Looking at the raptor

Hey everyone, another prospective raptor buyer here.

Hoping some of you guys can provide some solid advice to set me on the right track.

Some background about myself I owned a 2004 F150 for about two years, eventually traded that in for my current vehicle which is a 2012 Jeep Wrangler. I am an avid offroader which combines a lot of inclined dirt trails and moderate rocks. I know the Jeep is much better suited to what I do offroad than the Raptor, but I've always been a truck guy at heart and been in love with the Raptors since I first saw them.

I'm definitely looking at used Raptors, between 2010-2011 but I don't know a whole lot about them.

Hows reliability? I know with my 2004 Ford the thing kept on driving but it had a lot of issues, oil leaks, ticking, manifold leaks. Are there any major plagues affecting the raptors?

Engine size, besides the obvious which engine should I be on the lookout for? Is it really noticeable in difference between the 6 and 5 liter engines, I.E if my choices are between a higher mileage 6 and a lower mileage 5 would it be worth it to pay MORE for a truck with higher mileage but with the bigger engine?

How are they offroad? I know they're designed more or less like a trophy truck from the factory with around 11" of travel using the coilovers so perfect for cruising through the dirt or desert, but has anyone here taken their raptors through more technical slow stuff? How are the stock skids and armor? Essential to upgrade right away or enough to get by for a while? I'm not expecting a Raptor to mimic my Jeep, or go through the same type of terrain just asking others experiences with their Raptors.

Sorry for the lengthy post, hope to hear back from you all!

Thanks

I've got a 2014, but there are a lot of older, mid-mileage, well maintained trucks up for sale on this forum.

Like any truck, these things do have some issues, but they are all well documented with answers on here, as well. Use the Search button at the top of the menu, and type in what you are looking for. It will guide you in the right direction.

As far as off-roading these trucks - they do really well in the desert and dirt. But, they do great on other terrain, too. We recently had a Raptor run out in Colorado, and a lot of the trails were pretty technical. None of the trucks suffered any failures that shut us down. Search for 'Colorado' and you will find a lot of guys out tooling around in the mountains, mud, etc.

As far as motors go, I've got a 6.2. Some of the older models will have the 5.4, but with tuning and other add-ons, they are still making decent power and getting around ok.

Good luck with your search, and welcome to the mayhem!!!

I own a Raptor and a fairly hardcore 2003 Jeep Rubicon.
I wouldn't take my Raptor on 75% of the trails I take my Jeep on.
The Raptor will run circles around the Jeep in sand.
The Raptor is awesome for somewhat nasty off-road trails - especially getting to camping spots and what not. If you are serious into rock crawling, the Raptor isn't going to keep up - you'll beat the **** out of it just because it's so long and big.

I grew up with desert racing and I spent 20+ years of Jeep ownership (mostly XJ's and ZJ's) and worked for both Camp Jeep and Jeep Jamboree events so going with the Raptor you have to toss out everything you come to know about four wheeling with a Jeep.

I went from slow and 4Low to fast and 2WD. The Raptor is too much of pig to keep up with smaller Jeep's and will struggle on tight trails and rocks. I took mine to Moab and while I did Baby's Lion Back, I didn't run Hell's Revenge because I couldn't meet up with others to run the trail with. I know of another Raptor owner who ran Hell's Revenge and did not use the easy bypass and did damage to his Raptor.

For the most part the truck is reliable. Known issues are the power steering pump/rack and with the IWE/vacuum lines. There are some other smaller issues but nothing as serious as these two.

The big thing you will have to decide on is how you want to spend your time off-road unless you plan on keeping your Jeep so you can have the best of both worlds...

Thanks for the replies so far folks.

I know the Raptor is not a Jeep, not even in the same category other than they're both designed for on and offroad use. Just wanted to see if anyone had done some intermediate off-camber type stuff with their trucks and had the Raptor pull through without any lingering effects, course that's driver dependent as well, haha.

I really wish I could keep my Jeep, have the Raptor for my DD and the Jeep as a weekend toy, but selling the Jeep is probably the only way I'm going to afford a Raptor if that's the route I decide to go.

Again, appreciate the feedback so far!

Cheers!