Wes’ build

[Turbo yzel]

Hoping to consolidate a lot of my posts by putting them all in one build thread

To help myself and others track down info and helpful photos etc,
Starting with the first thing I did the 3” perch collers and 40”s
Then the 74 weld rack
Foutz diff/frame/ and shock skids
OEM Bead-locks
Tubular bumper and wench
Rubber flooring swap
And misc things

 

[Turbo yzel]

First up installing the perch collars
I had to use what I thought was a little bit more effort than I assumed with the rubber mallet to pop off the factory collars
After which it was quite easy to just bolt on the new ones
And torque them the spec

 

[Turbo yzel]

Next, I found it easiest
To just loosen and set aside most of the vacuum hoses and ABS wire, brake lines, etc.
Just move them off to the side
Then undo your tie rod and control arm bolts

It left me enough room that I was able to just push down with a prybar
And pop out the suspension and strut set up
And then reinstall

 

[Turbo yzel]

By doing it this way, I did not have to mess with the CV axle or anything else that I thought I may have to

 

[Turbo yzel]

Here are some pictures of the Foutz Motorsport upper control arms

I was super impressed by the quality and ease of installation with the parts

I wish I’d gotten more pictures, but we were really in a time crunch to be able to use the shop after hours

This seemed like the correct orientation of the live valve bracket from other pics I saw

 

[Turbo yzel]

Looking good after install

 

[Turbo yzel]

Parking lot test today
I cannot confirm it is 100% articulation
As I was by myself with no’s spotter, in a rush on the way home from the game

But it seems to clear even the rear fenders with just the tiniest amount of rubbing noticeable

 

[Turbo yzel]

Got the shocks recalibrated and did some flex testing
Brake lines look ok
Rear bumper plastic was hitting
Pulled it off for now until bumper upgrade
Hard to tell the front is pushed up, but it seemed to have plenty of clearance after the fog light and bumper end removal

 

[Turbo yzel]

Rear brake line seemed OK
Maybe a small issue if it’s fully drooped out while jumping or something
But I would think it’s OK having a little wiggle room from the OEM length of suspension travel
Video link

https://www.broncoraptor.com/data/video/5/5908-8eb32517a4f91e8442e6a44d8d901b17.mov

 

[Turbo yzel]

Next up was the install of the 74 weld billet steering rack
Here are some pictures of the install
And some pictures of the mounts and old rack etc
First thing I noticed was the raptor has a different FDU mounting system than other videos I’ve watched for install

It seems like the raptor has extra support and some parts welded to the subframe
As well as a “warthog” sticker 🤣

 

[Turbo yzel]

Here are some pictures of me marking some of the steering components to make sure they’re lined up
As well as pictures of the mounts and one hard to reach wire that needs to be removed
And one bolt that likes to try and run itself into one of the hoses
Sorry for not being more specific as this was almost 6 months ago

 

[Turbo yzel]

Here are some of switching the circuit board and steering system into the new housing

 

[Turbo yzel]

Here are some of the finished housing install
It was a little tricky, remembering how to get it in there
Just like some of the videos, you have to keep rotating it and twisting it around
But it will eventually pop right in there

There are also some pictures of the Foutz Motorsport billet tie rod install

 

[Turbo yzel]

Next up I got some underside protection from @foutzmotorsports
For the rear diff, shock skids , and rear trailing arm skid/sliders

 

[Dewars]

Looks great!! I like that you were able to keep the stock wheels- I am assuming you used a spacer there- what size? Exactly what size tires are they?

 

[Turbo yzel]

Looks great!! I like that you were able to keep the stock wheels- I am assuming you used a spacer there- what size? Exactly what size tires are they?

I over did it with a 50mm spacer
I’m going smaller soon

 

[Turbo yzel]

I did have to drop the gas tank down a couple inches
Trim off the flag piece of the bolt as mentioned
But I really had a hard time getting them to line up
When the suspension was at full droop with the new 3 inch lift collars
It was contacting part of the skid plates, making it hard for the holes to line up

 

[Turbo yzel]

Next up was my turn off road spare tire carrier and upgraded hinges

Here are some pictures from the install
As well as the ghetto fabulous third break light spacing that I had to do to keep it from shaking around
And adding some old Lugnuts to space the tire out from hitting it
🤣🤷‍♂️

 

[Turbo yzel]

After a quick and easy call to @turnoffroad
They were able to hook me up with a brake light spacing kit
I will say for raptor owners that you will need a bigger bump stop tab
As it will hit our bigger rear brake lights before it stops itself on the factory size tab
Seems like we need just about 10 MM of thickness to keep from hitting

 

[Turbo yzel]

Up next
The @FoutzMotorsport Slot delete kit for the lower control arm
This was pretty straightforward to install
These pics are the only ones I currently have of the temporary install before it was welded

I did find that I had to remove 2 bolts for the sway bar to get the control arm bolts out
As shown in a pic
Can’t get one out without hitting other

After doing so, I flipped them around in case I ever need to make a repair on the trail and it’s one less thing I have to mess with

And remember to lift up the one plate with the OEM weld for clearance

Will put the updated welding pics as soon as I find them