Jan 13, 2025
Jan 1, 2015
Painted
October 7, 2014
More Raptrac pics
Truck is mainly finished now except for the paint, we will be working on that in the next month or so. Carbon console finishes off the business end of the interior with light switches, gauges etc. In case you are wondering the purple handle is the hydraulic rally / e-brake. Sparco R100 seats are comfy with lots of support for spirited driving.
Engine is running excellent, you can see our aluminum ram air box with 05 Mustang style intake and nice intake cover we have from CPC. Front bumper has integrated skid plate and led lights. It looks pretty menacing coming at you!
September 20, 2014
Raptrac in Revelstoke
Took the truck on a great weekend trip to Revy and shuttled up some logging roads for mountain biking. Here’s a shot high up on Frisby Ridge. Awesome handling, fast and smooth on the rough roads. Cruises nice on the highway too!
May 7, 2014
Raptrac runs!
It's been a while since we have done an update, guess we have been too busy building. The truck has been up and running for a few weeks now and is working great.
February 21, 2014
Raptrac tailgate
Welded up the tailgate for Raptrac with stainless mesh so you can see the spare tire and suspension
February 7, 2014
Gauge panel
Whipped up a custom gauge cluster in a nice piece of real carbon fiber to match our console.
January 6, 2014
Engine going together
A few more parts coming together, radiator is mounted and our ram air intake mocked up. Mustang electronic gas pedal is in place and hydraulic clutch hooked up. You can see the passengers side custom built header as well.
November 6, 2013
Lots of wiring to do!
And now we are into the wiring. Integrating the Mustang computer and wiring harness with the Sport Trac.
November 6, 2013
Rear bumper
Rear bumper built with the spare tire holder for a cool baja look. Still have to build the tailgate that will be mesh to show off the tire
November 5, 2013
Engine is in
It's been a while since we have updated the Raptrac blog and we have found some time to work on the project. Engine is in with custom mounts built, one Mustang header fit quite nice the other will need some cutting and welding
2005 Mustang 4.6 3V installed
November 5, 2013
Raptrac on it's wheels
Bolted the wheels and tires on and set the Raptrac on the ground. Rough setup on the ride height for now.
Raptrac sits on 265/70/18 Geolanders and American Racing AR901 wheels.
February 25, 2013
Raptrac Suspension
We haven't had a lot of time to work on Raptrac lately but did get the front suspension sorted out this weekend. Geometry is great using F150 lower control arms, spindles and Raptor upper arms. 12" of travel with a some negative camber gain and very little bumpsteer.
The Fiberwerxs nose is also attached now and flips forward for easy access to the engine. Headlights are still to come!
October 24, 2012
Project RAPTRAC
We have stared our new project here at Western Motorsports, project RapTrac - part Raptor, part Sport Trac and a whole lotta fun! Here is the starting point, a 2005 Explorer Sport Trac that so far has been striped of most everything we don't need.
Our original plan was to do a new 5.0 Coyote engine but fate intervened when we came across this 4.6 3V from a 2005 Mustang at a deal we just couldn't refuse. So we will start a little more grassroots on this project. We figure there are a lot of 4.6 3Vs out there now and customers would like to see what's involved in swapping one using the stock ECU and drive by wire. The new 5.0 uses same mounts, bell housing etc as the 4.6 so swapping one in down the road will be easy.
We have the front tube structure done on RapTrac now and can start working on mounting the front fiberglass as well as making it flip forward for easy access. A 03 Cobra hydroboost replaced the brake booster to make room for the 4.6 3V valve covers.
Our fiberglass arrived today. Just set the nose on, looks pretty cool, it's really wide! Lots of work to do now building some structure to mount the panels to.
