Raptor upgrades

[willis68]

Well I have had this truck over a year now and most of my gun money has went to it, here are some pictures that I took of her yesterday after a good detail and waxing, the day before the truck was completely covered in mud and deserved a good cleaning

Unless you own one of these trucks you may not notice that the front shocks are now on the Middle Perch

The rear Suspension now has the Raptor Performance Group Stage 3 which is a Frame brace and a Fox bump stop kit it ensures that I will never bend my frame and a set of custom tuned Leaf Springs from National Springs, they give this truck the feel of a sports car around corners keeping the rear end planted a major difference that I did not expect

The LED lights are by Rigid and the D2's combined with my 55 Watt Sick Hid lights make this Rig look like a UFO at night and I absolutely love them

The Roush Cat Back exhaust and Cold Air Induction really wake up this 6.2 Beast

Blackhawk Serpa Quick disconnect system, this thing is Rock solid and gives me split second acces to any pistol I have engaged to it, I love it!

Edited October 2, 2012 by willis68

[Howler]

One of the best looking trucks on the market.

[Metalhead]

I was looking for a smiley that had a boner, but I didnt find one.

[Parrothead]

NIce rig!!

[gjohnsoniv]

Sweet ride, I really like those little square lights.

[Guest sL1k]

This is the only Ford I would own that is a beautiful truck!

[Major Kong]

Looking great Steve!

[Johnny Rotten]

Did they ever redesign the frames from breaking? or is their answer a frame brace? I lived most of my life in the deserts of Ca, I've owned several prerunners and my buddy raced trophy trucks, same buddy told me a couple yrs back one of his friends bought one and used it as a prerunner and broke it into two pieces, I know of this guy and it wouldn't surprise me at all he did it on purpose..

Curious are the front/rear fenders composite material or metal?

BTW, nice truck

[willis68]

Did they ever redesign the frames from breaking? or is their answer a frame brace? I lived most of my life in the deserts of Ca, I've owned several prerunners and my buddy raced trophy trucks, same buddy told me a couple yrs back one of his friends bought one and used it as a prerunner and broke it into two pieces, I know of this guy and it wouldn't surprise me at all he did it on purpose..

Curious are the front/rear fenders composite material or metal?

BTW, nice truck

The frame would be fine for most people, the ones that had the bending issues were used way above what the truck is intended for, trust me a personal friend of mine is one of the guys who bent theirs on the original Raptor run, he explained the whole situation to me and it was not the fault of these trucks, what they were doing was meant for Trophy trucks and if you plan on running it hard like I do occasionally the RPG Frame Brace is a Mandatory piece of insurance in my opinion, Here is a link to the guys I deal with

and the stage 3 kit that I have installed on my truck http://www.rpgoffroa...suspension-kit/

The Bumpers are Metal but in my opinion not up to par for what I am doing to this truck eventually I will be changing them out to these when I can afford them both the front and rear http://addictivedese...or-venom-bumper

I will also be changing out the running boards with Rock Sliders when I can. These trucks are just fine out the door but with some very cool modifications they can be put on another level, my wife calls this truck my money pit, but she loves riding in it and knows that it makes me happy

Edited October 2, 2012 by willis68

[Guest 6.8 AR]

That's one beautiful truck!

[Lumber_Jack]

Great ride man. Are you left handed? trying to figure the gun holster position.

[willis68]

Great ride man. Are you left handed? trying to figure the gun holster position.

LOL, no I am a righty it is a left handed holster, but the way it is set up it is in the perfect drawing position for a right handed person, here is a good shot of the QD, I blurred out some personal info,

Edited October 2, 2012 by willis68

[Johnny Rotten]

The frame would be fine for most people, the ones that had the bending issues were used way above what the truck is intended for, trust me a personal friend of mine is one of the guys who bent theirs on the original Raptor run, he explained the whole situation to me and it was not the fault of these trucks, what they were doing was meant for Trophy trucks and if you plan on running it hard like I do occasionally the RPG Frame Brace is a Mandatory piece of insurance in my opinion, Here is a link to the guys I deal with

and the stage 3 kit that I have installed on my truck http://www.rpgoffroa...suspension-kit/

The Bumpers are Metal but in my opinion not up to par for what I am doing to this truck eventually I will be changing them out to these when I can afford them both the front and rear http://addictivedese...or-venom-bumper

I will also be changing out the running boards with Rock Sliders when I can. These trucks are just fine out the door but with some very cool modifications they can be put on another level, my wife calls this truck my money pit, but she loves riding in it and knows that it makes me happy

I meant the fenders not the bumpers, our prerunner trucks back in the day used fiberglass fenders, i'm pretty sure they wouldn't use that set-up on a production run truck.

Yep running boards need to go, I've seen several trucks around Tn with bent up running boards..

The wife to calls my truck a Money Pit = HMMWV = High Maintanence Money Wasting Vehicle

[willis68]

I meant the fenders not the bumpers, our prerunner trucks back in the day used fiberglass fenders, i'm pretty sure they wouldn't use that set-up on a production run truck.

Yep running boards need to go, I've seen several trucks around Tn with bent up running boards..

The wife to calls my truck a Money Pit = HMMWV = High Maintanence Money Wasting Vehicle

I meant the fenders not the bumpers, our prerunner trucks back in the day used fiberglass fenders, i'm pretty sure they wouldn't use that set-up on a production run truck.

Yep running boards need to go, I've seen several trucks around Tn with bent up running boards..

The wife to calls my truck a Money Pit = HMMWV = High Maintanence Money Wasting Vehicle

Yes the fenders are metal, my mistake. There are several vendors that offer up fiberglass ones to give these trucks a wider stance but I will not go that route. The stock Raptor is already an inch wider than the First generation Hummer so I am more than happy with that

[jcoosi]

I really like the serpa set up I may have to put one in the f250

[Johnny Rotten]

Yes the fenders are metal, my mistake. There are several vendors that offer up fiberglass ones to give these trucks a wider stance but I will not go that route. The stock Raptor is already an inch wider than the First generation Hummer so I am more than happy with that

I don't know what a first generation Hummer is (maybe an H2), there is no way a Raptor is 1" wider then a H1, I have to fold the drivers mirror in just so I can drive inside a 9' garage door opening.

[willis68]

My mistake I did mean the H2, the H1 is 86.5, the H2 is 81.2 and the Raptor is 86.3

[willis68]

I don't know what a first generation Hummer is (maybe an H2), there is no way a Raptor is 1" wider then a H1, I have to fold the drivers mirror in just so I can drive inside a 9' garage door opening.

Shoot me a PM, I would love to get together and compare the trucks

[willis68]

I really like the serpa set up I may have to put one in the f250

You will love it, if you do it remove the piece that I attached it to, it is the same in the F250 I believe I used 6 of the anchor bolts to secure it and it is rock solid,

[Johnny Rotten]

My mistake I did mean the H2, the H1 is 86.5, the H2 is 81.2 and the Raptor is 86.3

I just checked the demisions out and you are correct, I would have never thought the Raptor was that wide, were arguing over .200+/- LOL...I've only seen them passing on the road, I'll have to check one out up close, the only thing I'll argue is their probably mearsuring off the fender flares, so the H1 has probably a foot wider cabin....I'm guessing that since my daily driver is a F150

[BigK]

Nice truck!

I love the holster mount idea, but I'm confused. Is there enough clearance to get your fingers between the gun and the dash? How do you release the retention?

[willis68]

Nice truck!

I love the holster mount idea, but I'm confused. Is there enough clearance to get your fingers between the gun and the dash? How do you release the retention?

There is enough room for me to get my hand around it, I was going to put some kind of adaptor or spacer but it is not needed. There are two ears that need to be lifted and the holster needs to be rotated slightly to remove it, you can see them in the pic I posted of the female QD

[willis68]

I just checked the demisions out and you are correct, I would have never thought the Raptor was that wide, were arguing over .200+/- LOL...I've only seen them passing on the road, I'll have to check one out up close, the only thing I'll argue is their probably mearsuring off the fender flares, so the H1 has probably a foot wider cabin....I'm guessing that since my daily driver is a F150

The cab in the H1 is Definitely larger than the Raptor, yes the measurements I think include the flares. The Raptor has 3 LED lights in the Grill, they are clearance lights and mandated by the DOT because the truck is so wide

[TGO David]

Yep, the Raptor has almost the exact same track width as the H1. It's part of what makes these trucks so much fun to try and park.

Yours is looking great, Steve! I wasn't sure how I'd like the rear-exit on the exhaust system but it really looks good. Probably keeps the tips a lot cleaner than the Magnaflow kit on mine as it catches damn near everything the rear tire throws at it.

[willis68]

Thanks David,

I really like the way it is and it has not been an issue off road, your Jeep actually gave me the idea for the hood mounted D2's and I love them it is amazing how much these little lights put out

on a side note, as I said elsewhere you and your family are in my thoughts and prayers, I truly hope things are getting better for your family my friend