gt500kr427

Hello Folks,

First day on the forum and my first post. This site is GREAT!! I've been able to find so much helpful information on "coming-soon" projects for my truck.

I am currently leasing a 2014 F150 STX 4x2 Crew Cab with a 5 liter engine. My lease is expiring soon and I've decided to keep the truck so I'm going to have fun with blank canvas. One of my first planned projects is to lift the truck, 3" in front and 1.5" in the rear. I am I'm hoping that will be enough to run factory spec Raptor wheels and tires. I've read quite a few discussions and from what I've gathered is that anything over a 2.5" lift, you risk excessive strain and wear on the ball joints on factory arms. Now I want to do things correct since I'm going to keep the truck for a while, so I dont want to be cheap about upgrades but I do want to be frugle at the sametime. My question is, are Raptor upper control arms different than that on a standard F150? If they are, do they provide better ball joint angles like aftermarket arms? I've found Raptor upper conrtol arms on Ebay and they are significantly lower in cost than aftermarkets.

Thank you sirs and madams for any input you can give me.

SteveLord

Better check on that since the 2014 took a slight redesign in the suspension around the UCA and LCA area.

I don't think the Raptor changed at all from 2013-2014.

gDMJoe

Yes, they are totally different - longer.
.

gt500kr427

Wow thanks! You guys respond fast.

WarSurfer

if you replace both the upper and lower arms, the difference in 2013-14 becomes moot.

Raptor arms are ~3" longer each side. You'll need both uppers and lowers, tie rods and extended brake lines. The ball joints on the raptor arms aren't any 'better', ie they don't have any improvement on range of motion and Raptors also suffered when the coilovers were run on top perch.

4.6Intruder

If you run both raptor uca's and lca's, you will need fender flares or even flared fiberglass fenders since it push your wheels out almost 3 inches on both sides I believe. You will probably be better off buying aftermarket uca's intended for this purpose like from camburg etc. or rough country makes a ball joint style uca for 3" levels. The issue is this only corrects the upper ball joint angle and still leaves the lowers and tie rods straining.

Glex25

I'm running Bilstein 5100 and can clear 2018 Raptor wheels/tire.
Pretty soon I'll be switching out to full Raptor suspension

STingray1300

Don't forget that you'll have to buy Raptor CV axles as well. And then what are you going to do for the rear? New (wider) axle housing? You're much better off spending the money right on a good aftermarket set up.

Z7What

Boss Coilovers and ICON UCAs and you will have a great ride and for the wheels and tires you want.

Wayne