Today, we linked up with the Utah Raptor Runs group in Parowan, UT for a run across the southwestern Utah desert. The route wound us through wide-open desert terrain and ended in the middle of a legit volcano cinder cone near Fillmore, UT. To cap it off, I pointed the truck up Cedar Mountain and grabbed some photos at elevation. Couldn’t have asked for a better test day.
The Ranger Raptor is absolutely in its element on this type of trip – the performance and fluidity of this truck in the desert is second to none. But the big highlight for me was the new tire setup.
I’m running Nitto Terra Grappler G3’s in LT315/70R17, and honestly, this is how the Ranger Raptor should have come from the factory. The upgrade in “plushness” and traction is a huge step up – the truck feels more confident, more planted, and just flat-out more fun. Bigger tires really do equal bigger smiles.
We did have to do some work to make them fit:
Trimmed some plastic and sheet metal (removed the crash bars).
Tried three different wheel setups to clear at full lock/compression.
Ended up sticking with the stock wheels + a 4mm spacer. Without the spacer, the tires rubbed the uprights.
Suspension-wise, it’s sitting on a 3" RPG coil spacer up front and a 1.25" spacer in the rear (helps with the weight we carry). I’m not the biggest fan of spacers as a long-term solution, but for now, this setup works really well. A mid-travel kit will eventually go in, but until then, this configuration is going to be perfect.
Huge thanks to Nitto for supplying the tires – they completely transformed the truck.
The bed RAILS and BASE system worked flawlessly! Very happy with the flexibility of this system!
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AdventureLab.com Just Got a Massive Upgrade