alcoolaid's 2017 Raptor - Weekend Warrior

How are the Icon springs treating you? I'm going to settle on Deavers or Icon within the next couple months but not sure which way to go.

salvagediver said:

How is that Blackvue dash camera? Ive been looking at those, would be curious of what your thoughts are on it

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Very happy with it. They are very popular and reliable. It can connect to any WiFi hotspot automatically so as long as the truck is parked somewhere with WiFi, you can view live footage through your phone. My 650s-2ch is already old tech and it’s pretty good. Newer versions have 4K for even better clarity/resolution.

adllewis42 said:

How are the Icon springs treating you? I'm going to settle on Deavers or Icon within the next couple months but not sure which way to go.

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So far so good. Only gripe is that on full droop, the leaf spring will contact the exhaust. I have eibach springs up front and the leaf pack on option 2. With 500lb of gear in the back, the rear is 0.5” higher than the front. Perfect height!

Ride is more comfortable than stock imo and no noises as of yet. They are still pretty new but I put them through their paces in Moab the last 2 weeks and no issues. I’ll post pictures later but I flexed the rear axle so hard the tire ripped a piece of metal out of my inner fender.

Made it back from Moab. Great trip that I would recommend to anyone.

Truck did let me down once when the steering angle sensor in the steering gear failed resulting in no power steering. Was 1/4 of the way up on Sevenmile Rim Trail. Not somewhere where you want to break down. I made it down via an alternate route and limped it to the Ford dealer in Moab. Broke down Friday afternoon. Was fixed on Tuesday. Steering gear was replaced completely.

Also, my buddy in his Tacoma actually blew one of his front brake lines when we were at the Top of the World Trail! Luckily we had a spare brake line. Didn't have brake fluid so we used motor oil.

More details later, will continue with some build pictures first!

Going from Option 1 to Option 2 on the Icon leaf springs.



All done



Spray a couple of coats of semi gloss rust paint I had for extra protection.



Stock vs icon



Icon leaf springs contact the exhaust on full droop. A little annoying but nothing you can really do about it. Going to do a downturn after the axle to resolve this. Bent one of my exhaust tips at Moab anyways.



Everyone needs a skid pro from https://www.sterlingswildwest.com/

If I didn't have this for Moab my rear end would have been destroyed. When my exhaust hit the ground my buddy made a joke and said it wasn't my skid pro hitting the ground, it was my exhaust pro...



Fire extinguishers mounted. Some people disagree with the mounting location... (around the corner, under a cover, secured with 2 straps) but it works for me and it's better than having non at all. When I'm camping I usually have my tailgate down and its right there if needed.

Special thanks to Paul at SwarfWorks for hooking me up with his Switch Pro mount! Customer service is A+, blazing fast shipping, fit and finish is perfect!

https://swarfworks.com/

Console removed



Bracket lightly bolted in



All assembled




Moving on to some camping equipment

Privacy tent for showering



Testing the costway instant water heater. Worked so good!



Planning how to pack



Fan from amazon to minimize condensation on the top of the tent



After hours alignment at my buddy's work place



Some public tracks in GAIA.... look at all the exploring you can do. Barely scratched the surface during my 2 week trip



XL80's mounted



All packed, night before leaving



First coffee stop right after crossing the border into the land of the free, USA

Quick video from Day 6 on the trip. Horseshoe Canyon North... chasing sunsets.

The amount of detail here and work...amazing man. Great job. PM coming.

Donovan said:

The amount of detail here and work...amazing man. Great job. PM coming.

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Agreed!!!!!!!!

Gary M Gere said:

I live in North western Montana, recently picked up a custom ordered 2019 802a magnetic decals/tailgate appliqué delete SCrew - winter tires are studded Nokian Hakkapeliitta LT2s - they have served me well on my previous F150s (A lot of ice in the winter here) - we’ll see how well they do this winter on my new Raptor.

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Hi Gary,
I'm trying to source a set of studded Hakkapelitta's – care to share where you bought them?
Thx!

alcoolaid said:

Very happy with it. In Moab right now and it handled jumps no problem. Tent and 6 gallons of fuel, 5 gallons of water, traction boards mounted on it.

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If you don't mind me asking, why'd you decide to go with the Ultragroove bed cover with the KB Voodoo rack? It's my understanding that the main benefit to getting one the retractable bed covers with the tracks (IE Ultragroove or Retrax Pro XR) is that it allows you to use racks that slide into the tracks. But you seem to have bypassed this entirely by going with the KB Voodoo rack with the brackets that go under the bed cover. Just trying to understand why.