do those things really justify the big price increase. couldnt you get mods like those for a lot less yourself

 

No you couldn't, you would pay much more to do it your self. SFA, front-rear lockers, electrionic swaybar disconect, stiffer frame, stronger trany, 10.5 inch rear end, eight lug axles. No way brotha.

 

I dont knwo if you could actually when you consider electronic front and rear lockers would probbaly run 1000$ each if not more. electronically disconnecting sway bars i dont even know how much that would cost lol. comes with a bit of a lift. the 12,000lb winch is another grand or more. Upgrading the gears is another few grand. So all in all its pretty reasonably priced for what it has but, But to high priced for the average person. Ive nly seen a few around town and i live in the oil patch so im in truck central

 

For all the people saying that they like the raptor because of the Baja elements Ford put in, just buy a KORE suspension kit, and 35" tires and your Ram will be just as good, and will hold its own the SVT Raptor. (Plus it'll cost alot less than the MSRP on those things).

 

I've wondered the same thing. When I was doing serious 4-wheeling, I had a 20 year old truck with a great drivetrain and a crap body. Rocker panel dents, paint scrapes and "oops! that hurt! {the truck}" were expected.

Who takes a ~$40-50K vehicle optioned out for 4-wheeling and actually takes it to places where the options are used and needed?

 

Well when I was 20, granted it wasn't $40-50 grand but it was 26,000. I bought a toy tacoma trd and I beat the hell out of it. Six month's after having it I blew out the right rear axle seal and when I took it in for warenty they put it up on the lift and the service guys just shook their heads and I was like "what"? They said the undercairage looked like a fifteen year old truck not a six month old truck.LOL

 

Granted most ppl wont but some will and if youve got those option for your trucks then those ppl will buy your trucks. Theres probably alot more ppl who would do it then you would think lol. Now i suppose asking for lockers in a 1500 and a SFA might be a little much. but the upgraded lsd should just be clear as day for dodge the 9.25 SUCKS. And as for the low payload they just gotta do something about it an extra 1000 lbs of payload is a lot to a company thats gonna buy these truck's for work. And really a nice off road optioned truck would attracted buyers i think. One skid plate doesnt do it for me lol. Guys who want the off-road abilty aren't really gonna be beating there truck up. alot of ppl will buy stuff just because IT CAN not cus YOU WILL. The hummer and even many jeeps to an extent are prime example. I have personally never seen a H2 or H3 off road. Ppl love to brag about what they could do not what they will lol. its the american way ... I want that 600hp viper that can do 200mph even though i'll never go over 100mph in it lol.

 

And just how much do you guys think the SVT Raptor is going to cost? It's not going to be chump change, I promise you that. I haven't seen any information on price for it. If the Raptor comes in at anything under $35-$40k I will be shocked. It will be a low production, low volume seller for Ford. Very limited demand for a truck of that nature. All of that makes it extremely difficult to justify a business case for something like that when the manufacturers are doing good to stay alive as it is.

 

Oh i can almost guarantee it wont be under 40k but the point im trying to make is that its an attention grabber. Your gonna go into the dealership just to look at it and then be like oh just looking then the dealership will try suckering you into a reg f-150 for half the price. Your also right with it being a bad business decision right now. Now is not to the time to be spending millions making a low sellling car but my guess is they already had spent the money on it before all this economic stuff happened so might as well keep going with it. With this post im trying to talk about the future you know 3-5 years down the road i would like to see dodge offer stuff like this once everything gets settled back down. And its all just wishes and dreams really all the option i want will probably never happen. Like many industry ppl said about dodge and the viper. It would be a bad thing for dodge to end the viper the viper is the kind of car that gets dodge noticed and brings ppl into the dealships i think the raptor MAY have this effect for ford. Im just saying this cus every off-road and truck magazine i buy lately has atleast one full atricle dedicated to the ford raptor.

 

If I were into Real 4 wheelin, I would just buy a used 4wd jeep and stick some 35" Super Swampers on it. Alot cheaper than the raptor, Wouldn't worry about the body and Bet you I could still get farther than the raptor in just about any terrain. You have to admit though, For the stock options on the raptor, It is a very sharp truck.