So I originally had the F150 Tremor, which was a nice truck. It just didnt handle the washboard gravel roads that we ride and I was getting tired of it. There was an f250 Tremor for sale that was used with about 55,000 on it. Its a nice truck, but a little to big and cumbersome as a DD. I tow a 7x18 snowmachine trailer and a side by side in the summer, never exceeding 5000lbs, so I think the F250 was a little overkill for how much I really towed on an annual basis.
Just took a 2023 Raptor for a test drive that has 15,000KM. Instantly traded in the F250. We ride alot of washboard gravel roads to get to our cabin in the Summer. I think the Raptor will serve us well.
I’m also hearing about lots of lifter failures in the 7.3’s and I cant get it out of my head. It has me nervous to warm the truck up in the morning to idle.
Nice! I swapped a 2020 F250 with a full Carli suspension for a 2024 Raptor, and nothing I’ve driven compares to how smoothly the Raptor rides. Before the F250, I had a 2014 Raptor.
I considered adding the Carli suspension to my F250, but it would have cost me around $15k or more in CAD. If I needed to tow heavier loads, I would’ve definitely kept the F250. Looking forward to taking this thing off-road in the spring!
For sure. Maybe I should have been more specific. These are washboarded logging dirt roads that are non maintained. Potholes, washouts in some places. We are up in Northern Ontario, Canada. The winters beat up everything. The tremor just didnt handle it well, it was bouncing all over the place. Probably the shocks weren’t dampening enough? I didnt want to spend the money to upgrade the shocks etc on it. Trust me a honda civic would blow out an axle on this road. I have seen many cars that aren’t from the area with blown out tires or just out of commission on the side of the road. Unfortunately, this is how I get to my camp and wanted the best offroad truck I could get since we head up every weekend in the Summer. I just took the Raptor up the road for a test drive and its night and day. Pretty surprising to be honest.
The key with the Raptor on washboards and rutted roads is keeping a good speed, usually around 30-40 mph (or even faster). It kicks up a lot of dust, though, so just be aware that it might annoy others. If you’re dealing with a lot of washboards, airing down your tires can help a lot.
The tricky part will be maintaining that speed while towing a trailer. The Raptor will smooth out the ride so well that you might not realize how rough it is on the trailer, which could end up causing some damage.