Introducing the World-Changing 2021 Ford F-150 Raptor

It’s a bird! It’s a plane! No, it’s a trail-jumping 2021 F-150 Raptor! That’s right; Ford has officially announced the 2021 F-150 Raptor is on its way to your local Cincinnati Ford F-150 dealer and will be available at King’s Ford in the summer of 2021. This feels as if it has been a long time coming, and with all of the rumors about the Raptor R, we couldn’t be more excited to see what Ford has in store. So let’s take a look at the all-new 2021 Raptor as well as everything we know about the upcoming Raptor R.

What’s New With the 2021 Ford F-150 Raptor?

Before the original Raptor came out in 2009, if you wanted a Baja Trail running truck, you had to buy and lift a regular vehicle. Lifting your vehicle was a necessary step in order for your truck to survive the trails at high speeds. Then along came the Raptor. And now, people who wanted the thrill of off-roading had a plug-and-play option. Now you don’t have to own your own garage or take your truck to a specialty shop in order to have some high-speed fun and jump your truck.

Over the years, Ford has added more features to make the Raptor even more capable, fun, and useful. The 2021 Raptor is no different, with a number of upgrades that make it more of what you want for everyday life, as well as those exciting times out on the trails. As with every good off-road vehicle, the first things you need to know about are the parts that keep you on the ground and, if wanted, flying through the air.

The Raptor’s Shocks and Suspension

The Raptor’s suspension has multiple new features. First off, you should know that the Raptor no longer has a leaf spring suspension. This is because the 2021 Ford Raptor has an all-new five-link rear suspension that was developed specifically for the Raptor. This five-link system has all the good stuff, like extra-long trailing arms to help maintain the axle position, a Panhard rod, and the longest in class coil springs that come in at 24 inches.

When you put all these things together, the new 2021 F-150 Raptor is going to have better comfort, handling, control, and traction at speeds both on and off the road. The system is also giving the new Raptor the longest wheel travel of all Raptors that have been made to date. Ford definitely knew what they were doing when they upgraded this suspension.

The new Raptor also comes with next-gen FOX Live Valve internal bypass shocks. These are extra special shocks will automatically adjust to the changing terrain, allowing for 1,000 pounds of dampening per corner. How does it do it, you ask? They work with little suspension height sensors that are all around the truck making calculations and changing the damping rates of each corner of the truck. It does this at a rate of 500 times per second.

In case you didn’t know, that is as fast as your eye can send a ‘what you see’ signal to your brain, meaning your truck is adjusting to the terrain faster than you can process the terrain. You will have only just noticed the changes you need to make, but your truck will have already adapted.

The Raptor’s Tires

Once you got your Raptor in the air, eventually, you will need to come down again. It’s a simple matter of gravity. When you do come down, the tires are what you will be landing on, and Ford has given you some options to choose from.

You can go with the 35-inch tires, or you can opt for the 37-inch tires. The 37-inch tires just so happen to be the largest tires that are factory fitted to a production light-duty full-size pickup truck. These are specially designed BFGoodrich All-Terrain T/A K02 tires, and they give the user the maximum combination of traction and handling. These tires will be mounted on one of three 17-inch wheel options, two of which are beadlock capable.

The 35-inch tires give the Raptor an approach angle of 31 degrees, a maximum departure angle of 23.9 degrees, and a breakover angle of 22.7 degrees. When equipped with these tires, the Raptor can clear 12-inch obstacles straight up. The 35-inch tires also give you 14 inches of wheel travel in the front and 15 inches in the back, which is 25 percent more than the first-generation F-150 Raptor had.

The 37-inch tires, on the other hand, have the Raptor doing even more with your angles. You’ll have a 33.1-degree approach angle, up to 24.9 degrees of departure angle, and 24.4 degrees of breakover angle. You’ll be able to roll over 13.1-inch obstacles! The wheel travel is also awesome, with 13 inches in front and 14.1 inches in the back.

The Raptor R – Fact, Not Fiction

There are many rumors floating around about the new Raptor R. It’s difficult to know exactly what sources to trust and what ones are just blowing steam.

What we can tell you is that the new Raptor R will have a V8 engine under the hood that can produce upwards of 700 horsepower. It’s possible that Ford will be utilizing the Mustang Shelby GT500’s Predator 5.2-liter supercharged V8 engine, but that specific information is yet to be released. However, Ford has officially said that the Raptor R should come out in 2022, which indicates that Ford is well into this project, even though it did not come out at the same time as the 2021 Raptor.

What we know for sure is that the Raptor R is going to be one powerful off-roading machine.

What Are You Going to Do Next?

Now that you know about how well the Raptor is expected to perform, you may be planning your next trip to Haspin Acres for some mud bogging or Dirty Turtle Offroad Park for some hill climbing. Perhaps you’ll look into some trail running out in Rush Off-Road. But before you go, you’re going to need to find yourself your very own Raptor.