First-generation F-150 Raptor Almost Goes Extinct in Utah
Utah is full of rough terrain, but this downhill stretch in Moab seems to be a little too smooth for one first-generation Raptor.
A few years ago, our sister site Ford-Trucks attended the Yokohama Climb the Falls event at the Hidden Falls Adventure Park in Marble Falls, Texas. It was a chance for a few lucky people to test out the new tires that Yokohama had given them and for us to do a little wheeling in a Jeep Wrangler Unlimited and a 2017 Ford Raptor SuperCab. At one point during the day, a trail guide told us we were going to have a “pucker” moment when we went down a certain stretch that would probably scrape the truck’s underbody. We can’t speak for the driver of the Raptor in this video posted on the Raptor World (aka raptor.world) Instagram page, but what he went through out in Moab, Utah certainly looks like something to…er…tense up about.
Another Instagram user, Chris Macfadden (aka the_macf), decided to take on the Hell’s Revenge trail.
When the footage starts, he’s about to go down a snowy decline that other vehicles clearly have descended recently. A spotter stands at the bottom, ready to give instructions through a walkie talkie. Almost immediately, you can see the front end of the Raptor slide to the side on the snow. Once the truck stops, Macfadden straightens his front wheels. Shortly after that, he turns hard driver as the spotter suggests.
It’s all downhill from there – and not in the good way. More like the change-your-underwear-and-get-ready-to-call-your-insurance-company way.
A combination of the Raptor‘s nose weight and the slippery conditions send it sliding downhill at an angle. From the sound of things, it seems the truck’s belly scrapes on something as it makes its unintentional descent. It keeps sliding further despite Macfadden applying the brakes (apparently, Mother Nature does not respect the power of ABS).
For a second, Macfadden gets the nose straight again. Unfortunately, as soon as he does that, the back end starts to slip on him. It slides to Macfadden’s right and the Raptor starts a slow counter-clockwise rotation while still moving downhill. The good news is that the front wheels stay in the same spot while the back wheels make their arc in the snow, which hopefully made what must’ve felt like a moment of chaos a little less horrifying.
By the time the truck stops moving, it’s perpendicular to the trail. Sure, it went down a rough path to get to such an awkward position, but things could’ve gone much worse than they did. We’re glad Macfadden and his truck are OK. Now if only we could get the circulation back in our knuckles. They’re whiter than the Utah snow right now.
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