Ford Ranger Raptor Suspension Deep Dive and RTI Test | Car and Driver

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Today, we finally got the Ranger Raptor we’ve deserved for some time. It’s a right-sized Raptor that might just catch the eye of overlanders and people who actually go out into the bush. It’s 6.8 inches narrower than the big Raptor at the fender flares, and the difference is even more stark from mirror tip to mirror tip, where the Ranger Raptor is a full 9.3 inches skinnier than the big guy. Meanwhile the junior Raptor’s 3.0-liter twin-turbo V6 makes 405 hp and 430 lb-ft of torque, which is enough to make the Ranger Raptor as quick as its big brother – as long as we’re not talking Raptor R.

But we’re here to see the chassis, and here the Ranger Raptor is mighty impressive. It’s wide stance suspension has Fox Live Valve shocks with variable compression damping, and the rear ones have remote reservoirs for extra cooling. But the big news is the coil-sprung rear axle, which is unique to the Ranger Raptor (regular Rangers have rear leaf springs). Four trailing links hold the axle in position, while the coil springs are mounted coil-over style around the rear dampers. The axle is not located laterally by the usual Panhard bar, because the Ford Australia engineering team that took the lead on chassis development went with a Watts linkage, just like the forbidden-fruit first-generation Ranger Raptor that was never sent here.

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00:00 Intro
01:08 Front suspension
02:46 Upper ball joint
04:05 Knuckle, lower arm, steering stop, shocks, bump stop
06:35 Front travel
06:52 Anti-roll bar
07:38 Brakes
08:36 Front suspension summary
08:59 Rear suspension
10:01 Rear shocks
11:04 Watts-link
13:43 Acorn nuts
14:22 Jack point
14:47 Trailer hitch
15:18 Brakes
15:42 Wheels, tires, and weight
16:36 Rear suspension summary
18:01 Ramp Travel Index test setup
19:49 Forward-facing camera shortcomings
22:56 Trigonometry crash course
24:34 Results