Marginal Improvements To A Major Off-Road Player

Fox Live Valve Technology Advances The ’19 Raptor, If Only Just

- Brett T. Evans

Quick, name five off-road pickups! Now, if you’re anything like the average truck enthusiast, your mind probably rattled off pickups like the Toyota Tacoma, Ram Power Wagon, Chevrolet Colorado ZR2, maybe the Jeep CJ Scrambler…and the Ford F-150 Raptor.

Since its introduction for ’10 (then a member of the bygone Ford SVT family), the Raptor has been synonymous with high-speed off-road capability, a street-legal Trophy truck with plenty of wheel travel and a well-damped suspension. But while that original Raptor was built like a hot rod (lots of tire, V-8 power, major-league springs, but not a lot of technology), the second-generation ’17 model box-jumped into the 21st century with sophisticated traction aids and drive mode selectors, a torque-on-demand transfer case, and a turbocharged 3.5L V-6 engine.

But even with all that technology, the suspension remained similar: progressive-rate springs and Fox internal-bypass shock absorbers that offered the same dynamics in all driving situations. The new truck was still a revelation in highspeed off-roading, but it demanded a few compromises, the most obvious of which was copious body roll on highway sweepers. For the record, we never complained.