Mopar to Sell Raptor Fighting Suspension Kits for Ram 1500
Photo Courtesy of Four Wheeler Magazine (see more pics!)
Chrysler's Mopar parts division plans to sell bolt-on long-travel suspension kits to Ram 1500 off-road enthusiasts later this year, according to company representatives attending the annual Easter Jeep Safari in Moab, Utah.
A prototype of the aggressive dampening kit is making its debut in Moab on Mopar's Ram Runner project vehicle. It transforms the half-ton Ram into a competitor with the Ford F-150 SVT Raptor and even uses shocks from the same manufacturer (Fox) that the Raptor uses.
The Ram 1500 may have an advantage or two over the Raptor. It's unique four-link coil-spring rear suspension, instead of leaf springs, should help give the truck extra stability off-road.
The Ram Runner project uses 3.0 Fox shocks at all four corners of the truck. Billet aluminum upper A-arms and chromoly steel lower control arms support a massive 14-inches of wheel travel.
Mopar tapped veteran off-road racer Kent Kroeker to help develop the setup. Kroeker is a Baja legend. In 2004, he built and raced a 2003 Dodge Ram 2500 4x4 in the SCORE "Stock Full" class to a top three finish in the Baja 1000 and drove the same truck home the next day. Since then, Kroeker has built his company, KORE, into a well-known provider of aftermarket lift kits and suspensions for Dodge trucks. If anyone knows the ins and outs of building a race-ready Ram for the desert, it’s Kroeker.
Pricing and a firm sales date for the suspension kit have not been announced.
Comments
This is on BA truck! :)
Its cute looking
good...because you can take a base model dodge ram...cost about 24,000 dollars and then bolt on the kit3,000 dollars plus tires 7,000 dollars maybe....
cheaper than the raptor.....
and with the advantage of it being customized....even more..and you wont loose your towing or payload ratings.
like you do when you get the raptor.
No way in hell is a base Ram with a bolt-on kit comparable to a Raptor. A Raptor is only about $3K more than a comparable F150 FX4, so a base Ram is still going to be missing about $10K in options as compared to a Raptor.
If you want to make a base Ram comparable to a Raptor, you need more than suspension. How about flared street-legal fenders, increased cooling, heat extraction, off-road control modes, downhill control, aux electrical, heavily side-bolstered seats, and on and on...
BTW, what makes you think towing and payload ratings won't decrease when you swap out longer arms and install more compliant shocks?
@Ted: Good points. There also wont be an Off-Road Mode that changes the transmission and brake calibrations for optimal performance off-road.
Is this the killer scoop you mentioned? I hope not. I hope it really is killer like some secret F-100 still under works, 2011 F-150 engines or the F-150 all new model, etc.
@Dave: No. This is not that scoop I mentioned. I'm still working the story hard today to get quotes. Maybe up in a few hours. No later than tomorrow!
Jacking up an existing truck may make it illegal at state inspection time.A factory hiked truck (F250 "high boy",Ranger STX...etc) would be considered legal.
Some states wont even allow bigger tires from stock.
@ Mike - your previous story (More Details Emerge About Long Travel Mopar Ram 1500) put the "Kroeker" Ram track width at 90 inchs(front). That is 16.4 inchs wider than the Raptor at 73.6 front track. Would that be street legal? Will Mopar offer wider fenders/flares, clearance lights etc. to compensate for the width? I can see this kit coming with the disclaimer - "For off -road closed course competition only".
I'm sure Raptor has different brake than F150. Does the Dodge kit include brakes as mentioned? Also is the transmision & it's cooler different? How does the torque & HP compare? In the cost one would assume the exhaust gets changed too? Does all this mean factory computer has to be reprogramed in the Dodge? Is the Dodge frame designed to do this? The Ford was. Is it really worth the cost & still equal to Raptor?
@Lou: Stay tuned. Trying to get more details on track for the production Mopar kit.
Nice, so you can have a regular cab, quad cab, or crew cab with this suspension. Stripped model, moderately loaded, or fully loaded. Lots of different ways to configure the truck (I'm assuming, correct me if I'm wrong Mike). Sounds good to me.
Come on guys, the raptor is an awesome truck. Why are some of you whining over this? Competition is always great. Enough crying.
There is sand in the eyes of everybody who said this wasn't going to get produced. I'm one of them.
@Lou: If you look at pics from the front and rear, this vehicle doesn't look any wider then Raptor. Hell it doesn't look much wider then the stock Ram. That first article must have had bad info.
@Ted: If you buy an SLT BigHorn that is still less then Fords FX4. Depending on how much the kit costs, it will probably only come in slightly higher then the Base Raptor. But this with a HEMI will be competing directly with the 6.2 Raptor, which adds $5000 to the price of a Raptor.
@ Supercrew: The brakes of the Ram are already bigger then the F-150s. Will the get drilled and slotted with this kit? Who knows. But the frame of the Raptor isn't changed any from the stock f150. The Rams frame is just as strong as the f150s, I'd imagine it also doesn't need to be changed.
@ Sand in my eyes: The Rams frame is just as strong as the F150's?!?! Are you mental? You might want to do some research before saying something stupid like that.
Warning!
Build your own off-road rig, never take what the factory seems is best for you...
Take the closest to base line pickup and build it yourself. This is just another way to appease the lazy society we have and for companies to cash in...
You can build an F-150 or Ram cheaper and more capable from a stripped model than what the factory put on it...
Funny my first race was the 1995 Baja 500 with my 86 Toyota and after the race I drove it back home likewise!
I got an article published in FourWheeler magazine for that one...
James you might want to look at a Rams frame before you comment. It is close to the same size as the fords. fully boxed and hydroformed. I believe the fords is welded.
He didnt say it was as strong, he said just as stong, which means that it isnt as strong but close.
Its people like james who give all ford fanboys bad names. There is a reason why Ford hasnt dissed the Rams frame like it has GMs, and Toyotas.
The rams frame is "Just as stong."
James, have you even seen a Ram's frame? It is very close to the same size as the f-150s.
Is it the biggest boy on the block? No, but it is a close second.
Are you Mental? Maybe you should do some research before you post about something you know nothing about.
Why is it Ford guys always act like Ford is 100% better then anything else offered and then turn a blind eye to things that Ford clearly gets outperformed in?
Raptor > this jerry rigged hunk of junk
:)
Awesome, but they could add some graphics/vinyls on this hell red Viper paint too look more devilish! :)
This upgrade might make it a little off road better but too bad the rest of the truck will fall apart because it is a pos dodge oh sorry i mean ram.They are still behind ford and gm is not even in the game.
@sand... The 6.2L option for the Raptor is a $3000 option not 5K as you erroneously stated. Plus the Raptor interior wise is a lot closer to the King Ranch than the base model.. So if you are going to compare costs.. compare it to a Dodge with similiar options.
@oxi.. Nobody cares what you have to say.
key word of the article.. its a KIT.. not a factory installed package like Ford, and without the off-road electronics packages . Not interested... sorry.
Those who think they can build this Ram for same or equal to the cost of a Raptor are nuts. Perhaps you are missing all the body work that needs to be done? I am also doubting t his is a simple drop in or bolt in install as well.
...
I was looking at some spec sheets. The 90 inch track width must be a mistake on Mopar's press release. I've seen the same number pop up on every other site talking about the RamRunner. Like I said earlier , it would make the RamRunner 22 inchs wider than the Raptor. They must of meant width. It makes sense at 90 inchs. This truck would be 3.7 inchs wider than the Raptor. The Raptor is 86.3 inchs wide.
(My OCD kicked in and I had to find an answer)
@Lou: The 90-inch track width was a quote from a comment that Kent Kroeker posted in a discussion thread about the truck at race-dezert.com
I suspect he meant width. thanks for the update.
Aren't track width the same thing? Width at the front tires? Not seeing how one can get that it would be 20 inches wider than a Raptor from that. When it is 86.3 versus 90 inches. Only way that might be possible is if you meaure only from the back of the rims or tires on the Raptor and to the outside edge of the rims or tires on the RamRunner.
The best darn off-road Ram truck I've seen. BUILD IT PLEASE! <3
Here we go!!! another dodge news story and ford boys gotta jump all over it and start getting all defensive! Ram>F-150 Ram>Super-Doodie
nuff said
Moparornocar,
Perhaps you missed the title of the article. If you don't like the points being made for the Raptor, as Frank would say, "Grab your purse and leave."
@Kieth - the numbers from my post that you commented on were my guess that they meant overall width. The track width listed for the RamRunner is 90 inchs. The Ford Raptor's track width is listed as 73.6 inchs. That would be 16.4 inchs wider. The Raptor is 86.3 inchs wide. That would make more sense at a 3.7 inch width difference. I am not sure what the difference between track width and width. Sorry, my 22 inch width came from the stock track width of a Ram 1500 at 68 inchs.
Thanks for the input.
Here we go!!! another dodge news story and ford boys gotta jump all over it and start getting all defensive! Ram>F-150 Ram>Super-Doodie
nuff said
LOL and Dodge is copying who? Oh, yeah! That's right. Ford made the Raptor first.
such a sick truck. they need to actually commit to making this one! if they do im buying one right when they come out! eat this one ford!!!
It's mostly just a kit that you can buy from kore or through mopar performance. Not a production truck. For an offroad vehicle I'd rather have a power wagon over any Ford or Chevy.
anytime that the fords guys get all defensive is because they're scared of sharing the spot light with anyone else or being taken out of it but true to the matter is that the dodge is a better deal and it looks better. i have owned both dodge and ford trucks and both have been built as pre-runners but the dodge just was better overall. the trucks where built @ atomic motor concepts in san diego ca. check out their kits (atomicmc.com)
Imitation is the highest form of flattery. I owned a few dodge trucks and they are good. Some people prefer to drive a dodge or a chev or a toyota which is fine. The important thing to note here is Ford was willing top take the risk of building something different. Maybe they did so because they didn't have to worry about paying back any govt loans and their money went into R and D on a new and risky venture. With that said I think it was a reasonable risk considering the interest in off roading and those who love driving a pickup truck instead of a car. I would like to see the Chrysler and GM go ahead a build an off road truck like the raptor, it would be interesting to see how well they do.
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