Definitive Raptor Swap Wheels / Tires Tutorial (look no further)

[Jherzog2211]

Did they recalibrate the speedometer for you, or did you just leave it? Any other calibration done as part of the lift? I know you didnt mention anything, but was wondering if maybe the shop adjusted lights and/or any sensor alignment when they did the lift.

Great question. The short answer is no.

the lights and parking cameras all look fine though even despite nobody adjusting them (hadn’t even thought of that!)

the Speedo is a different story. I thought this was a package deal when a shop puts on bigger wheels it seems a no brainer to me that they have to recalibrate Speedo for safety! However, nope. No shops will do it in part because they say their software to recalibrate doesn’t even have the Lightning available yet?! I think you can recalibrate yourself at home with Forscan but I haven’t done that. The free solution is:

use Waze. It has a built in GPs speedo.

for reference at city speeds it’s off by maybe 1-2 mph and then on the highway I believe

speedo 60- actual 64mph
Speedo 65- actual 70 mph

I just look at my Waze GPS Speedo

HOWEVER….
this does take us down a quick rabbit hole. Because the truck doesn’t know you have bigger wheels the speedometer AND ODOMETER will be off. Forever. You will have actually traveled more miles than the truck says. And therefore your mi/kwh will also be off (it will read LOWER than your actual efficiency) And I’ve just had to accept that. So even though my truck says efficiency 2.0 mi/kwh it’s actually a little better than that

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[mq019]

Great question. The short answer is no.

the lights and parking cameras all look fine though even despite nobody adjusting them (hadn’t even thought of that!)

the Speedo is a different story. I thought this was a package deal when a shop puts on bigger wheels it seems a no brainer to me that they have to recalibrate Speedo for safety! However, nope. No shops will do it in part because they say their software to recalibrate doesn’t even have the Lightning available yet?! I think you can recalibrate yourself at home with Forscan but I haven’t done that. The free solution is:

use Waze. It has a built in GPs speedo.

for reference at city speeds it’s off by maybe 1-2 mph and then on the highway I believe

speedo 60- actual 64mph
Speedo 65- actual 70 mph

I just look at my Waze GPS Speedo

HOWEVER….
this does take us down a quick rabbit hole. Because the truck doesn’t know you have bigger wheels the speedometer AND ODOMETER will be off. Forever. You will have actually traveled more miles than the truck says. And therefore your mi/kwh will also be off (it will read LOWER than your actual efficiency) And I’ve just had to accept that. So even though my truck says efficiency 2.0 mi/kwh it’s actually a little better than that

Yeah - I'd probably just leave it since its pretty close unless I found someone local that would be willing to update it for me. I doubt the dealer would, and I suspect that like you said, most shops don't have the capability (yet).

Interesting point about the ODO, and efficiency calcs - I hadnt thought of that. I'm not overly concerned about that, though that does mean that all any range and GPS trip estimates will be off too. I'll have to think about that some and consider any potential impacts that may have. It might actually be worth finding someone with Forscan that can change it for me just to eliminate all the extra thinking I would need to do! I should have a while to think about it while working to find a set of wheels locally. Probably wont do the lift until I have the wheels.

 

[Jherzog2211]

Yeah - I'd probably just leave it since its pretty close unless I found someone local that would be willing to update it for me. I doubt the dealer would, and I suspect that like you said, most shops don't have the capability (yet).

Interesting point about the ODO, and efficiency calcs - I hadnt thought of that. I'm not overly concerned about that, though that does mean that all any range and GPS trip estimates will be off too. I'll have to think about that some and consider any potential impacts that may have. It might actually be worth finding someone with Forscan that can change it for me just to eliminate all the extra thinking I would need to do! I should have a while to think about it while working to find a set of wheels locally. Probably wont do the lift until I have the wheels.

My first road trip is in early June. My thought is that I’m going to just know every charger available along my route and be more proactive with stopping to charge. Adopting the Kyle Connor approach of lots of quick short charging stops. The infrastructure is good enough especially now that we have Tesla at our disposal. That’s what pushed me over the edge to do the upgrades, knowing I had so many Tesla chargers to lean on during trips now.
I have an SR so if the truck says I’ve got 1.8 mi/kwh, I know I can comfortably go 150 miles between charges which is plenty to get me to each charger for this particular route.

 

[Effonefiddy Lightning]

After many weeks of toiling, research, and hoisting these heavy SOBs in and out of my truckbed, I want to save everyone else the time and hardship that I've gone thru. My goal from the start was to get these 17 inch wheels/35 inch tires (Raptor Takeoffs) on my 2023 F150 Lightning XLT. Despite what all the shops told me and their lack of familiarity with the Lightning (even though the truck has been out for 2 years now) we were ultimately successful after a month of trial and error; I want to share the required parts with you all in case you also want to achieve this aggressive look.

Step 1: Buy "Raptor Take Offs"
I had success with this on Facebook Marketplace. The wheels that were available happened to be 17 inch Raptor wheels with 35 inch tires (BF Goodrich All Terrains LT315/70R17). I paid $1800 (a total steal, I learned, compared to what you'll pay at TireRack for new wheels and tires. I know this because at one point, after giving up on the Raptor Takeoffs I bought the cheapest wheels and 35 inch tires I could find from Tire Rack that were off-road oriented and it was $2400 ).

Step 2: You need at least a 2 inch Level kit installed on your Lightning. The 2 inch level kit I chose is less than $100 (link below). It was one of the few parts that declared on the website that it is indeed compatible with the F150 Lightning. Depending on how savvy you are in your garage, you may be able to install this yourself, but I went to a local shop. The shop charged me ~$450 to level the truck and perform an alignment, however they told me the wheels and tires still wouldn't fit over the Lightning brake calipers even after the 2 inch level (first speedbump but stay with me).

https://www.roughcountry.com/product/ford-lightning-leveling-lift-kit-52000


Step 3: You need 12 mm spacers. This may sound like an intimidating dealbreaker, however it turns out it totally isn't. These go between your Raptor wheel and the wheel hub, and this is what resolves the "wheel won't fit over the brake calipers" problem. It's tight, but it works. 12mm is only 0.5 inches, meaning this will only make your truck 1 inch wider (not a comical amount of poke). The spacers, like the Level kit, is affordable. I got mine off of Amazon for less than $100 (link below).

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BC1KT33N?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

Step 4: You need EXTENDED THREAD LUG NUTS that will fit the Lightning (14x1.5). The reason being after you put the spacer and the wheel on, the amount of remaining thread available is flirting with potentially being unsafe. Some sources say you should thread at least the diameter of the Bolt (F150 lightning bolt diameter is 14mm), and other sources say you need a specific amount of TURNS to be safe (source recommended 9.5 turns, I was only able to execute 7 turns with the stock lug). For peace of mind, I purchased these extended thread lug nuts (and they're black )These were about $50.

https://lugnutguys.com/collections/lug-nuts-et/products/et-style-bulge-acorn-lug-nut-14x1-5-black

I had to learn all of this one step at a time, and make separate appointments to learn each individual roadblock and then address it. Don't be like me. Buy all the right parts first. Make your appointment at the shop, walk away happy Hope this was helpful for someone. Apologies if this thread already exists somewhere else.

Once I've had the Raptor wheels on for longer, I'll update the thread with efficiency data. Fun fact though, while driving around these last few weeks with just the 2 inch level with stock wheels and tires, I averaged 2.5 mi/kwh (significantly better than I would have thought)

-Joe (more to come from me on this site, I promise you that).

Id be worried about the center bore of the wheel not resting on the hub.

 

[mq019]

Id be worried about the center bore of the wheel not resting on the hub.

Thats what I was concerned about as well - why I was asking about any vibration or wobble, but seems like he's not having any issues.

 

[Effonefiddy Lightning]

Thats what I was concerned about as well - why I was asking about any vibration or wobble, but seems like he's not having any issues.

The lug nuts will pretty much center the wheel but over time its possible those studs could snap ie; when going off road, going around corners, or just the weight of the truck, not to mention, those wheels stick out further than stock putting more leverage on the studs. Yikes!

 

[Whammy Bar]

I grabbed a set of Raptor R wheels with the 37s on them. I had to mock it up because I was just too dang excited.

Rears bolt up no issues (unless I overlooked something).

Fronts have full interference with the caliper. But they appear to clear the fender at full lock by a blonde one.

Ordering spacers and wheel nuts, will report back.

Lift is the Eibach pro kit at 3" front, stock height rear.

 

[Andrewbens]

How’s the everyday driving with 17s and spacers I have a set of 2022 raptor 35” wheels I want to install.

 

[eRockBoon]

I grabbed a set of Raptor R wheels with the 37s on them. I had to mock it up because I was just too dang excited.

Rears bolt up no issues (unless I overlooked something).

Fronts have full interference with the caliper. But they appear to clear the fender at full lock by a blonde one.

Ordering spacers and wheel nuts, will report back.

Lift is the Eibach pro kit at 3" front, stock height rear.

Are you saying the 37s can clear the crash bar and wheel liners up front?!? What are the dimensions of those wheels. I am guessing that +44 offset must really help out. My 35s rub a little bit with +12 offset 17 inch wheels

 

[Andrewbens]

Messaged the lug company when the recommended lugs were gonna come back in stock and they said these lugs are not for the stock wheels but only for aftermarket wheels.

Link to the recommended set.

https://lugnutguys.com/products/et-style-bulge-acorn-lug-nut-14x1-5-black

 

[OMO7]

This is what I like to call, playing with fire.

Hope it works in the long term.

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