New Gen 2 Raptor Ranger first modifications!!! can we fit 35 inch tyres including the spare?

New Gen 2 Ford Raptor Ranger! Will 35 inch tyres fit?

It was a pretty exciting day for my good mate Damo, after months and month of waiting his brand new Gen 2 raptor ranger had arrived.

For those who don’t know these are pretty impressive 4wds out of the box. Fox 2.5 live dampening suspension, Twin locked and now with an engine that actually deserves the Raptor name plate! It is a twin turbo v6 petrol making 292kw and 583nm also weighing in around half a ton lighter that my Y62 patrol, this thing is fast, unbelievably fast especially for a 4wd.

Now in our fashion it was never going to stay stock. So day 1 we were strait into modifying it. Nothing to major to start with. Wheels and tyres, installing a UHF and some tasteful styling changes.

The big question, can you fit 35” tyres under a standard new gen 2 Raptor Ranger? Yes, absolutely you can!

Before we go in to what needs to be modified, the wheels of choice are a Method 312 in bronze 18x9” with a positive 18 offset. In all honesty a positive 30-35 would be a better offset on a 9” wide wheel. The tyre of choice a Nitto 35x12.5r18 Trail Grappler.

So what this means, we have a wheel with arguably too much offset for a raptor ranger, and tyres that have a notoriously large overall diameter. But surprisingly it took only minor trimming to make the work.

We removed the front mudflaps, removed the honey combe blocks from behind the inner guards. Trimmed the inside of the front flare and bent a tiny portion of the quarter panel up out of the way. That’s it! I would say with a +35 offset you would quite possibly get away without cutting or removing the honeycomb blocks.

As for the spare? Simply a 35x12.5” tyre fits. It is a little snug but nothing that will cause any issues. Keep in mind the Nitto Trail Grapplers are a 890mm OD tyre, this is the largest overall diameter of a 35” tyre I have seen available. So every brand of 35 will definitely fit under the back of a new gen 2 Raptor Ranger.

The GME XRS was installed utilising pre-existing holes in the tub for the 2.1 dbi areal. The unit itself hidden under the carpet on the passenger side foot well and wired into the internal fuse box using an add-a-fuse. This is really the simplest way to install a uhf radio in any 4wd.

The cheap and tacky Raptor stickers on the tray were removed with a little heat. That is where we called it a day on the first round of modifications for the Raptor.

After driving this thing I am seriously thinking I need my own.