I just now read all the responses and it is greatly appreciated! Thought about it for a few days and decided if I am spending that kind of money, it might as well be on a superduty. Going into Ford tomorrow to see what kind of number they are willing to throw around. Looks like either the superduty or a 150 FX4 with lift and all the goodies

 

good luck!

 

I hope I don't get flamed for this, but I've been searching this and other sites for a few hours already.

This is the question I had when I was looking at the Raptor, and the salesmen gave me different answers. What is the difference between a lift kit and a Raptor? In the end, I did not buy a Raptor because it was out of my budget. I bought the FX4 and decided to lift it later.

I realize that the Raptor is more about performance than looks. What lift kit will give me the performace of a Raptor?

 

the advantage of the raptor is resale value and warranty. if you buy aftermarket you never get back what you put in.

raptor is still a lotta $$$ and i could never afford a new one. maybe in a few years i'll pick up a used one.

 

If you haven't answered this one yet you need to just keep reading...a lift kit truck and a Raptor are a gazillion miles apart. Apples and oranges...no comparison.

None. Any custom fab job you could do from the likes of Camburg or other top fab companies would run you twice the price premium of a Raptor to even get close to the performance of that truck. Most of you guys are getting way too focused on the sticker price and not seeing the value of the truck...the proverbial trees in front of the forrest.

 

That's what I thought. When I test-drove the Raptor the saleman took me over a set of railroad tracks at about 40 MPH. The truck was smooth. He told me to take it no faster than 25 in the FX4. At that speed we bottomed out.
The funny thing is that my brother in law, who has a Tundra with a BDS kit said that his truck could do anything a Raptor could. When I called BS he insisted that we drive the 30 minutes to the exact same railroad tracks. We hit them at 35 and darn near knocked out teeth out.

 

Your brother-in-law is an idiot and that Tundra would fall apart trying to hang with that Raptor at 1/3rd the pace over any terrain.

 

He's not the brightest guy I'll agree, but in his defense I'm not sure I understand either. I get it that the Raptor is build for offroad, but what do these lift kits do then?

Before we did the railroad track test, he was yaking on about how his suspension was built for off road and compared it to a body lift, which does nothing to the suspension. But seeing how his 6" suspension handled the test the same way my stock FX4 did, I don't get it.

Is it just marketing hype? I was really looking forward to lifting this truck. Now I don't think it's worth the money.

 

A suspension lift kit is that and nothing more. Ground clearance to fit bigger tires, period. 99% of off-the-shelf lift kits do nothing to alter suspension geometry, travel, toughness, or anything like that to actually improve performance. The Raptor on the other hand is at the opposite end of that spectrum. Everything about its design is performance based...not looks. The components, construction, geometry, dimensions, travel, literally everything is different from a stock truck.

 

I'd say the raptor is a hell of a deal for what you are getting, IF you use it. 95% (probably more) of raptor owners will not use it in the way it was intended. If you want a standard f150 to get to the capabilities of a raptor, you will need to invest $10-15k in a long travel suspension lift, coilovers, bumpstops, bypass shocks, fiberglass, bed cage, 35" tires (or 37"s if you want), tube bumpers, etc...
As stated earlier, brenthel makes a kit for the 09+ f150s that will get you to the raptors level and surpass it in many ways but it starts at $5200 for just the front end suspension components (no shocks or anything else I listed)

 

the only down fall and this is soooooo stupid on fords part is the rear end. they spent so much time on the front and the shocks they did nothing for the leaves. they are stock f150 leaves with blocks. really???? ive already seen a raptor with rainbowed leaves. like come on ford! but deaver dose have a set of raptor specific leaves that work great. but in my opinion. if you have the money buy what you want and do what you want. heres the answer to lift vs raptor. a lift is that... a lift. raises the height. more ground clearance, more top heavy, etc... the raptor and just like any other long travel suspension truck is the travel. the raptor straight out of the show room floor has a crazy amount of travel. but there are kits out there that are just as good if not better. the kit i want is the dixon bros racing kit. http://www.dixonbrosracing.com/content/view/13/3/ and the rear i would have to have the coil overs go threw the floor. but thats down the line. right now torsion crank and coil spacers. but yeah. if you have the money get what you want and do what you want. but if i were you dont do what everyone else is doing. do what you want to do. if you want a 1st gen expo like mine and lift it 6 inchs with a 3 inch bl and 2 inch spacers go ahead. look him up. its nuts! idk his name on here but its walnuts on expeditionforum. just do what you want, but ask questions if your not sure. you can only learn not lose!