Wanna see my Expedition Raptor in action??? [Ford F150 Raptor build thread]

[bsl]

After hearing many forum threads dreaming about an expedition Ford F150 Raptor, I was a bit frustrated when I started building mine... I could not find many live examples of a roof top tent rack for that vehicle, fridge install w/ dual battery setup, hi-lift and jerrycans etc.

So here is my interpretation of the "expedition" raptor (or maybe I should call it "off-road touring").
It is not there to compete with full pledge rigs that you can see on equipment vendor web sites or elsewhere on this great forum.
Most of the time, it is my daily driver, but within a few moments, it can be turned into a reliable, relatively well equipped for offroad, family friendly, and almost "stealth" long distance touring machine.

Below are a few pics of our latest trip, 3 weeks and 4500 miles across Arizona, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas. (this includes the Maze at CanyonLands up to Panorama Point, and Medano Pass at Great Sand Dunes for ex.) :Wow1:
Depending on interest & questions, I would like to cover a few topics in more details in separate threads:
- Test of the new Eezi-Awn T-Top XKLUSIV for a family of 4, and mounting at bed level on this truck,
- Camping equipment: fridge / dual battery setup, shower, fuel & water, cargo management
- Photography & GPS: trip preparation, on- & off-road GPS, photo geotagging, gopro.
I hope this "light" but realistic approach to Expedition will convince many of you to start your project. Thanks to this forum and Overland Journal for the inspiration you provide :sunny:

 

[bsl]

More pics...

 

[haven]

Thanks for sharing. Do you have a curb weight for your truck with expedition gear aboard? Compared to other pickups, the Raptor doesn't have much cargo capacity.

 

[chicken corners]

Nice set up, thanks for the pictures.

 

[bsl]

Thanks for sharing. Do you have a curb weight for your truck with expedition gear aboard? Compared to other pickups, the Raptor doesn't have much cargo capacity.

Nope, my truck is stock (I don't have that much gear...). However for extreme applications like a campertop, some guys apparently installed airbags...

http://www.raptorforumz.com/showthread.php?t=6672

http://www.raptorforumz.com/showthread.php?t=1922

 

[KaiserM715]

Depending on interest & questions, I would like to cover a few topics in more details in separate threads:
- Test of the new Eezi-Awn T-Top XKLUSIV for a family of 4, and mounting at bed level on this truck,
- Camping equipment: fridge / dual battery setup, shower, fuel & water, cargo management
- Photography & GPS: trip preparation, on- & off-road GPS, photo geotagging, gopro.

Count me in as interested.

 

[Frankspinz]

Great stuff ! America is huge and a Raptor is great to cover a lot of ground fast and comfortably... My last outings on Quebec's forestry roads have me wondering about a vehicle such as the Raptor ... As a hiker, I'm a minimalist and I like your set-up ! Thanks for sharing !

 

[ktn00000]

That is great! How do you like the Raptor?

 

[02TahoeMD]

Great pics! And very nice build on the Raptor, if I ever got rid of my Tahoe I would get one and your setup looks very well done. Kudos :smiley_drive:

 

[thetonka]

Very nice, those pics are awesome. I've thought about a full shell on my F350, but the rack and tent setup you have with a bed cover looks very practical.

Now I'm thinking about how much I can stuff under a bed cover in an F350 long bed. :drool:

 

[bsl]

I've just posted my review of the Eeziawn in the dedicated camping equipment thread, please check:
http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/65751-New-EeziAwn-TTop-XKlusiv-family-review.

Here are additional comments that are specific to the installation on a Ford F150 Raptor

As seen in some other posts, I was looking for an over-the-bed vs over-the-roof installation. I copied below some of my "cut & paste" homework to prepare such a setup.

However as I wanted to keep my g2 folding bedcover to protect my gear under the tent, I could not find any standard rack compatible with this setup. If anybody is looking for something similar, the closest match (heavy duty) were:
- the Adarac rack http://www.agricover.com/index.php/p...category/C204/,
- the prorac sport rack www.prorac.com/softtonneau.php,
- or regular roof bars installed with gutter mounts on the bed rails.
I ended up with custom barworks done at a local offroad shop, and I don't regret it www.alloutoffroad.com. The rack is using the standard stake pocket holes, so it is a no-drill installation and I should be able to remove easily [however did not do it yet...:Wow1:]
One important point to know before mounting the tent on any rack is that the rails are not symetrical to the center of the tent. They are shifted on the opening side of the tent. As my custom rack was first drilled for a symetrical installation, I had to buy additional tent mounts from AT http://store.adventuretrailers.com/products/Tent-Mounting-Assembly.html.
Moving the tent on the right side of the bed allowed me to keep the full length of the ground level room once opened.
One great Benefit of the mount at this medium heigth was to keep some visibility below the tent when backing up, and keep the same fuel efficiency as without the tent (approx. 15mpg average over 4000+ ml including some offroad in low-range).
There were however several inconvenients with this setup:
The tent walls are 2 meters / 79in. high, so they were not fully extended with this setup. I used 2 sets of 10 lynx leveler blocks to raise the vehicle and keep the tent level (available on amazon or etrailer.com). Also I had to bend the window rod on the front
side of the tent else there was not enough clearance to the cab roof to install it correctly.
Finally, with that rack design, I could not open the bedcover, requiring some stretching to access all equipment inside the bed.
Also, I was very unhappy with the dust sealing of the truck bed. I spent many hours installing adhesive seals etc. but I did not reach a perfect result yet (any suggestion welcome!).

Note that I installed a Racor Pro Heavy lift ceiling storage in my garage and it works well (see similar install at http://northwestoverlandsociety.org...rumid/31/postid/14594/view/topic/Default.aspx )

Overall I am pleased with this setup as it was reliable over our trip and it looks great I find. For a more rugged (vs stealth) expedition look, it would be very easy to add attachments for my Maxtrack or Rotopax to the rack bars underneath the tent, or on the sides...
You can check a few pictures in the tent review as well as here. :luxhello:

 

[KaiserM715]

Thanks for the review. I really like the rack and the height you picked. I agree with keeping it lower. What gear do you have in the bed and what are you using to secure it all?

 

[turboale]

Excellent review! Thanks for posting, I look forward to seeing more of your photo work! Great minds think alike, I just ordered a RTT today and look forward to getting it dirty. Speaking of which there is a Texas Raptor run that is happening April 13-15 at Texana Ranch in Bronte TX. Should be a great time with unlimited track time and then some scenic trail riding before/after the event. Either way, awesome rig! Would love to see your setup and compare notes when mine comes in!

Texas Raptor Run

Cheers,
Austin

 

[MagicMtnDan]

Thanks for sharing this information with us! Your setup looks great!

As a Raptor owner I've thought many times about possible solutions including the flip open roof top tents and the Maggiolina. One thing I thought about is mounting it right on top of the bedcover (or replacing the bed cover for this application) to keep it as low as possible. I figure I could go with a bed slide to access my stuff in the bed.

Please do tell us what gear you have in your bed and how you mounted it.

 

[Baracda]

I thoroughly enjoyed your trip! Wish I was there, the scenery looked spectacular!!! I have a Raptor on order and was just wondering if you had any insight or thoughts on how to improve the truck? Other than what you have posted obviously...