Here’s a detailed review of my ‘23 Bronco Raptor. I did a ton of research over 6 months to get to this point. Make no mistake, this build is a culmination of experiences from other builds. I watched many videos from the guys at Trail Militia and DM’d workingclass_braptor (instagram) as he has a very similar build. Great guy by the way.
The BRaptor is my daily driver and I take it crawling and romping as much as my schedule allows. I don’t get to tinker as much as I did in the past. However, I had a blast building the wheels/tires in my garage and installing them.
Suspension - Hyperco springs 2" Front, 1" Rear
Wheels - KMC Riot Beadlocks - 17x8.5 +0 Offset
Tires - Nitto 38X13.50R17LT - NITTO TRAIL GRAPPLER MT
Wheel/Tire balance - ECO - Balancing Beads - XL- 16 oz per tire - I used a kitchen scale
Here’s a video that explains how to mount them
Tuner - Superchips - Pulsar XT
Evaluation - Everything went together very well. I paid to have the springs professionally installed. They had a significant struggle installing them. There is no savings by trying to do it yourself as the tools/equipment were at a max capacity during the compression. The wheels/tires are labor (of love?) intensive but therapeutic. It took me roughly 4 hours from start to test drive.
Feel - Initially, before the wheels/tires, the new springs were a bit stiff. After completion, it feels “right”. I am not sure how else to explain it.
Thanks to Superchips, the added torque and HP allow it to stay in 10th gear easily. Mud tires have a sound but it isn’t crazy loud. I went with balancing beads as M/T tires tend to lose chunks, which alters the balance. The beads adjust for this automatically. There is a very slight vibration at 85 mph, but that’ll keep me in check.
Measurements Post Lift/Wheels/Tires -
Widest point - Original - 86”, After - 89.5” - measured by placing a 2x4 against the outside of the tires and measuring the distance.
Overall height - Original - ~ 6’5”, After - ~ 6’8” (just under). I expect this will drop about ½” after some settling or adding a winch.
I hope this helps you guys with your build. Please let me know if you have any questions.
The BRaptor is my daily driver and I take it crawling and romping as much as my schedule allows. I don’t get to tinker as much as I did in the past. However, I had a blast building the wheels/tires in my garage and installing them.
Suspension - Hyperco springs 2" Front, 1" Rear
Wheels - KMC Riot Beadlocks - 17x8.5 +0 Offset
Tires - Nitto 38X13.50R17LT - NITTO TRAIL GRAPPLER MT
Wheel/Tire balance - ECO - Balancing Beads - XL- 16 oz per tire - I used a kitchen scale
Here’s a video that explains how to mount them
Tuner - Superchips - Pulsar XT
Evaluation - Everything went together very well. I paid to have the springs professionally installed. They had a significant struggle installing them. There is no savings by trying to do it yourself as the tools/equipment were at a max capacity during the compression. The wheels/tires are labor (of love?) intensive but therapeutic. It took me roughly 4 hours from start to test drive.
Feel - Initially, before the wheels/tires, the new springs were a bit stiff. After completion, it feels “right”. I am not sure how else to explain it.
Thanks to Superchips, the added torque and HP allow it to stay in 10th gear easily. Mud tires have a sound but it isn’t crazy loud. I went with balancing beads as M/T tires tend to lose chunks, which alters the balance. The beads adjust for this automatically. There is a very slight vibration at 85 mph, but that’ll keep me in check.
Measurements Post Lift/Wheels/Tires -
Widest point - Original - 86”, After - 89.5” - measured by placing a 2x4 against the outside of the tires and measuring the distance.
Overall height - Original - ~ 6’5”, After - ~ 6’8” (just under). I expect this will drop about ½” after some settling or adding a winch.
I hope this helps you guys with your build. Please let me know if you have any questions.
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