New G1 Raptor!

2014 G1 Raptor in my driveway!

After a couple of false starts, Susan and I flew to Portland, OR to meet up with the owner of a Tuxedo Black 2014 Gen 1 Ford F-150 SVT Raptor. The owners picked us up at the airport and we went to a Cindy's Restaurant close by. I looked over the truck and took it for a short test drive. The truck was in very good condition for the 138,000 miles on the odometer. There were a few very minor dings in the sides from careless parking encounters, All and all, I was happy with the truck and the deal.

We left Portland and headed Southwest toward McMinville, OR. We wanted to drive by the Evergreen Museum. We did not have the time to walk through it, but we did get to see it from the highway. We traveled on toward the Oregon Coast. We got the the coast highway and found a motel for the night.

On day 2, we headed south down the coast and then veered East to go out to I-5. We traveled down I-5 toward home.

The truck had Washington plates. I went to the Colusa DMV to do the paperwork. Really a sticker shock to pay the license fee and CA sales tax on that truck!

Now that we had it registered and insured, we were ready to take some trips. My initial plan for the Raptor was to get to do some desert overland trips. However, this may very well be the nicest vehicle that I have ever owned. I have had several new vehicles in my life, but none as nice as a Raptor. Maybe I don't want to beat it around the desert.... Time will tell.

What is a Raptor and what makes it special? The Gen 1 Raptor was produced by Ford's Special Vehicle Team (SVT) after the Gen 2 Lightning was discontinued in 2005. Beginning in 2010, Ford took a F-150 and the SVT team proceeded to build an off-road racing truck. They started with a high end option package as standard equip. They all had leather heated and cooled seats, sun-moon roof, good stereo, cruise control, and many other options as standard equipment. The team widened out the track by 7 inches to allow for longer A-Arms and longer suspension travel. The body was adjusted out to cover the tires by the use of fender extensions. The tires are almost 35". They are actually 315 x 70R-17. They measure just a hair short of 35". Designers also did some really high end stuff to the running gear. The G1 Raptor is equipped with a rear locking differential in addition to sophisticated traction control systems. The early Gen1 Raptors could have been fitted with a 5.4 liter Modular V-8, but not many of them were built that way. Most production trucks were fitted with the "Boss" motor. The Boss motor is a 6.2 liter naturally aspirated V8. It was first used in the Raptor trucks and then it became a staple in Ford's Super Duty trucks with gasoline engines. In the configuration used in the Raptor, the Boss puts out 411 horsepower. Super Duty trucks are set to a lower power setting. The Boss motor uses a combustion chamber similar to the Chrysler Hemi engines. The Boss uses 2 spark plugs per cylinder as do the Dodge Hemis. The Raptor uses regular pump gas in the tank. Ford used a unique system where the ECU senses detonation or knock and retards the timing until it stops. Basically the ECU sets the timing based on the fuel in the tank. If you do put in Premium 92 octane gas, the ECU will allow the timing to go a bit more advanced than on regular gas. The 411 hp rating on the Boss motor in the Raptor is based on using Premium fuel. Evidently is derates a few horsepower when it is running on regular gas. I don't think I can tell the difference between 411 horsepower and 405 or whatever it is with regular gas. I like the price of regular better.

The Gen 1 Raptors are equipped with Fox racing shocks from the factory. These shocks are too pricey to replace, so there are guys around that specialize in rebuilding and tuning Raptor shocks. It is pretty well common knowledge that these shocks need to be re-built every 50,000 miles or so. Cost for the re-build is about $700 for all 4. Forged Performance in Loomis, CA charges about $700 plus a core charge. They send you a set of re-built shocks built to your specifications. You install the shocks and send back your cores. They inspect the cores for damage and if they pass inspection, they refund your core deposit.

After a couple of weeks of driving the Raptor, I began to have some trouble with the transmission. Occasionally the transmission would get confused as to what gear it should be in. It would sometimes stay in first gear until you stopped and cycled the ignition to reset. It also might go to 5th gear and stay there until you reset the ignition. After some research I learned that this series of F-150s had a problem with something called a "lead frame" in the transmission. Apparently the ECU was not communication properly with the transmission shifter servos in the trans. I was told that there was a recall, but this truck evidently had the problem after the recall was no longer in effect. The lead frame is evidently a modular connector that connects a wire bundle on the outside of the transmission to the valve body servos, inside the oil pan of the transmission. Instead of wires running through the oil, they use this lead frame thing. Best I can tell it is like a printed circuit board from a computer that makes the connection without wires. Anyhow, the lead Frame was the problem. I took the truck to my local Ford dealer where they confirmed the problem was the lead frame. They lead frame cost about $200. However, That part is the most back ordered part at Ford. Lead time estimates are as long as 6 months, There was a way around the lead time. Ford actually sells the entire valve/servo module with the lead frame attached for about $600, and they are available. The service manager told me the installation time would be the same, as the procedure was very similar to replace the module or the lead frame only. I decided to buy the module and after it was installed, the shifting problem is a thing of the past.

It is about the middle of July here in California. We are in a very hot weather pattern. Last week, I got in the Raptor and everything was so hot. I opened the windows and stupidly opened the sunroof to allow the heat out. Something broke in the sun roof. That is getting repaired today by my buddy Charlie Vigiani's body shop today. Not sure what it is going to cost yet, but he had one guy on it all day!

The next two projects are to change the spark plugs and have the shocks rebuilt. More later.