Lightning as an actual truck from an ex Raptor owner

[irunalot]

So I've only had this truck for a couple of weeks now, and have about 1,700 miles on it. I traded in a 2023 Raptor (37 package) and I had a Gen 2 Raptor before that, and I had a Gen 1 Raptor before that. I'm an avid mountain biker and ride 5 or 6 days a week, and it always involves driving off road (usually washboard dirt roads) to get to the trailhead. That's why I've owned Raptors, they are a dream off road obviously. Well I have been more than pleasantly surprised at how nice the Lightning drives in the dirt. On this 20 miles of dirt roads I drove today, it drove just as good as the Raptor, maybe even better. Of course if it was rougher than a washboard road, there wouldn't be any comparison, but this is a typical dirt road, and the Lightning shined. I've been hauling bikes and lots of gear in it, and anyone who thinks this thing isn't a real truck is mistaken.

So I've only had this truck for a couple of weeks now, and have about 1,700 miles on it. I traded in a 2023 Raptor (37 package) and I had a Gen 2 Raptor before that, and I had a Gen 1 Raptor before that. I'm an avid mountain biker and ride 5 or 6 days a week, and it always involves driving off road (usually washboard dirt roads) to get to the trailhead. That's why I've owned Raptors, they are a dream off road obviously. Well I have been more than pleasantly surprised at how nice the Lightning drives in the dirt. On this 20 miles of dirt roads I drove today, it drove just as good as the Raptor, maybe even better. Of course if it was rougher than a washboard road, there wouldn't be any comparison, but this is a typical dirt road, and the Lightning shined. I've been hauling bikes and lots of gear in it, and anyone who thinks this thing isn't a real truck is mistaken.

Dude! I've had 5 Raptors between 2017 and 2025 and put over 30,000 miles on each of them and they were all beasts. My wife and I differ on what we miss (I miss the 600 mile range, she misses the roar when they started) but both of us really love the Lightning, more than we thought we would. The acceleration, the ride, smoothness, and the fact that it's a real truck with all the utility of a truck makes it really worthwhile for us. The frunk is a bonus. We mainly charge at home unless we're out on longer trips. I don't miss the gas stations.

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[pirate4x4lance]

Dude! I've had 5 Raptors between 2017 and 2025 and put over 30,000 miles on each of them and they were all beasts. My wife and I differ on what we miss (I miss the 600 mile range, she misses the roar when they started) but both of us really love the Lightning, more than we thought we would. The acceleration, the ride, smoothness, and the fact that it's a real truck with all the utility of a truck makes it really worthwhile for us. The frunk is a bonus. We mainly charge at home unless we're out on longer trips. I don't miss the gas stations.

Pretty much same. I miss the Raptor in some ways, but very happy with the Lightning. It's a great truck so far. Even my MTB buddies who make fun of the Lightning are jealous of the frunk. LOL

 

[F150ROD]

Tremor is good enough for me to battle the Concrete crawling at Costco....

 

[RickKeen]

Sure you can make one *look* like a Raptor, but it'll never perform like one offroad. Washboard dirt roads are one thing, actual hard core offroad is a whole different animal. Take it from a guy with 9 Baja 1000 class wins.

If you replace all the suspension, wheels, and tires to be equiv. to the Raptor, and have similar amounts of horsepower, what else do you need to perform like a Raptor?

 

[Oafy44]

So I've only had this truck for a couple of weeks now, and have about 1,700 miles on it. I traded in a 2023 Raptor (37 package) and I had a Gen 2 Raptor before that, and I had a Gen 1 Raptor before that. I'm an avid mountain biker and ride 5 or 6 days a week, and it always involves driving off road (usually washboard dirt roads) to get to the trailhead. That's why I've owned Raptors, they are a dream off road obviously. Well I have been more than pleasantly surprised at how nice the Lightning drives in the dirt. On this 20 miles of dirt roads I drove today, it drove just as good as the Raptor, maybe even better. Of course if it was rougher than a washboard road, there wouldn't be any comparison, but this is a typical dirt road, and the Lightning shined. I've been hauling bikes and lots of gear in it, and anyone who thinks this thing isn't a real truck is mistaken.

Welcome ! I had a 23 raptor and traded it in after 3 months for my first lighting. Got a second lighting (upgraded to a platinum for less than a lariat ) because I loved it so much - still have a f350 that I can’t part with because of the diesel. But I think if the two like kids. You love both the same but they are different.

You can’t beat the instant torque /speed/ suspension of the lighting coming from a raptor IMO. Now if I had a raptor R that might be different.

There’s just something about a super duty that can tow a house / have an amazing interior for a truck / and command the road.

 

[WXman]

I came to this truck from a 2019 6.7L Powerstroke that was missing some problematic parts it came from the factory with and was on a 480 HP/ 1000 lb.ft. tune. It's amazing how similar the Lightning feels to that truck. The rush of torque and ability to easily get up to speed is almost exactly the same as my diesel. That helped the transition for me.

Also, I just got back from a 280 mile round trip to the lake and didn't have to hit a public charging station, which made me feel really good and eased the anxiety quite a bit. Wife even loves this truck and she's never positive about anything.

 

[sotek2345]

If you replace all the suspension, wheels, and tires to be equiv. to the Raptor, and have similar amounts of horsepower, what else do you need to perform like a Raptor?

Weight and structure. The Lightning is just a heavy beast and I can't see it casually doing jumps like the Raptor does.

 

[RickKeen]

Weight and structure. The Lightning is just a heavy beast and I can't see it casually doing jumps like the Raptor does.

Yep. A little heavier. Suspension spring rates would have to be adjusted accordingly.

 

[HOTAS]

Glad you like your Lightning !
Curious, what gas mileage did your Raptors generally average?

 

[RickKeen]

... I can't see it casually doing jumps like the Raptor does.

Modified Lightning taking some air:

 

[pirate4x4lance]

Glad you like your Lightning !
Curious, what gas mileage did your Raptors generally average?

My 2023 Gen 3 with 37 Package on KO3’s got about 13.5mpg. 14.5 with the OEM KO2 37’s. The KO3’s are a tad larger and heavier.

 

[Jseis]

A Raptor is sorta of wannabe pre-runner.. not an “actual truck” designed to do “truck things”. Most of the ones I see are pavement princesses, not work trucks in the leas. Put a 1/2 cord of wood in one and go woopseedo jumping.

 

[pirate4x4lance]

A Raptor is sorta of wannabe pre-runner.. not an “actual truck” designed to do “truck things”. Most of the ones I see are pavement princesses, not work trucks in the leas. Put a 1/2 cord of wood in one and go woopseedo jumping.

lol the same could be said for a Lightning… dumb argument. Not even sure what your point is here.

 

[Jseis]

lol the same could be said for a Lightning… dumb argument. Not even sure what your point is here.

Oh, just a friendly stick in the eye. Of course the Lightning is no prerunner and I/2 cord of green Western Alder probably a ton and it‘d be a load. We’ve no wide open off road (highway) spaces here on the coast (beach speed 25 mph) to cruise at 80, just blind curves in deep forest. I wish they’d had a less costly V8 model (other than the R). The V6 sound is…. odd. Just doesn’t sound right. But all in all Ford did a fab job with it.

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