are, the warranty work is refused and in a lot of cases warranties are voided.
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They are partly correct.

sent from ...... I don't know where I am.
 
Ford should have put a shear pin in those bump stops that broke off at a certain threshold. Make it so that it can bottom out a little, but if it hits hard enough, the bump just breaks off. Call it the hoon pin. You were hooning around... no more warranty for you.

I haven't spent much time in the desert, but I've spent enough to know that it's unpredictable and unforgiving. Some pretty innocuous-seeming shit can ruin your day in a hurry. I saw a post yesterday where an engineer did some rough numbers on the "speedbump" kicker. Said that a 12" high kicker at 70mph was equivalent to dropping the truck from 60+ ft in the air.

This whole debacle is really a shame... because Ford took a big risk by building the Raptor. And... it's a cool fawking truck. But the whole thing is going to get ruined by a bunch of jerks that should have known better.
 
I guess this is another reason to buy the Dodge Power Wagon. If all these people who purchased the raptor would have done some research they would have seen it was a gimick by Ford it was never ment to be an actual offroad truck.
 
I own a crew cab Raptor and it is a ton of fun BUT it's no desert truck. I tried to hit the whoops at KOH along side the road leading from Boone Rd to Hammertown. EPIC FAIL! Rough roads, plowed fields, deer lease roads, cattle pastures and even the occasional jumping of a pond dam is a blast in the truck but it's no match for the desert.
 
jds97Wrangler said:
I guess this is another reason to buy the Dodge Power Wagon. If all these people who purchased the raptor would have done some research they would have seen it was a gimick by Ford it was never ment to be an actual offroad truck.
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This...miles from the truth. The Raptor does a great job off road, it's just not a trophy truck pre-runner like some geniuses think it is. The desert is relentless, harsh and eats parts like candy. The Raptor is a kick ass off road truck. It rides great, turns on a dime, digs strong in corners, launched and lands well, powers out of corners and over rough terrain.

I'm sure the PW is a nice truck but since I've never spent time in one behind the wheel I'm not going to comment on it's abilities or disabilities. I have been in a 6.2 powered Raptor, 22k miles worth, and been in the desert with it. Just like all vehicles it has limitations. Good drivers find those limitations and stay just inside them, not ass a truck up and blame the builder.

I've never been in a better purpose built factory truck but I will gladly welcome the challenge of a PW owner letting me climb behind the wheel of their truck to see what it can and will conquer. Who knows, I might dump my Raptor in favor of a Dodge???
 
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