AB: When did you first become http://houstonforddealers.com/wp-admin/media-upload.php?post_id=3628&type=image&TB_iframe=1aware of these Raptor frame claims?

Hameedi: We monitor all the blogs – I think there are three or four different versions of Raptor online forums. We saw that there was one particular run where several Raptors bent their frames on the same obstacle.

AB: How many Raptors have been reported with frame damage?

Hameedi: We have four nationwide since the beginning of production.

AB: It sounded like there were more than four vehicles damaged in this individual run alone – are these not included in that total?

Hameedi: I think we’ve been reading that there are ten trucks in question [in that run].

AB: So the four trucks you mentioned – those are just the ones that have been directly reported to Ford dealers?

Hameedi: Yes.

AB: Have they all been bent in more-or-less in the same way?

Hameedi: The ones on the run, I think there are varying degrees of how [badly] they are tweaked, but generally we have a pretty firm understanding of what’s going on.

2011 Ford F-150 SVT Raptor

The SVT Raptor’s optional 411-horsepower, 6.2-liter V8 engine will become standard equipment with the 2011 model year release. Defining features of the 6.2-liter V8 include a cast-iron engine block with four-bolt mains, aluminum cylinder heads, an SOHC layout with roller-rocker valvetrain and variable cam timing.

2011 Ford F-150 SVT Raptor

Unique to the Raptor, the exhaust system was tuned to deliver the performance-oriented, high-horsepower sound that customers enjoy. As well, a unique firing order serves to give the 6.2-liter a distinctive roar. Similar to the engine used in the 2011 Super Duty, the Raptor engine features unique tuning and a special cam profile to produce more horsepower and torque.

New for 2011 is a full crew cab configuration that enhances the truck’s leadership as the first-ever high-speed, off-road performance truck offered by any manufacturer.

“When we launched the F-150 SVT Raptor, consumers were blown away with the capability of the vehicle,” said Jost Capito, director of global performance vehicles and motorsports business development. “By adding the Super Crew, we have expanded the versatility of Raptor, and now even more enthusiasts will be able to experience the no-compromise off-road performance that only Raptor delivers.”

With its 145-inch wheelbase, the new Super Crew Raptor is equipped with a 5.5-foot box. Ford engineers were also able to take advantage of the 12-inch longer wheelbase and deliver a more comfortable ride, while maintaining its ability to absorb off road challenges with ease.

New standard features for the 2011 SVT Raptor include a perimeter alarm, integrated spotter mirror, express up/down driver and passenger front windows, a 110 V power inverter in the center console, added head restraint for second-row middle seat and a telescoping steering wheel. Orders for the 2011 Raptor can be placed now, for delivery late this year.

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Photos: Ford Motor Company

Ford Raptor Desert Racer

Most of us can admit to the fact that we’ve all imagined ourselves driving a Ford F-150 SVT Raptor in a desert race, and sharing the podium with guys like Carl Renezeder or Kurt LeDuc. After all, with 11.5-inches of front suspension travel, Fox racing shocks, special transmission tuning and 35-inch tall BFG tires, the Raptor is designed to handle the rigors of high-speed off-roading right off the showroom floor.

While it would be great to trade paint with elite off-road racers, our colleague and experienced automotive journalist Sue Mead had a better idea. She wanted to take a 5.4-liter V-8 equipped SVT Raptor and participate in the annual Dakar Rally, taking place in January 2011 in South America.

The Dakar Rally (formerly the Paris Dakar Rally) is the most grueling motorsports event in the world. Since 2009, its been run through the deserts and mountains of Chile and Argentina.

Ford Raptor Race Team

Mead is well versed and experienced in off-road racing, and has participated in the Dakar race once before as a co-driver. In 2000, she took part in the race when it was held in Africa, along with veteran off-road racers Darren Skilton and Troy Johnson racing for Kia. If you recall, that race was stopped by a terrorist threat, and many of the racers, including Mead’s team were evacuated. Mead was also a support driver for Volkswagen in the 2009 Dakar Rally.

It’s been Mead’s wish to go back and compete in the Dakar and it seemed like the Raptor would make the perfect vehicle to take it on. Fortunately, Ford also thought it would be a great venue to show off the truck’s potential, so team Mead, Skilton and Johnson were given a 2010 pre-production Molten Orange Raptor by Ford for the race.

But just taking a Raptor off the street and putting it into the Dakar race isn’t realistic. It’s going to take lots of preparation and some modifications to get the truck race ready. Fortunately, Johnson is an experienced racer and fabricator; but more importantly, he’s the owner and instructor at the FabSchool located in Riverside, California. So he thought it would be great to have his students prep the truck with a complete roll-cage and other structural and suspension enhancements. In addition, it would also allow the team to get the truck done quickly with more manpower dedicated to the vehicle.

The students will be fabricating a roll cage and additional suspension upgrades to prepare the Raptor for the race.

The students at the FabSchool have already torn apart the truck’s interior and cut away portions of the cab’s inner sheetmetal. This is done to tuck the tubing closer to the sides and roof of the cab, maximizing head and leg room while adding strength and increasing safety.

While it may sound sketchy, trusting the safety of your roll cage to students learning how to fabricate and weld, Johnson has full confidence in their work.

“I’ve been a fabricator for more than 25 years,” Johnson said. “I’ve worked with Walker Evans, Kurt DeLuc, Carl Renezeder and more. So we like to tell our students that you’re only as good as the people you work with.”

Johnson enjoys taking his experience and talents and training young students to fabricate using the techniques he’s acquired over many years of building professional race vehicles.

New King Off-Road Racing shocks will replace the factory 2.5-inch internal bypass shocks. The rear dampers are 2-inch external bypass custom made to fit in the stock location. The front shocks are 3-inch coil-overs with a custom shock tower mount built by the FabSchool.

His efforts in are evident in the first portions of the Raptor’s roll cage, which were trial fitted into the interior, and fit perfectly along the contours of the roof and A-pillars. Taking a further look at some of the work around the classroom and shop, the chassis, cages and welds on some of the vehicles there, demonstrate the precision and talents students are being taught by experienced professionals who aren’t afraid to race what they build.

But it’s going to take more than a simple roll cage to prepare this street SVT Raptor to take on the harsh rigors of a race like the Dakar. So in addition to a full roll cage, the truck will also receive racing seats, a new fuel cell in the bed, safety equipment, sand ramps, a compressor and upgraded King Off-Road Racing shocks. 35-inch tires on 17-inch rims are courtesy of General Tires.

Holes in the Raptor’s floor have been cut above key body mounts that will also aid to secure the roll cage to the frame.

The shop at the FabSchool has two CNC milling machines and all the fabrication tools necessary to start piecing the truck together in time for the event. Along with Mead, Skilton and Johnson, mechanics Dan Moore and James Fisher will be a part of the support team.

“You don’t realize how much logistics it takes to put a team and vehicle together,” Johnson said. “We are still looking for sponsors and there is a chance that we may get the Raptor all done, but it may remain sitting if we can’t get the sponsorship dollars needed to compete in the race.”

Johnson doesn’t have too much time to worry about that, however. He’s busy devoting much of his attention to getting the Raptor ready.

“We need to get the Raptor completed and on a cargo ship by the first week of November,” Mead said. “So that means it needs to be completed by the third or fourth week of October so we can do some testing prior to the race.”

PickupTrucks.com will be following the build and testing of the Dakar Raptor and showcase all of the upgrades and improvements necessary to get this truck ready for competition. In the meantime, team Mead, Skilton and Johnson continue to prepare for the long road ahead and look forward to the day they can roll the Raptor onto the starting line.

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Ford F-150 price quote  and incentive and rebate request

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The 2010 Ford F-150 Raptor is the kind of truck hard-core driving enthusiasts dream about but few manufacturers would dare build. Starting with a standard F-150, Fords Special Vehicles Team tweaked and tuned the typically utilitarian pickup truck into something totally extreme, a Baja-style trophy truck anyone can buy at their local Ford dealer. With a wide stance, increased horsepower and a custom suspension designed to absorb the abuse of high-speed runs through the desert, the Raptor is an honest to goodness off-road masterpiece. After three days spent putting it through its paces for this video, weve officially cleared out a big chunk of space in our dream garage for the Ford F-150 Raptor. It is without a doubt the most fun pickup truck weve ever driven.

Editor-in-chief Angus MacKenzie takes an Ford F-150 Raptor SuperCrew prototype out to the desert for some pre-production torture testing…

The Smoking Tire heads to the high California desert outside Borrego Springs to finally see what the SVT Raptor can do when things get down and dirty. Host Matt Farah puts the Raptor through its paces in the sand, on the rocks, and even from the air!

The SVT Raptor wearing the old F150 body style doing serious testing in the Anza-Borrego desert. Mean Gene Martindale driving.

The Smoking Tire visits Ford’s Dearborn factory to pick up the hottest new truck from the Blue Oval: The Ford SVT Raptor. Host Matt Farah drives the SVT Raptor from Detroit to New York City for the 2009 Bullrun Rally

Adam Barrera at highmileage.org reviews the 2010 Ford F-150 SVT Raptor desert racer and places it in the context of its competition. 24×7:

We hit the dirt with Ford’s breathtaking baja-storming beast, the F-150 SVT Raptor 6.2L V-8.

What would you do if Ford offered you their latest SVT Raptor with a new 6.2L V8 engine? We were given that opportunity, and so we decided to put the truck through some real world tests.

We’ve seen it bomb through desert sand, and rip through mud, but can it climb and crawl, fit into narrow canyons, and make its way through some of the harshest terrain the U.S. has to offer?

Find out in our visual review of the latest SVT Raptor from Ford.

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The new F-150 SVT Raptor won’t arrive in showrooms until later this year. Pricing has not been announced.

According to Henry Platts, a Ford spokesman, the Raptor is a favorite vehicle of Baja 1000 fans and is often used by race teams to preview the course prior to an event. Given the Baja connection, Ford tested the truck and engine on a 62-mile loop in the desert, near Borrego Springs, Calif. The test loop is reportedly similar to the Baja race route.

Raptor is a favorite vehicle of Baja 1000

“We spent a lot of time developing our desert durability test so that it’s very close to replicating the Baja 1000,” said Kerry Baldori, Ford’s global performance chief functional engineer. “Desert testing proved to be a quick way to learn about the reliability of the truck, and it put another level of extreme loads on the engine that our normal durability testing doesn’t need to cover.”

Mr. Platts says the truck also performs well on the highway and displays excellent road manners for a big truck.

Ford Raptor SVT Desert Racer

2010 Ford F-150 SVT

What’s the saying? If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it? Surely this cliché holds true of most things, but the men and women at Ford SVT managed to pull off the improbable: taking the impressive SVT Raptor pickup and making it an even meaner off-road machine. How? With more power, from a brand-new engine.

Ford’s new F-150 SVT Raptor made an appearance in my driveway recently, and it created a bit of a stir. My tweenage daughters wouldn’t ride in it. My wife didn’t want any of her friends to catch her in the thing. They complained of the “kindergarten mess” graphics flanking the sides of it (an option, I told them) and compared it to a real-life sandbox toy (that part’s right.)

On the other hand, the Metal Mulisha dude with the flat-billed hat down the street thought it was uber-cool. So do I. Who cares if it broke my floor jack? (To be fair, my aging floor jack popped a seal on the previous walkaround. The Raptor’s burliness merely finished it off.)

Anyway, let’s get to it…

Starting in the rear, we can see that the Raptor is suspended by a live rear axle, a leaf spring package and some radical-looking shock absorbers — more on those in a minute.

In this picture the jackstand is hidden behind the brake rotor, where it is supporting the axle directly. The suspension is therefore loaded as if the truck were sitting normally on its tires, which means you can’t see the impressive 12.1″ of rear suspension travel, the majority of which is “droop” travel you’d only see by jacking the truck by its frame — or by jumping it.

These leaf springs look fairly soft, with only two main leafs. The third “helper” leaf (black) is short and insubstantial. It all adds up to a more-linear rear suspension that’s good at gliding over whoops and ruts in the dirt, but less-than-ideal for high payloads and large trailer tongue weights.

The listed payload for the Raptor is 1,020 lbs, but that’s only if the actual truck sticks close to Ford’s claimed 5,863-pound curb weight. This Raptor weighed 5,957 pounds on our scales. When we subtract that from the Raptor’s 6,950-pound GVWR, we’re left with an actual as-equipped payload of 993 pounds for this particular truck.

But this 993 pounds must be further-reduced by the weight of the driver, passengers and any junk in the cab. Yep, you and your buddies are payload. With two 200-pounders aboard, for example, only 593 pounds remain for cargo in the bed (such as a pair of dirtbikes) or for trailer tongue weight (just barely adequate for a 6,000 lb trailer). That’s an “or” folks because trailer tongue weight is considered payload. Don’t expect to tow much of anything with stuff in the bed, or vice-versa.

But a softer spring package such as this is necessary to allow the long-stroke off-road travel that the Raptor delivers. Besides, the Raptor fulfills the role of dirtbike on its own.

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