2024 Ranger Raotor should I stay or should I go ?

[Brian Lowery]

Probably been asked but just looking for other RR owners opinion I have 2024 6K miles I hear he cam phaser on cold start so prim engine on the first start of the day this may or may not help I tow a 19' boat in summer never too far and I tow a Side by side some worried about cam phaser and transmission ........ Have a buddy just got his 2024 about 3 months ago and his trans has had to be replaced it locked up yes it was warrantied but I worry about mine now...... I have a real good offer on my truck about 2k less then I paid for it so I am definitely considering it any body got some higher miles RR no problems or towing with no problems

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[Truckin]

If it were mine for 2k I would dump it and get another rig but I’ve traded rides for much less wrong

 

[jclar159]

Probably been asked but just looking for other RR owners opinion I have 2024 6K miles I hear he cam phaser on cold start so prim engine on the first start of the day this may or may not help I tow a 19' boat in summer never too far and I tow a Side by side some worried about cam phaser and transmission ........ Have a buddy just got his 2024 about 3 months ago and his trans has had to be replaced it locked up yes it was warrantied but I worry about mine now...... I have a real good offer on my truck about 2k less then I paid for it so I am definitely considering it any body got some higher miles RR no problems or towing with no problems

I have 24 RR 14600 miles. No issues, 1358 miles towing side by side. About 4200 pounds, most towing in hills of Ky, Tn & WV.

 

[Blue Ridge Raptor]

Just about to pass 8K miles on my 2024RR. Zero problems, enjoy driving it daily, enjoy looking at it & doing truck stuff with it.
if it were me - I’d keep until you break it, get near 3y/36k miles or find something you like better - whichever comes first.

 

[rocsteady]

I think the answer would be based on, "what are you doing with the RR when you're not towing a trailer?" If it just gets you from point A to point B on straight highway or if it just sits in your driveway, or if you load it to the gills with your gear and family to go to places where the Raptor's abilities aren't challenged/necessary; then I'd say you would probably be happier in something else.

IF, however, when not towing you're looking for dirt roads, fire trails or other non-paved roads to blast around, or have twisty, windy paved roads that you travel frequently AND like the capability that the RR gives you in the other situations, then you keep the Raptor. I say that as there are not a ton of vehicles that have as wide a bandwidth as these do, from playing sporty rally car to towing smaller/lighter toys, to the ability to enjoy the heck out of inclement weather driving all year round.

Very few of us have access to roads like I see out in areas like Utah to "Baja" around, but that doesn't stop RR owners from looking for and testing whatever we do have available around where we live. If that's you too, then I fear you'll be disappointed in other vehicles; unless you move up to an F150 Raptor or something...

 

[Lion77]

Well said @rocsteady and I second that. @Brian Lowery, is it a daily driver or a 2nd / 3rd vehicle? That might be a big factor too in how much potential down time there might be and how it impacts your life from a time / alternative transportation standpoint. If you do keep it, might be worth looking at a 100k extended powertrain warranty just in case, I did on my RR and we did that on my wife's 2018 CX-9 Grand Touring (now at 115k, so past warranty and didn't end up needing it).

 

[AlpineBike]

For what this truck weighs, it has to be the absolute worst towing truck on the market compared to other trucks in its weight class.

if you’re already having cam phaser issues and are towing a boat and sxs’s and can get out of it for a $2k loss I’d take the money and run!

 

[Lion77]

The Colorado ZR2 Bison has 5500lb towing capacity and the hybrid Taco's are down at 6,000 (only 500 lbs. more which isn't much) and so is the regular ZR2. 5,500~6,000 not much practical difference over the RR and its competitors make a lot less power.

2024 Chevy Colorado Towing Capacity – Jennings Chevrolet Blog

Pretty much all the off-road focused mid-sized trucks drop a considerable amount off their base towing capacity except the Taco which I think at it's highest towing trim is 6,600lbs, but the Taco Trainhunter and TRD Pro are 6,000.

ZR2 Bison = 5,273lbs curb weight
Ranger Raptor = 5,372lbs (+100lbs over the ZR2)
Tacoma Trail hunter = 5,478lbs (+205lbs over ZR2)

They all look pretty similar weights / towing in their off-road trims.

 

[Lion77]

(1) FYI - Original vs. Re-designed Cam Phasors (3.5L, 3.0L and 2.7L) | Ranger6G - 2024+ Ranger & Raptor Forum, News, Owners, Community (6th Gen)

Take a look at this. I don't think what your hearing is likely a cam phasor issue. Seems to me that anything 2021 and newer should have a completely re-designed phasor. The difference in design is significant and I would say the original design in Gen 1 and Gen 2 3.5L, earlier production 2.7L / 3.0L nano's was DUMB, just asking for problems and problems they got!

But the new design looks more conventional and certainly would be expected to be far more reliable. I know that a bad waste gate can rattle and sound a lot like cam phasors and is actually a more common problem than the phasors according to the F-150 forums I scoured when studying this issue.

Also timing chain rattle due to a tensioner issue (i.e., quality issue, not design related) could cause a similar sound. So, it may not be the phasors at all. Are you running factory oil and filter? If not, maybe try a factory motorcraft filter and motocraft full synthetic just to see if that makes any difference.

My friend's old Crown Vic with a 4.9L 3 valve rattles bad on startup with non-ford filters due to the bypass (or lack thereof with most non-oe), but when using OE filters, it doesn't. Just some points of trouble shooting. I've made it a point on all my cars (Mazda's for daily's, the Ford RR for fun), to use factory filters and full synthetic oil to avoid issues like that. Maybe that's not your problem, but just wanted to ask and point it out.

 

[sweeks888]

I can tell you I just got my Raptor a month ago and it was a late 2024 build, which when you plug in your VIN online (Ford recalls, mine had none), it will tell you if yours is one that could possibly have issues or not, and needs to have the updated parts installed to theoretically solve them. Worth a check for recalls at any rate.

 

[Lion77]

Yah I checked mine a few weeks ago just to see and at that time there wasn't any.

 

[Lion77]

TOYOTA TUNDRA 5.7L ENGINE RATTLE. FIXED!

BTW, cam phasor rattle isn't by any means a Ford only problem. The locking pin concept is used on most modern cam phasors, seems to me it's more of a "how the locking pin" is implemented that matters, but regardless of the design, any phasor can be out of spec from a mfg. standpoint and fail, or in the case of the video above, just a hydraulic chain tensioner.

There's quite a number of issues that can sound like a cam phasor issue but isn't the phaser itself. VVT solenoid failure, waste gate rattle and chain tensioner.

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