Bought lifted 14' SE

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OP
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Onesaltykahuna
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Which part are you referring to?
Not sure what route I wanted to go with brandwise for the front but I remember the steel bumpers being something outrageous gross weight wise, so I was wondering with the added weight how does the truck respond acceleration/braking/MPG wise. I'd opt for an aluminum front but man are they kinda steep, but you get what you pay for. Also one piece steel is gonna rip a hole in my wallet shipping wise. I already got quoted an additional shipping charge of $950 from KHC for the pre runner front :suicide:
 

griford

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Been there done that! I purchased a 2014 with a Fabtech 4 inch lift, hated it, spent 2 years getting all the parts together to put it back to factory. yes the cut the rear front lower arm brackets that are welded onto the frame. I tried to get factory new brackets but were not available, ended up finding a damaged frame from a 150, cut the brackets off and then weld back to the frame. That was really the only hard part. the rest was just parts, the rear was easy to put back, just new u bolts and the factory spacer block. It was a real pain but the end result was worth it. Try and find the install instructions for your lift kit, that way you can see what parts they removed.
 

jondle

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I've been all over the big island and there just isn't a ton of high speed off-roading to do. I'm in the camp that speaks out vehemently against lifting a Raptor, but on Hawaii....maybe it isn't so bad. There just isn't a ton of space to be sliding sideways at speed, maybe up towards the top of Mauna Kea.?.? So the height vs. width isn't as big of a deal as it most other places.

If you want, I'm 99% certain you could remove that lift. You would have to weld the frame back together and possibly reinforced in some way where it was cut, but it is just steel. It can be cut and welded. Find a good welder and trade him weed, you'll be fine. :)

Personally, I would shy away from trying to get factory shocks of any year to work with the lift. They are pre-tuned for a very specific application. As I believe Corona mentioned, save up and get custom shocks for the application, with proper stoke length. (i just wanted to say stroke length) That way you can adjust preload, dampening, and rebound to suit the new geometry of the truck.

I love Raptor Retrofit's work. It looks beautiful. He used to frequent these parts, but I don't recall seeing him lately. I could be speaking out of turn, but from a pure functional standpoint, I think you can get more light out of LED bulbs these days instead of HID. They certainly cost a lot less and come with less risk of a fire. If you are looking for the aesthetics, which I certainly understand, you can't beat the custom retrofit.

Whatever you decide...pics or it's a Prius. My wife lived in Waikoloa, working at the Hilton/Dolphin Quest there, for a while back when we were dating and we still have friends there we visit from time to time. Definitely my favorite island.
 
OP
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Onesaltykahuna
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Been there done that! I purchased a 2014 with a Fabtech 4 inch lift, hated it, spent 2 years getting all the parts together to put it back to factory. yes the cut the rear front lower arm brackets that are welded onto the frame. I tried to get factory new brackets but were not available, ended up finding a damaged frame from a 150, cut the brackets off and then weld back to the frame. That was really the only hard part. the rest was just parts, the rear was easy to put back, just new u bolts and the factory spacer block. It was a real pain but the end result was worth it. Try and find the install instructions for your lift kit, that way you can see what parts they removed.
Damn 2 years? Sounds like I'm gonna be pounding some serious pavement till then lol. Not like the Raptor really has potential to be utilized 100% here but it'd be nice to use the truck for what I bought it for/what it was made to do.

I'll definitely be looking for a 12th gen parts truck, but everyone here is a part of the Toyota cult so finding an F150 is gonna be harder than Biden at a preschool assembly.

If anything I'll probably just leave the truck as is till I can afford to eat the equity and get a used low mileage example 2nd gen and probably just leave it stock, or a stripped and whipped 1st gen, whatever the wallet permits by then haha.

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OP
OP
Onesaltykahuna
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I've been all over the big island and there just isn't a ton of high speed off-roading to do. I'm in the camp that speaks out vehemently against lifting a Raptor, but on Hawaii....maybe it isn't so bad. There just isn't a ton of space to be sliding sideways at speed, maybe up towards the top of Mauna Kea.?.? So the height vs. width isn't as big of a deal as it most other places.

If you want, I'm 99% certain you could remove that lift. You would have to weld the frame back together and possibly reinforced in some way where it was cut, but it is just steel. It can be cut and welded. Find a good welder and trade him weed, you'll be fine. :)

Personally, I would shy away from trying to get factory shocks of any year to work with the lift. They are pre-tuned for a very specific application. As I believe Corona mentioned, save up and get custom shocks for the application, with proper stoke length. (i just wanted to say stroke length) That way you can adjust preload, dampening, and rebound to suit the new geometry of the truck.

I love Raptor Retrofit's work. It looks beautiful. He used to frequent these parts, but I don't recall seeing him lately. I could be speaking out of turn, but from a pure functional standpoint, I think you can get more light out of LED bulbs these days instead of HID. They certainly cost a lot less and come with less risk of a fire. If you are looking for the aesthetics, which I certainly understand, you can't beat the custom retrofit.

Whatever you decide...pics or it's a Prius. My wife lived in Waikoloa, working at the Hilton/Dolphin Quest there, for a while back when we were dating and we still have friends there we visit from time to time. Definitely my favorite island.

You really hit the offroading here on the dot! You know how it is. The only places I can think of thats Raptor friendly is either of the summits, Hawi, or green sands.

Funny you mentioned Hilton, I got furloughed last year in march thanks to this bogus virus, so I had to find something to occupy myself and keep my mental sanity.

But yeah eventually that'd be the plan, to find a reputable welder, or just get a warrantied Raptor and find places to beat the shit out of it. One of my buddies who welds has a 1st gen borderline luxury prerunner with a bypass rack, 4.4 rear, 3.0 fronts, bumpstop front and rear, fiberglass front and bedsides.. the whole 9. We literally hit the bottom of makalawena from the highway in 5 minutes lol.

His truck is the reason I wanted to buy a Raptor in the first place, but I can't have a race car AND a race truck lol.. so stock-ish Raptor it is for me.

If you ever visit in the future we can catch a couple of beers, I'm really close with the Dant family, owner of the fairwinds/hula kai so I could rent out the booze cruise for the 3 of us. Well 4 if your wife has a smoking hot sister haha. Thank you everyone for the friendly replies

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K223

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I think my first or second reply literally addresses the reason why I cant get any pics for the next 3 or 4 weeks bro :/

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No truck no pics LOL. Worst case just ride the bitch out and have some fun. If you can mod it back to original great, otherwise move in to the next thing. See what happens but have some fun along the way.
 
OP
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No truck no pics LOL. Worst case just ride the bitch out and have some fun. If you can mod it back to original great, otherwise move in to the next thing. See what happens but have some fun along the way.
I'll run it into the ground regardless haha, I got a sticker going on it that says "financial mistake" since its a money pit lol. Ill be sure to post and tag you guys. Thank you everyone for the kind words and ideas!

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Raptorlander

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Been there done that! I purchased a 2014 with a Fabtech 4 inch lift, hated it, spent 2 years getting all the parts together to put it back to factory. yes the cut the rear front lower arm brackets that are welded onto the frame. I tried to get factory new brackets but were not available, ended up finding a damaged frame from a 150, cut the brackets off and then weld back to the frame. That was really the only hard part. the rest was just parts, the rear was easy to put back, just new u bolts and the factory spacer block. It was a real pain but the end result was worth it. Try and find the install instructions for your lift kit, that way you can see what parts they removed.
Dude I'm currently in the process of doing just that... any help you can provide me will be very appreciated! Emailed several shots with no luck. So the 2010-2014 F150 models crossmember works on the Raptor? What did you do with the front axle cut out portion?
 
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