The Monster Energy Outlaw Raptor Expeditions "The Death Valley Express"

[Outlaw Offroad]

"The Death Valley Express" Monster Energy Outlaw Raptor Expedition.

When:
Nov 5th and 6th. Start day will be the 5th. 8:00am Barstow CA

The Mission:
For those of you who know me by now, there is nothing I love more then
planning these trips and meeting all of you guys on the run. The "Death
Valley Express" has been a true test of our logistics. Some of the trails
will be a far reach for our chase truck. Therefore, extensive planning on
breakdown recovery and emergency services had to be thoroughly planned out.
After getting everything pieced together, I think we have successfully
planned a new run that will take your breath away!

On the pre-run (which consisted of 26 hours with no sleep and over 900 miles
of driving continuously) we were awestricken with the sights and different
types of terrain we were driving through. This was a good change for us as
this entire trail was new to the Raptor Run.

In a land that temperatures reach 130 + degrees and a variety of different
types of terrain, you must be ready for anything. The trails we will cover
will consist of high speed driving right down to intermediate rock crawling
sections. We will cover about 240 miles on the first day and end up in the
middle of Death Valley at a pre-reserved hotel. Day 2 we will transition
over the east and run with open roads towards Las Vegas. The last 80 miles
of day 2 will put your Raptor and driving ability to the test as we will run
the "Dragonback". Don't worry, the dragon's back will not damage your truck
if you drive sensibly. For those of you who want to test your aftermarket
suspension upgrades, here is your chance.

S.E.M.A.: Once in Las vegas you can choose to attend SEMA that following
week or go home.

Support:
The MXT Chase truck "Godzilla" will chase as close to us as possible but due
to terrain challenges the chase truck will not be able to come on the trail.

The Terrain:
High speeds, rocks, washes, etc. You WILL use 4wd Lo on this trip!

The Weather: 75-85 degrees

Driving Ability: Some off road experience necessary!

Truck Mods:
Anything from stock Raptors to heavily modified Raptors are welcome.

Required:
Helmets, GPS, race radios, spare tires, food, drinks and like always a good attitude.

We now have GPS and radios for rent. $300.00 please reserve ahead of time

Death Valley hotel price ($75 - $85)
Hard Rock Hotel price ($169.00)

What’s included:
Pre-staging/Registration info
Outlaw Raptor trail pack from Oakley filled with all kinda of goodies.
Driver's Meeting.
Outlaw Raptor truck number.
Trail Direction. 1 lead truck and 1 in the back. Trail is available on GPS.
Pit Support on trail. 2 mechanics to fix your flats or problems.
Outlaw Chase. Chase truck with trailer and spares for the trucks.
Broken Parts. We have them but if you use them you pay for them.
Dinner.
Awards banquette
Discounted room rate at the Hard Rock Hotel. (169.99)
$5,000.00 in Prize give aways from sponsoring vendors

To sign up click on the link below.
Raptor Run Registration


See the Pre run video click here.
Outlaw Raptor Pre Run "The Death Valley Express" - YouTube

 

[SPRSNK]

Wrong dates? SEMA is Nov 1-4.

 

[mictouch]

My New 2011 truck is coming in soon....

I just received an email today saying my new 2011 Raptor is coming in to the dealer Oct 21st. Hopefully this will be enough time to shake it down and throw on some aftermarket goodies and make it to this fun excursion. From what I have heard and the video provided the boys at Outlaw have Pre-Run and really got this trail figured out for the safest and most challenging trip while driving a Raptor and I would hate to miss it. Hopefully if all plans go well I'll see you guys on the Monster Energy Outlaw Raptor Run!

Thanks again Outlaw for everything! Gary

 

[Outlaw Offroad]

Wrong dates? SEMA is Nov 1-4.

Sorry my bad No SEMA......

 

[RaptorinTX]

Connor, I'm in either, but wanted to see if you had thought about reversing the order. So we start in Vegas and head to Barstow via Death Valley. This would allow us to spend some time at SEMA the day before (FRIDAY is open to the public) and many people will already be there.

Just a thought.

 

[Outlaw Offroad]

Post report of the "Death Valley Express" intro

Post report of the "Death Valley Express" intro.
Before you read the report on the Monster Energy Outlaw Raptor "Death Valley Express Run" I would like to say thanks to all the people who make these runs possible. First off, I want to show my appreciation to the sponsors of Outlaw Offroad/Outlaw Raptor who each contribute in their own special way by providing some really nice prizes for all the participants. Secondly, I would like to thank all my guys at the shop who stay and work crazy long hours in the days before the runs prepping Raptors and making sure everything is as close to perfection as possible. Finally, a big thanks to the drivers and passengers who participate in the runs. Some of you have traveled great distances and have put a lot of faith into me and this program, fully trusting my guidance on the trail. I know there are times when you are on the fence asking yourself “has this guy lost his mind?” due to some of the terrain I have taken you on. But I think it’s safe to say that no matter how insane the trail gets, everyone has had great experiences and a sense of accomplishment of what only some can dream of. Lastly my wife and kids who put up with these crazy adventures I think up and the amount of time I am gone pre running and testing. I have to give my wife big props for dealing with 4 children under 5 while I am out on one of these adventures. luckily she understands my vision and passion for off road.

*
The following report you are about to read was written by fellow Raptor owner/driver Casey C. Casey is someone who we met through the forums that started coming by the shop and hanging out. I never quite understood him at first because he owned a Ford Raptor but had never taken it off road! One thing I did know about him was his true passion for the Ford Raptor. So we finally strapped him into the passenger seat of RSV-3 and let him discover first hand what a Raptor expedition was truly like. When we got back from the trip he wanted to share his experience with the rest of you…

 

[Outlaw Offroad]

Post report of the "Death Valley Express" By Casey C.


As a brief introduction of myself, I am an adventurous sort and have felt the need for the adrenaline rush much of my life. Road racing motorcycles, BMW M Series SCCA racing, and drag racing Hemi Road Runners have been part of my background automobile experiences. It did not stop there though, as I skydive and after leaving my corporate career, I now teach Scuba and I am a technical extended range diver. I have owned six 4 wheel drive vehicles in my life. Not once, and I am serious with this, have I ever taken a vehicle off road. So owning a 4 wheel drive was really an oxymoron for me. I offer this information just to let you, the reader, understand I have always felt I have lived on the edge and never feared what I was doing. Respected it but never feared it.

A little over a year ago, I discovered the FORD SVT Raptor and my love affair started. 5 days after I found the first one (which was white), I had seen all four of the 2010 colors and on the same day I found the Blue Flame, it became mine that night. I have done many of the typical modifications to my 6.2L Raptor in this year, including a performance tuner, cold air intake, Method Racing wheels, Rigid lights, converting the lights to LED and HID all the way around, raising the front to the top perch adjustment, etc.

As for the driving and performance of the Raptor, I have been planning and ‘Saving’ for the new Whipple twin screw super charger. My thoughts were wrapped around ‘I needed 600plus horse power because 400plus hp was just not enough!!!’ I have spent many hours hanging on a particular Raptor Forum site and reading and posting comments and offering suggestions and learning from others with mucho more experience. I have learned a lot.

Now, what is the purpose of my writing? I have met some very interesting people since this beautiful beast became a part of my life. A few of these people have tried vigorously to get me to take my SVT off road and I have found excuse after excuse to not do so. I believe these new friends finally saw through the false statements and started actually calling me on it. However, one very unlikely person took a different approach with me. He has been very direct in his approached and honesty in educating me to understand what, how, and why certain things should be done. Now understand, this is his livelihood and he should be trying to push these ideas for the sell factor only. But he has taken the time to inform me as well.

However, Connor Gilmer, owner of Outlaw Raptor, chose a different path. He planted a seed in my mind to ride with him on one of his Raptor Runs. The run he suggested was the DEATH VALLEY EXPRESS. With this in mind, I will try to paint the picture of November 5th and 6th from a complete novice perspective.

On Saturday morning at 5:30am, I met with several of the staff of Outlaw Raptor at their facility in Orange County. Joey, Eddie, and Wayne were there pulling the vehicles out of the garage. There was another Raptor owner (Stan and his wife) there as well. Connor showed up about 20 minutes later and we took off for Barstow and the Denny’s starting point. Pulling into the parking lot and seeing 8 other Raptor’s is intoxicating. RSV2 and RSV3 are beautiful rigs with all of the vinyl graphics from OR. But the other white’s, black’s, and one lonely blue screw were incredibly intimidating parked beside each other. As usual with Raptors, bystanders and wannabe’s were staring, drooling, and questioning the owners of these rides. The Raptor owner’s were proud and more than willing to discuss their trucks. The owners had ventured into Southern California from Canada, Seattle, San Jose, and San Diego. I will also admit, I was jealous that mine was sitting some 75 miles away in OR’s garage and not with me.


We ate breakfast and then Connor started the Driver meeting. He knew most of the guys here and he understood each person’s skill level as most had done these runs with him already. He did caution each to enjoy their adventure and stay inside of their individual comfort zone. (I related to this as it is a conversation I have with scuba divers all the time.) No questions came up and the excitement started to build.


We left the lot and drove a few miles on asphalt to the start of the desert run. As we turned off the road I felt my body start to tense. Connor made sure everyone was ready and the run to Vegas started. We drove for about 20 -30 minutes over a dirt surface road with a little gravel and typical dirt road bumps but nothing exciting. Well, except for RSV3 drifting through the curves in the road. That was cool to me, Jesus I had no idea.


Then we left the nice dirt road and start following what was supposed to be a trail. Maybe a hundred years ago… This was an overgrown sage brush garden and as the speed of RSV3 increased, the grip I had on the door handle increased to match. We started traveling at what felt like 80 mph and I realized it was actually 35-40. I only knew that brush and leaves were flying through the window and hitting me in the face and dropping inside of my shirt. We stopped every now and then from either a radio call or Connor just making sure everyone was ok or when the terrain was changing. We went through some incredibly beautiful desert scenery and I was amazed at the sites but also, I was nervous and completely scared to death.

Somehow, RSV3 found a ridge and we were driving the top of this. I noticed that at some point we were no longer climbing but had shifted and were now descending into Death Valley. This ridge on a dirt bike would have felt narrow to me and we were in a blankity-blank Raptor. All of a sudden, Connor stopped and then let off the brake and the next thing I saw through the windshield was nothing but the ground with dirt and rock coming at me. We were dropping at about a 29 degree angle to the ground 75-80 feet away. I know inside I was screaming like a little girl.




At the bottom, we cleared the area and awaited the rest of the crew. Every one made it down fine. And we continued out quest. The run took us across more open desert to some rock and sand formations and the pace was fairly fast, maybe 50-60mph. Connor did a check with everyone on fuel and we headed for Trona, California to refuel. Funny thing happened on the way to the gas station. The town pretty much dried up and took the gasoline with it. There was diesel but no gasoline. Everyone used their reserve fuel tanks and we continued the trek. We found the highway and drove for a bit until the next off road section. This was when my new teacher and mentor decided to tell me to relax and breathe and go with the flow of the ride. Connor knew I had been tense all morning and he told me to just let it go and be with the truck.





This turned out to be the best advice he could have offered because at that point my upper body was in pain from all the stress and tension. Once we found the trail again, we were not off road for very long before we were discovered by two locals. We were moving across this desert road and a few hundred feet to the right of us were two wild donkeys that we startled and they started to run parallel to the road. Well, as it would happen, their path and our path were on a collision course. Now remember RSV3 is in the lead and the next truck was probably 30-45 seconds behind us. These 2 wild donkeys decided to turn in front of us as we start to slide around a curve in the trail. We almost hit them and I was laughing so hard I almost peed myself.

 

[Outlaw Offroad]

Part 2.


We slowed and made sure everyone was good and ready to continue. This was when the first equipment failure occurred. One of the trucks (Seattle Based -Grant) had broken his driver side rear shock. Actually the mounting bracket had failed. The OR Crew jumped in and removed the shock and Grant decided to continue with 3 shocks. It was getting close to dusk by this time and we were at 148 miles into a 228 mile day. Finally we found the rock crawl section.




Now from what I learned this would be great for Jeeps, but we ain’t in Jeeps. Connor started through in RSV3 and we crept though the rocks slow and easy. Speed up and find the next set of rocks to crawl over. This went into the darkness. Everyone was together again and helping each other through.





We took off again and then the radio sounded out with Pat (San Diego) saying he had a flat. We stopped and he came in behind us and as the other trucks were trying to catch up, Pat and his navigator swapped the tire quickly. They were done before the others were with us. I mean in less than 5 minutes. Impressive – I thought.


Now we start the run for the highway again and our stop for the night. The time is now 7:30 and Connor radios ahead to Eddie in the support truck. Eddie has been in Furnace Creek at the hotel for awhile and waiting patiently for us. ‘Go to the restaurant and reserve a table for 22 people and let them know we are HUNGRY!!!’ As we are moving, we continue to find trucks and campers along this trail. At one point Connor slowed to talk to a group of 8-10 people that needed reflective markings. They had been listening and watching as 9 Raptors paced 30 seconds apart were tearing through this wilderness area.

We found the highway and as soon as the four tires hit the asphalt, the truck came to life again and we went from 35-40mph to over 105mph. Hauling ass for the Hotel. The time was now 8:15 and the restaurant closed at 9pm. The highway was 2 lane blacktop and twists and turns were typical mountain type roads. The rush was on again in me and this was my driving experience. I knew this way of driving and my comfort zone rose to the surface.

We made to the hotel and more importantly to the restaurant. Dinner was good, of course we all could have been served crap and we would have been happy. We were all starved. The awards ceremony was short and sweet and much appreciated. The cool thing for everyone was, all participants received a drawing prize and all were great prizes.


The next morning came too early and this was funny because over night the clocks were set back an hour. I got to sleep an extra hour but my body, especially my neck was not without pain. We had breakfast and then went to do the repairs and get ready for the trek to Vegas. We discovered a damaged collector on one exhaust, we had the one broken shock mount and the mount on the other side of the truck was also cracked. The hotel maintenance crew contacted a local welder and he was on his way – RIGHT!!!.

The morning grew short and finally the San Diego crew bailed on the remaining part of the run. Seattle Grant decided to try to finish without a shock. By noon, we lost the three San Diego trucks, and were left with RSV2, RSV3, Grant, Stan, Jim, and Eric. We hit the road again. After 30 minutes of asphalt, we find our turn and start into a National Reserve. The speed limit was posted 35mph. a few miles down the road, Connor notices a white truck ahead and as we approach a three way stop, Connor kind of did a running stop and then Stan did the same. As Stan turned the corner, the white FORD F150 turned on his red and blues. We were all pulled over. Stan had the US Fish and Game Officer come and talk to us. He tried to inform us of the speed limit and reservation rules for off-roading, etc., etc. We were finally allowed to proceed.

About 30 minutes later, we found the power lines and the new trail. Now, my real education started. I had read and heard of g-outs and whoops but I had never experienced them. For the next 2 hours, we beat the crap out of this power line trail. We stop to move the Go-Pro’s around and make sure we have the right angles for the next OR marketing piece. Connor explained how to setup each of the different cautions and how to work through the whoops. I found myself using my feet on the other side of the truck trying to mimic his patterns and practice the timing of all of this.


When we exit the power lines, we hit the highway to Vegas. All is well and we open up on the road to highway speed and play with a Corvette all the way into Vegas. We get about ¼ mile from the Hard Rock Hotel and RSV3 falls prey to a flat tire. Front driver General gave out and bent the bead lock rim as well. After, the tire exchange occurred we finished the run to the back parking lot at the Hard Rock and said out good byes and exchanges of equipment and belongings. The run was complete.



Personal Perspective:
As I stated at the beginning, I have never done anything like this before. I did not know what to expect, I became completely aware of several things:

Logistics: this event took many hours to set up and execute. Not just with each individual truck but also for Outlaw Raptor. These guys had to have a lead vehicle (RSV3) and a chase vehicle (RSV2). There was a support vehicle with spare tires and parts and a full trailer with fuel tanks. The chase truck was manned with 2 master mechanics. First aid equipment and support was in the lead truck. Every truck was required to have Lowrance HDS5 Baja or better GPS setups, and Icon race VHF radios. Every Driver was required to wear helmet and safety belts or harnesses. Spare water and fuel was recommended and most had this.

Equipment: These were all Raptors. There were some issues with some aftermarket products, but the trucks that were bone stock were great at the end.

Death Valley Express Route: This route was a combination of everything I believe this truck was designed to do. I do not believe there is anything left to test after this weekend. G-outs, whoops, rock crawling, extreme angled descents and ascents, power drifting across the desert, and my favorite – scaring the poop out of wild donkeys (and me).

I am left with – I want more. I want the preparations done to my 2010 SVT that will allow me to do the same. I want to go back and I want to do this again and again. I want to learn to drive off road and be able to handle g-outs and whoops. For the drivers of the Death Valley Express – I applaud you and your abilities as experienced off roaders. For the crew of Outlaw Offroad and Outlaw Raptor, you did your job exceptionally well. I had the best time I could have ever expected to have and I have realized that I did have one more adventure left in me. Thank you, Connor and Joey for putting up with me and all of my questions and comments. I want to go back – I want to do the next run. I want to learn how to drive my truck and have this fun again.

And I did not need the DEPENDS…


To see more pics please click the link:
Death Valley Express Raptor Run Image Gallery

To get register for a upcoming run:
Raptor Run Registration

 

[whtrapta]

how much is this run?

 

[Outlaw Offroad]

how much is this run?

The run costs $489.99 + $50.00 for each passenger. You can see what included in the run on the Outlaw Raptor we site.