Every Friggen Time! My Raptor and sand...

One of the things I was most looking forward to when I purchased my Raptor was a set of sand dunes northwest of Denver called the North Sand Hills. Over the years I've gone countless times, but I've gone five times since I bought my Raptor. It hasn't gone well. Four out of five times my Raptor has broken. I am NOT hard on this thing, I spend a lot time watching the quads, sand rails, etc, as well as winching fools out. I run up some of the hills I know I can make, but I never get stupid.
Trip one - broken front driver's side axle while driving up a hill I've driven plenty of times. Nothing crazy.
Trip two - NOTHING BROKEN!!!
Trip three - Transmission Range sensor goes out, pretty much cripples the truck
Trip four - Same as trip one! Same part! This time I'm able to get it to a dealership in Laramie and get it fixed by the next day, then continue my camping trip.
Trip five - Power steering suddenly becomes very whiny, then goes out.

All of the above have been covered by warranty, and the truck is currently in the truck for the power steering issue, as well as a power mirror not working well, and a popping noise from the axle that keeps breaking. It's the same popping noise I heard a few times before it snapped last time.

I'm extremely discouraged. I'm starting to think I just have bad luck.

Are we talking front CV Shaft or Rear Axle axle shaft?

Blondie2487 said:

Are we talking front CV Shaft or Rear Axle axle shaft?

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Front CV.

What your describing I have read several trucks with related issues.. Power steering seems to be very common problem when in sand. (but not exclusively). You will make regular trips under warranty for front axles breaking and power steering pump failure. There are replacement power steering pumps after warranty ends that will do a much better job. It may finally come down to Ford recalling trucks to replace all of them with a more durable unit. But I would doubt Ford would step up to this... The transmission sensor I have not heard of before. However these trucks suffer from Transmission overheating so you might want to get a cooler for it with a fan... Other things to watch for is the rollover syndrome that plagued a couple trucks in the sand.... Have fun out there...

Icecobra said:

What your describing I have read several trucks with related issues.. Power steering seems to be very common problem when in sand. (but not exclusively). You will make regular trips under warranty for front axles breaking and power steering pump failure. There are replacement power steering pumps after warranty ends that will do a much better job. It may finally come down to Ford recalling trucks to replace all of them with a more durable unit. But I would doubt Ford would step up to this... The transmission sensor I have not heard of before. However these trucks suffer from Transmission overheating so you might want to get a cooler for it with a fan... Other things to watch for is the rollover syndrome that plagued a couple trucks in the sand.... Have fun out there...

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I'm willing to chalk the transmission sensor thing up to a freak failure. The others, not so much. So pretty much you are saying this truck is weaker than it should be and prone to break when moderately using it for what it's designed for? If I'd been hammering the crap out of it, that'd be one thing, but I'm not. I actually bring my Rubicon with me as a spare since the Raptor is likely to break. Nothing has gone wrong on the Rubicon and I drive it on the same hills.

the one positive from all your issues is that it was covered by warranty. I doubt you would take your truck back to the dunes if Ford denied your warranty.

Raptor911 said:

the one positive from all your issues is that it was covered by warranty. I doubt you would take your truck back to the dunes if Ford denied your warranty.

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It is a positive. They haven't so much as asked a question about it. The guy in Laramie just said "This is a Raptor, it's built for this. It shouldn't break." It amazed me he had it fixed by the next day.

Still, I'd rather it not break. I heard that axle pop (parking it on an incline to watch the quads) last time and I about shat myself. I was paranoid to move it after for fear it had broken again.

i have been to pismo sand dunes a few times and have never havd an issue that was mechanically related.

"that was mechanically related."

Except that your outriggers didn't deploy.

That's pretty weird. PSR is a very normal issues we all face. RPG or any aftermarket PSR will fix that issue no problem. The axle... well thats pretty strange for not beating on it. You on stock perch?