The Ford F-150 SVT Raptor debuted in 2009 as an off-road powerhouse, engineered to tackle rugged terrain with high-performance suspension, aggressive styling, and a powerful engine. All that ground-eating off-road tech wouldn’t be anything without a high-quality suspension to carry it – and it doesn’t hurt that the Fox shocks are easy on the eye, too.
The Ford F-150 SVT Raptor shocks were developed in partnership with Fox, rising from a need for tough, off-road-ready shocks that complimented the muscle truck’s aesthetic, too. Fox stepped in to help The Blue Oval come up with a solution, focused on helping the F-150 Raptor to stay level in off-road situations without bottoming out, either.
The collaboration resulted in an internal triple bypass shock, which could handle up to seven times more force than a standard shock absorber in their first iteration. These shocks also featured position-sensitive dampening, which helped control the stiffness as they traveled through the suspension, keeping the Ford F-150 SVT Raptor from jostling even over rough terrain.
“The F-150 SVT Raptor doesn’t just appear to be off-road ready. It is off-road ready,” said Derrick Kuzak, Former Ford Group Vice President for Global Product Development. “It was built with the off-road enthusiast in mind and will give consumers an off-road experience no other vehicle can.”
Throughout the years, Ford and Fox have only improved the shocks’ design. The 2024 Ford F-150 Raptor debuted with a fresh face and a set of Fox dual live-valve shocks with position-sensitive compression control and continuously variable rebound controls. Even better, these shocks can adapt damping to match body control to the off-road environment via Ford Performance-developed off-road algorithms.
The Ford F-150 SVT Raptor was born while the company was working on developing a third-gen Lightning (not to be confused with the all-electric Ford F-150 Lightning), but the project quickly turned to a more off-road-focused project. The Raptor program has already proved invaluable to the automaker, and Ford CEO Jim Farley says it will continue to influence models in the future.
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