The Ford Bronco Raptor has a size problem and it’s not the fact it’s more than 86 inches wide. Instead, it’s too tall.
The Ford Bronco Raptor’s design brief called for 13 inches of suspension travel front and rear, but the engineers had different plans.
In production form, the Bronco Raptor has 14 inches of rear suspension travel, which posed a real issue for production as it made the Bronco Raptor nearly 78 inches tall.
In full production spec, the 2022 Ford Bronco Raptor is too tall for the Bronco’s assembly line in Wayne, Michigan. Instead of caving and reverting back to the original plan of 13 inches, the engineering team told everyone else to get creative.
2022 Ford Bronco Raptor
Raptor Advanced Systems Engineer Jack Cooper told Motor Authority early in the production line the rear axle can’t fully droop, otherwise the Bronco Raptor won’t fit. The solution came in the form of a two-position lower shock mount bracket that holds the rear axle an inch higher than normal via two bolts per side placed in the upper slot position. These bolts prevent the rear suspension from reaching full extension.
2022 Ford Bronco Raptor
2022 Ford Bronco Raptor
After rolling off the assembly line, Bronco Raptors are taken to the “Mod Center” next door, which is where factory accessories are installed. The Bronco Raptors are placed on a lift and two bolts per side are loosened, a set screw is removed from the bottom of the axle bracket and placed in the lower slot of the casting. Cooper noted this system is an error-proof way to ensure the axle is in the right spot. It becomes obvious that the set screw’s been removed from the bottom of the bracket and placed in the back of the casting at a simple glance.
The modified suspension uses parts straight from the F-150 Raptor’s bin, though tuned differently and/or with mounting angle/hardware applied. Combined with the 37-inch BFGoodrich K02 tires, it provides 13.1 inches of ground clearance. That’s 4.8 inches more than a base Bronco and 1.6 more than a Sasquatch-equipped Bronco on 35s. It all adds up to one tall, and presumably capable, SUV that required some outside-the-box thinking to get it down the assembly line.
