Gen 2
Best value buy today
Manufacturer figures unless noted. Used pricing is a 2026 clean-truck range and moves with the market.
| Engine | 3.5L High-Output EcoBoost V6, twin-turbo, port and direct injection |
|---|---|
| Power | 450 hp @ 5,000 rpm |
| Torque | 510 lb-ft @ 3,500 rpm |
| Transmission | 10R80 ten-speed automatic |
| Shocks | Fox 3.0 internal bypass (2017–18); Fox 3.0 Live Valve electronic (2019–20) |
| Suspension travel | 13.0 in front / 13.9 in rear |
| Rear suspension | Leaf spring with staggered outboard shocks |
| Differentials | Torsen front limited-slip, electronic locking rear, 4.10 gears |
| Tires | BFGoodrich All-Terrain T/A KO2 315/70R17 (34.6 in) |
| Ground clearance | 11.5 in |
| Approach / breakover / departure | 30.2° / 22.9° / 23.1° |
| Curb weight | ~5,700 lb (SuperCrew) |
| Payload / towing | ~1,200 lb / 8,000 lb |
| Fuel tank | 36.0 gal |
| EPA | 15 city / 18 hwy / 16 combined |
| 0–60 mph | ~5.1 sec |
| Body | Aluminum, SuperCab and SuperCrew |
| Terrain Management | 6 modes (2017–18), 7 with Trail Control (2019–20) |
| Clean used price, 2026 | $38,000 — $58,000 |
Only the changes that move the buying decision. Trim shuffles and paint codes are not on this list.
The 6.2 V8 and the six-speed are gone, replaced by the 450 hp 3.5 HO and the 10R80. Roughly 500 lb lighter than a Gen 1 with more travel and more torque everywhere. It is a better truck and it sounds worse, and owners have been arguing about that trade ever since.
Equipment group shuffles and new colors, mechanically identical to 2017. Because it is not the 2019 refresh, a clean 2018 is usually the cheapest way into a Gen 2 that is not already tired.
Fox 3.0 Live Valve electronically controlled dampers are the headline and they are genuinely better on washboard and on the highway. Trail Control is off-road cruise for rock and mud. New grille, new headlights, revised interior.
Standard 8-inch SYNC 3, Ford Co-Pilot360 driver aids, 360-degree camera availability and new colors. Last of the leaf-sprung F-150 Raptors.
Documented failures and complaints, with the symptom, the affected years, the fix that holds, and what it costs in 2026 money.
Run the list in order, in person, with the truck cold. Anything you skip here you pay for later.
Phaser rattle is the whole ballgame on this generation. Ten seconds of listening is worth four thousand dollars.
Milky residue or a coolant top-off history points at the internal water pump, which is the other four-figure repair on this truck.
Converter shudder shows up in exactly that window and nowhere else. It will not show on a five-minute loop around the block.
Flash counters do not reset. A returned-to-stock truck is fine if the seller says so; a seller who denies it and gets caught is telling you what else they hid.
A rippled bed floor and hourglassed bump stops mean the truck was jumped. Not a dealbreaker, but it changes the number.
A fresh set of budget tires on a Raptor usually means the seller spent the last of their money making it look ready.
Live Valve faults throw a dash message. If the dampers are stuck in one mode you are paying for a feature that is not working.
High-mile desert trucks crack here. Aluminum body, steel frame — the frame is still what fails.
Cleared codes come back. Pending and history codes tell you what the dash is not showing.
Stages, not a shopping list. Each one assumes the stage before it is done, because doing them out of order is how people buy the same part twice.
Highest satisfaction per dollar on this generation. It kills the squat and the axle wrap and makes every other suspension decision easier.
37s fit a Gen 2 with minor liner trimming and no lift. Recalibrate or every number on your dash is a lie and the transmission shifts against the wrong data.
The 37s buy you clearance you will immediately use, which is exactly when the rockers and the front valance start paying for it.
If you run at night in the desert this is not optional. Check your state law on covers before you wire anything forward-facing.
The 3.5 HO responds harder to a tune than almost anything else on the road — 60 to 90 hp is normal. It is also the fastest way to void a powertrain claim, so read the warranty section first.
Most owners do not need this and buy it anyway. If you are not running desert above 50 mph regularly, spend the money on tires and fuel.
38 catalogued parts confirmed to fit this truck, and 3 registered Gen 2 builds running them.
Remote reservoirs pull heat out of the fluid on long, fast descents where the factory Fox setup starts to fade. Compression and rebound both adjust independently, so ride height and damping get tuned instead of guessed at.
Internal bypass zones let the shock ramp up progressively instead of relying on one valve stack, and it shows the moment a whoop section opens up at speed. Gen 1 and Gen 2 desert runners upgrade to these before touching anything else on the truck.
Bolt-on adjustable coilovers that reset ride height and add real compression control without cutting anything on the truck. Not a King or Fox 3.0 in the whoops, but for street and moderate trail use most owners cannot tell the difference.
Fixes the squat and axle wrap that show up under trailer or payload once the factory leaf pack fatigues. Highest satisfaction-per-dollar mod in the rear suspension category, and Gen 3's coil-sprung 5-link does not need it at all.
Replaces the factory rubber bushings with heim-jointed uniballs for more travel and zero bind at full droop. Only worth it once a longer-travel coilover is already on the truck and the stock arms become the limiting factor.
Three tunable bypass zones instead of one valve, so the shock stays soft over small chatter and firms up hard right before the bump stop. Rear-specific tuning matters more on Gen 3's coil rear than most owners expect going in.
Softens the transition into the factory bump stop so big hits do not translate straight into the frame rail. Cheap enough that most desert-focused builds add it in the same order as the shock upgrade.
A full rear suspension conversion that trades the factory leaf pack for a trailing arm and coilover cradle built for triple-digit desert speed. Serious money and a serious install, and it shows up almost exclusively on trucks that actually race.
The default tire for a reason: predictable on pavement, tough sidewall, and every shop in the country stocks them. Sizing up from the factory 35 needs a speedometer recalibration, and the tread is not the strongest choice in mud or deep sand.
The KO2 replacement with a stiffer sidewall and better wet braking, aimed at trucks running higher speeds off-road. It costs more than the KO2, and any size change from stock still calls for a recalibration, not a tune.
A hybrid tread that splits the difference between an all-terrain and a mud-terrain without the mud-terrain highway noise. Wears faster than the KO2 in exchange for more bite in loose dirt, and a size increase needs the speedometer recalibrated.
Quieter on the highway than the KO2 with tread life that holds up over a full season of daily driving. Recalibrate the speedometer after the swap if the new size is larger than stock, since a tune does not touch that number.
A true beadlock ring holds the tire on the bead at single-digit psi, which matters the moment air pressure drops for sand or rock. Heavier than a standard wheel, and the outer ring needs a periodic bolt torque check.
A forged-look cast wheel with enough backspacing flexibility to clear big brakes and still tuck under stock fenders. The most common wheel swap in the registry for anyone not running a beadlock.
Keeps the factory radar and fog lights intact while adding real approach angle and a recovery point rated for an actual pull. The most-installed front bumper in the registry for Gen 2 and Gen 3 owners.
A lighter, simpler alternative to the Stealth Fighter with the same winch-ready mount and D-ring shackle tabs. Loses a little approach angle in exchange for a noticeably lighter front end.
Full-width steel replacement that trades the factory step and parking sensors for tire clearance and an integrated hitch. Departure angle goes up noticeably, and the tailgate combo most owners run alongside it keeps overall weight in check.
Quarter-inch aluminum from the front diff back to the transfer case, replacing the factory plastic that cracks on the first real rock strike. Not a mod anyone brags about, until the day it saves an oil pan.
Most owners do not think about rock sliders until the day a rocker panel finds a boulder at the wrong angle. The weld-on version from the same catalog is stronger, if there is a shop willing to do it properly instead of bolting it up in the driveway.
A dedicated 3/16-inch plate for the transfer case only, for owners who want protection without the labor of a full skid kit. Bolts to existing mounting points in under two hours with hand tools.
Baja Designs' flagship bar, and the one most cross-country desert racers actually run because the beam pattern does not wash out at highway speed. It needs a bumper or roof mount rated for the weight and the amp draw.
The pod size fits almost any bumper or A-pillar mount without cutting anything, and the sport-series LED is bright enough to matter. It is the entry point for most owners' first lighting upgrade.
Drops directly into the factory fog light housing location with a plug-and-play harness, no cutting or drilling required. A clean upgrade from the factory halogens that keeps the truck's stock look intact.
Round pod format with more raw lumen output than the Squadron series, usually run as A-pillar or bumper-mounted spot lights. Expensive for a pair, but the throw distance is real, not a spec-sheet number.
Bluetooth-controlled RGB pods mounted under the rockers and frame rails, mostly for visibility while working under the truck at night. Not a performance mod, and nobody in the registry claims it is.
Good for 60 to 90 horsepower and a transformed throttle response on the 3.5 EcoBoost, with no hardware required. It is also the fastest way to trip a warranty flag, so know the dealership's stance before flashing it.
More airflow and a noticeably louder turbo spool, though the dyno gains alone do not justify the price. Most owners buy it for the sound and because it pairs cleanly with a tune.
Removes the factory catalytic restriction immediately downstream of the turbos, which matters most once a tune is already pushing extra boost. Needs a retune to avoid a check engine light, and it is not legal for street use in emissions states.
Needs a winch-capable bumper to mount to, so budget for that first if the factory bumper is still on the truck. Spooled with synthetic rope instead of steel cable, it saves real weight over the front axle.
A shackle mount that keeps a synthetic winch line from folding back on itself at a sharp hook angle, which is the actual failure point on most budget setups. Cheap enough that skipping it does not save any real money.
Airs 37s back up from trail pressure in a few minutes instead of the twenty a portable compressor takes. Needs an under-hood or in-bed mounting location and a clean 12-volt run straight to the battery.
Half the weight of the factory steel cable, and it does not store the same kind of energy if it fails under load. Pair with a proper thimble and soft shackle, not the steel hook that came on the truck.
More bolster and a harness bar pass-through than the factory seat offers, which matters the moment the truck starts landing anything. Requires the factory seat's power and heat wiring to be adapted or deleted entirely.
Digitally molded to the factory floor pan so mud and snowmelt stay off the carpet instead of pooling at the edges. Not exciting, but it is the single most common first purchase in the registry after the truck itself.
Bolts in behind the rear seat to anchor a proper 4 or 5-point harness, which the factory seatbelt geometry was never built for. Removing the rear seat is part of the install, so back-seat capacity goes with it.
Two weatherproof drawers rated to carry gear on top and inside, without a bed liner underneath cutting into usable height. Heavy on its own before anything gets loaded into it, so factor that into the payload math.
Low-profile aluminum rack that mounts to the factory roof points without drilling, built to hold a rooftop tent or a light bar without flexing. Lighter than a Front Runner rack, with less usable deck space to show for it.
Carpet-backed liner that stops gear from sliding around and does not clang like a spray-in or drop-in plastic liner. Traps moisture if it does not get pulled and dried out after a genuinely wet trip.