Here is my roll bar which mainly was designed for holding my lights & tire, but also is tied into the frame with brackets and strengthened the rear frame and also I think it would help in a roll over if needed.

 

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Your truck looks great. I really like how you said you tied it into the frame. After completing that installation, did you notice any difference in the way the truck/suspension behaved off-road, on pavement or while towing? Also, since you have actually done something similar to what I'm fixing on... Do you believe there's any conceivable way remedy the notorious weak point between the bed & box during the fabrication & installation of an overkill roll bar like what I've described? Maybe during the development of the Raptor the engineers already thought of that (I don't know)? Reason being, I'm sure this truck will be used for things and exposed to stresses Ford's engineers may not have expected, and I'd like to reinforce any historical weak points if I can, while I'm at it, before I break. Please share with me any tips, tricks or knowledge you've learned during your experiences.
Have you done much towing with your truck? How does it do? Have you ever experimented pulling MORE that what it's rated for?? I will be using mine a lot around a farm & garage where official highway rules/laws don't really apply... Moving heavy equipment around (on tandem axel trailers), pulling large loads of round hay bales, etc... I'd like to think the Raptor would be a beast in 4 low with the 4.10 locker in back & the Torsen independent locker up front . Is that the case? Sorry for firing so many questions at you, but I want opinions/facts from someone who OWNS and USES one - not just stuff an ad or salesman tells me. I'd appreciate anything you can tell me!
Again, your truck looks awesome. I'm jealous as hell.

 

Oh, pardon my ignorance. I thought the "rollover rating" was how "safe it was" in the event of it happening - since it was listed alongside "Frontal Driver", "Frontal Passenger", etc... I honestly did not know that.
"Carve it up"? "Weld a wart to it's ***"??
I don't know how/why you think I'm going to make a mess out of this truck... Do you think I'm some kind of stupid, 19 year old meth addict who was born with a silver spoon up his butt? Because I'm not, and you make it sound like I plan on doing stuff to the truck that a person of the sort would... FYI, I'm a married (11 years), 36 year old man with a mortgage, a 7 year old daughter and have been working full-time since even before I graduated high school 18 years ago. I have an extensive background in construction, residential electricity, plumbing, & landscaping. I manage a 55 lot trailer park, help on a farm, work as an inspection mechanic and help with a family garage/tow service on the side. What I'm NOT is an experienced welder or automotive "customizer", so I'm here to pick the brains and get ideas/advice from those kinds of people. All this stuff I've been talking about on this thread is more or less a long-winded & detailed plan/idea I have for a highly customized roll bar. I have never customized a car or truck because I've never had a logical reason to. Now, I have a serious pet-peeve about useless, 1/2 assed "bells & whistles" that some idiots put on cars... Wings from Kmart glued to trunks, fake hood scoops drywall-screwed to Neons' hoods, a Folgers Crystals can crimped onto an Intrepid's tailpipe making it sound like a Briggs & Stratton GT, etc... What I plan on doing here is the polar opposite - something that serves it's desired purpose to a ridiculous degree. I will not take anything away from the Raptor - I am respectfully adding to it in the same spirit in which the truck was designed - no nonsense, take no prisoners, unapologetic, & without compromise. If somebody is going to customize a Raptor, they sure as s**t better come correct.

 

Questions are all good. At the same time I put the roll bar in I installed National rear springs and an RPG frame support with gas bump stops. So I can't say if the roll bar helped at all in the back, but my back suspension is just awesome now. Next project will be the front. With the rear springs I went a little heavier duty, but ride is almost the same. Pulling is no problem, just have to watch tongue weight. I have pulled my 3000 pound car hauler with my 2000 Ford Excursion 4x4 so that was a bit of weight, but only short distance. I have hauled my 35 foot camper with weight distributing bars hitch and that towed great. Main issue is how soft the rear springs are and watching that. I have a Procharger on mine with full length headers and true dual exhaust. I don't use 4 low much, as it has so much power in 4 high with my setup. Is it the perfect truck for towing and that sort of work, no. But as you are trying to do you balance out what you are looking for and make sacrifices in some areas. Some more pictures below of frame support, etc.

 

BLOWN?!? Aww man you're killing me! If I may ask, have you had it dyno'd? If so, what numbers did it put down? Probably KILLER torque.
I mentioned pulling heavily weighted trailers... The trailers are dual-axle (with electric brakes) and when I load the big Case tractor or back hoe (to move them around the property - NOT going down the road), I make sure to nearly balance the weight on the axles (about 55% toward the tongue) - there really isn't much on the ball. I know Raptors don't have crap for payload. I probably should've mentioned that before. More or less I wanted to know was how strong is the truck for PULLING? When I move equipment like that, it's almost always thru/around fields and that's why I asked about 4 low. When either the Case or the hoe is on one of our trailers I assume the whole thing weights WELL over the Raptor's rating. Probably close to 16-17,000 pounds. Our hilly fields can get downright nasty after a good rain and I hope I can rely on the Raptor to get enough traction to drag an 8 ton trailer/load thru some pretty nasty slop. With 400+ ft lbs, lockers all around, AT tires and 4 low engaged, I don't see why it wouldn't/couldn't pull that weight fairly easily. I don't think torque will be the issue - traction is. If/when I get that behemoth of a roll bar on, I'm sure that additional 600 pounds in the bed can't hurt the traction issue.
Thank for the pictures. I really don't want the put stiffer springs in it. I just love the "sitting on a cloud" feeling you get going down the road.

 

I guess it can pull dretty good.

 

16000 lbs through a muddy field....you just need one of these out front:

http://i1.ytimg.com/vi/k7cKoI_A5Fs/maxresdefault.jpg

 

Sorry buddy. I don't have one.

 

I had Livernois do the Dyno tuning on this and asked them to keep it conservative because of stock internal engine components including cast pistons. I have redline of 6200 and when playing around the dunes try to keep it 5500 to 6000 but bounce off of the limiter a bit. Current is 574 hp and 572 torque. This winter want to add a few more cubic inches either 6.6 or 7 liter for more low end power. Plus with better internal components can turn up the boost and add another 100 plus hp with a bunch more torque.

For the springs they really are not stiffer for the everyday ride. Which is amazing when you consider I went from 3 stock thick springs to 11 thinner springs. But that is in part why I have the gas bump stops to cushion instead of bottoming out hard. The bottoming out is how the Raptor guys have been bending the frames.

 

IMHO...for real rollover stability (with some looks), may I suggest...I like rollbars that stay low and profile the shape of the cab...from a protection aspect, true it should stick outside of the cab lines, but we are not talking a race truck here either......using 12-14 ga tubing, doubling the basic rollbar tubing shape (the u-behind the cab)..with both parallel bars connected to each other and bolted to the frame...inside the "u", an x connecting the frame connecting points to the upper corners of the "u",, supported by another set of single bars (on each side), traveling to the rear of the bed, bolted to the frame would be extremely strong and capable of withstanding a fairly good, solid impact.

 

Thanks for the suggestion! I HAVE thought of welding smaller cross braces (I'd go broke using that 5" stainless for EVERYTHING) within the roll bar to stiffen it up even more. I like the idea of interconnecting all the frame anchoring points. Good idea. Using that ridiculous, $250 a FOOT stainless, I don't think doubling it is necessary. The idea of using the roll bar to stiffen up the point between the bed & box has been eating at me. It might not even be feasible considering I don't want to completely tear the truck down to do it. Like you said, we're not talking about a truck that'll be running Baja... Between incorporating your suggestion of cross bracing & interconnecting the anchor points and what "cparks" said about the bump stops, I believe my frame will be pretty safe. I still plan in incorporating an exhaust system into the roll bar. I think that is what will really set this project apart and will make people say " what the hell are all those holes for???" Then I'll say "because the truck couldn't handle the weight if I didn't do that".

 

Consider running a seperate pipe up inside the large diameter pipe you want to use to make the rollbar. Stainless will turn colors when its heated and keeping the exhaust inside another pipe will help the roll bar stay cooler. You could just use regular exhaust pipe.

Maybe have two horizontal bars with one being used with your honeycomb design exhaust exit and the other being for strength.

My other thought about a bed mounted roll bar is that it doesn't help the front of the cab much where the driver is. I prefer an in cab roll bar anchored in all for corners. You could have one made out of the same materials used in race trucks, something like 2 1/8" OD .120 wall DOM tubing. Just look it up in the rule books. I don't mean to not make your bed mounted one since you like the way it will look...but add an in cab for added safety.

Good luck, I think the hardest part will be finding a shop that can bend 5" OD .500 wall pipe..

 

Another idea that came to me is to make it a double hoop roll bar. I think that massive 5" tubing would look even better with two vertical hoops. One can still have the inner exhaust pipe and the other can be the strongest...maybe even with a couple of D hooks.

I think they would look great with the body lines of a Raptor.

 

Turbo dog has it right. DOM steel is the way to go to build a roll bar.
That's the same stuff NASCARs and funny cars and pre runner trucks are made of.

Have you actually touched your exhaust after a drive? Go grab the pipe with both hands and hold on if you can. Hot eh? Now think if your roll bar got that hot. You'd be putting yourself, others and cargo in jeopardy every time the engine is run more than 10 minutes.

You also talk about towing 16k+. Not bashing the raptor, but you seriously need to look at more truck. Yes, a properly equipped f150 can tow 11k+, but there is a reason they build bigger trucks. Do you know the weight rating of the Raptors' tires? Probably not E rated. It has softer springs, so you'd always be on the bumpstops.

Not bashing, just giving some advice from past experiences.