Ford launched the third-gen Raptor with a lot of interesting goodies. However, the 37-inch tires from the factory caught everyone’s attention. This is the largest size ever offered by any automaker from the factory in the light-duty truck segment. While it sounds exciting, it forced Ford to make some drastic changes to its production lines to accommodate it.

Folks from the Blue Oval spoke to Road and Track about this and it surely wasn’t as easy as it looks.

35-inch tires were offered previously as well, but not 37-inch sets. In fact, this is the first time such big tires are being offered from the factory in this segment. This came with its own set of problems.

The 2021 F-150 Raptor’s Program Manager, Tony Greco, told the publication, "Imagine those monsters and how we’re dealing with them in the assembly plant,". "It’s a big, big truck. It’s bigger than F-150 and it got taller than the last Raptor. We had a lot of help from the assembly plant who understood what a game-changer it was for us."

Apples to oranges here, but you get the perspective. This meant the company had to make a lot of changes to its factory and production lines. Greco said, “Getting it into the plant, that went on for 15 months to find the solution,". "Every single station, every single piece of equipment ... We’d run a 2020 Raptor with foam blocks on top to simulate the height. Constant digital reviews with the manufacturing team ... They took every down week in the summer and over Christmas trying to change the cycle line to make provisions for what was coming. In the end, we found a really clever way to execute it."

This Meant Making Changes To The Suspension System And The Vehicle Frame

The 37-inch-tires Raptor comes with a whole lot of other changes, too, which is why it is sold as part of a package. The front shock absorber features a larger rod with a different spring perch location in the case of the 37-inch tire Raptors. The F-150 Raptor comes with an all-new five-link setup with Panhard bar at the rear this time around, but for the bigger tires, it receives unique shock absorbers and bump stops. The travel range is 13 inches in the front and 14.1 at the rear, which is less than the 14- and 15-inch travel range of the Raptors equipped with the 35-inch rubber set.

If some smart-ass thinks he can buy the 35-inch Raptor and equip 37-inch tires, he’ll have to go without a spare tire. Touching base on this, Greco said, "The biggest thing is the stowing of the 37-inch spare. The frame that comes with the 37-inch configuration is unique to the 37-inch truck,". "A guy that gets a 35-inch-equipped truck and decides he wants to put on 37s, he’s never going to get a 37-inch spare underneath there."

Final Thoughts

Because Ford had seen people get 37-inch tires in the previous generation Raptors, the people involved with the production were hell-bent on offering them from the factory itself. This will be fruitful in the long run and you will certainly see a lot of 37-inch packages sold once the Raptor’s deliveries begin.

The pricing is not announced yet, but going by the changes made to accommodate the bigger tires, we expect the 37-inch package to be priced at a heavy premium, perhaps pushing the cost of the third-gen Raptor in the Ram 1500 TRX category. If you were to buy the new Ford F-150 Raptor, would you get it with the 35-inch tires or the 37-inch? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section below.