Ordered raptor but have lots of mod questions.

[troycrna]

First mod will be to move the front shocks to the middle perch setting but I cant do this on my own, if anyone knows anyone to help out near central illinois I would greatly appreciate it.

Next is cold air intake, it seems like a lot of guys on here recommend the volant because of risk of water ingestion in the intake, but it seems like the volant has fitting issues. Is there a "perfect cai" for the raptor.

Going to get the light bar with lights from ford. The lights seem decently priced but also look like lower end KC. I dont want to spend the money on HIDs. What upfitter switch is recommended for these types of lights.

The day the truck arrives at the dealer the rocker panels and fender wells will be line x'd, does anyone have any thoughts on durability and long term effects of line xing the lower portion of the body panels.

thanks for all the help. this site was key in my decision to trade my piece of crap 2011 powerstroke diesel for a new raptor.

 

[Raptizzle]

Welcome to the FRF!!

Great choice on the shock mod.. Most mechanics who do suspension work should be able to set you straight on that.

In regards to the CAI, I personally went with aFe and am happy so far with it. I haven't worried too much about the water thing but it would be good for some of the other guys to chime in on why it poses a problem. I actually would like to hear what the deal is.

Another good call on coating the exposed under panels. It should hold up just fine.

 

[troycrna]

I think i'm gonna hack the muffler off and try straight pipe for awhile. I haven't heard any raptors straight piped though.

 

[whtrapta]

I have the 5.4, and it sounds great at idle. around 3000 or full throttle though, its not so good. I would do a 2 chamber muffler or glasspack.

 

[BIRDMAN]

let's go boys i know we can help him better than this

 

[SilverBolt]

Welcome to the jungle.

The shock mod is an easy one. Most tire stores or shops that do struts and alignments can easily handle it. Be sure to get an alignment done after the raise.

Regarding a CAI, personally I wouldn't both unless you are also getting a tune. A CAI without a tune will not net you any additional H/P. I am not a fan of the Volant design and where it draws air from. Past experience with that brand on other vehicles has shown it to be more restrictive than the stock setup. The aFe looks OK but has sealing issues with the hood. The Air Raid seals with the hood well but has a restriction inside the tube that should be removed. Pretty much everything currently on the market is a compromise in one way or another.

Regarding lighting, you will likely need to use switch #1 & 2 to handle 4ea halogen lights.

Line-Xing the rocker panels will be a bitch to clean. That stuff holds on to dirt like crazy. Something like 3M clear bra will give you good protection and be easy to clean. Also it can be removed and replaced if needed.

 

[SDHQ GOODGUY]

hey troycrna,

welcome to the forum,

we can help you with just about anything you might want to do to your raptor. below is a link to our website, that will show you the products we have available for the raptor, as well as a few DIY pictorials,

if you have any ?'s please don't hesitate to ask or call me.

SUPERDUTY HQ - Ford Raptor

I agree on the linex you'll be fighting to keep it clean, it would look good but a bitch to clean.

we are an AFE dealer, with no problems reported to us so far, and have the AFE intake on the shop RAPTOR.

 

[troycrna]

Ya I was thinking how hard it is to clean the bead of my superduty with the line x. Think I will hold off on line xing the rockers. I talked to the guy at 5 star tuning (great guy by the way) and he said they are developing an intake with the guts of an afe with a lil extra. Im gonna hold off and get his intake and his tune. So so far plans are middle shock perch, light bar with 6 inch lights (dont wanna cover up too much of that beautiful grill), 5 star intake and tune, line x bedliner. I did decide against strait piping the beast but definitely will weld a loud, straight through muffler in place of the stock muffler I just havent decided which muffler yet (gotta give myself a lil time to get a lil money stashed away for stainlessworks full exhaust.)

 

[whtrapta]

let's go boys i know we can help him better than this

First mod will be to move the front shocks to the middle perch setting but I cant do this on my own, if anyone knows anyone to help out near central illinois I would greatly appreciate it.

Next is cold air intake, it seems like a lot of guys on here recommend the volant because of risk of water ingestion in the intake, but it seems like the volant has fitting issues. Is there a "perfect cai" for the raptor.

Going to get the light bar with lights from ford. The lights seem decently priced but also look like lower end KC. I dont want to spend the money on HIDs. What upfitter switch is recommended for these types of lights.

The day the truck arrives at the dealer the rocker panels and fender wells will be line x'd, does anyone have any thoughts on durability and long term effects of line xing the lower portion of the body panels.

thanks for all the help. this site was key in my decision to trade my piece of crap 2011 powerstroke diesel for a new raptor.

Ok, heres my opinion. The shock mod was good. That takes car of the level look issue. Any major brand cold air intake will be great. K&N, AFE, Volant, they all give you the same power and fuel results. Pick one. or two, one will do though. On lighting, the lights look pretty good. You mentioned HIDs, there are the ones from JCwhitney, they are custom accessories. They have built in ballasts and look great. Best part is they are $130 for the 7" lights. I wouldn't get any other light unless it was a Rigid LED bar. Line-x the wheel wells, the body color showing through doesn't look good. I would not do the rocker panels though. That will look uh, not so great. Plus it will always look dirty.

 

[Lucky14]

Congrats!

I have the Airaid CAI and it is REALLY well made. It uses the lower portion of the stock box which should make it as injestion-proof as the stock setup. It also seals well around the hood which keeps hot air out of it. The build quality is great too. I would suggest taking a serious look at it.

I would keep the stock exhaust till you find exactly what you want. I initially went with a Magnaflow universal but it as not enough for me. So after seeing the clips from SOCOMech, I went with a Magnaflow Magnapack (14419) and dumped it before the rear axle.

whtrapta is dead-on about the lights. Dont bother with ANYTHING till you check out the Rigid setup. Their stuff is incredibly bright and incredibly tough. They make all kinds of kits for the Raptor and they all kick ass...