When it comes to the Ford F-150 Raptor, there's no question that the Blue Oval team got a lot of things right. In fact, we'd be willing to argue that it's one of, if not the best, off-road oriented ½-ton trucks ever produced. With the 2017 Raptors now rolling onto dealer lots across America, we’re seeing a re-fire of the aftermarket support that still remains strong for the previous generation Raptors.
One of the companies at the forefront of the Raptor aftermarket is Addictive Desert Designs. Based out of Mesa, Arizona, ADD is well-known for its range of high-clearance bumpers and accessories for the Ford Raptor. ADD’s CEO Jared Hare took part in Ford Motor Company’s Raptor R Baja 1000 race team in 2008, giving him a unique history and understanding of the Raptor platform. Given we were looking to outfit our 2012 Raptor with a facelift of sorts, ADD made perfect sense for our pickup.
While you can see in the video above just how easy of an install the company’s ADD Lite series front bumper was, we’re breaking down some of the details of the install below.
The Install
Out of the box, Addictive Desert Designs ships its ADD Lite series steel front bumper with a hammer black powdercoat finish and the removable skidplate already attached. ADD offers an impressive nine front bumpers for the 2010-2014 series Ford Raptor, many of which have additional customization options. We went with the Lite series for its high-clearance design and lightweight construction.
As is the case with most of ADD’s product line, the front bumper uses exiting holes in the F-150’s frame horns, making the install completely bolt on. Note: This bumper does accommodate the stock tow hooks. We pulled ours off as we are currently investing a sleeker tow point setup.
One of the unique aspects from an auxiliary lighting front is the amount of tabs on the top tube. There’s a total of 10 mounting slots to give you the option of running small cube, curved or straight light bars.
There’s not much desert pre-running for us to do here in Southeastern North Carolina, but there’s still plenty need for upgraded nighttime lighting. We opted for a 30-inch Chrome Series LED Light Bar from Rough Country. The single-row bar puts out an impressive 12,000 lumens and has an IP67 waterproof rating, so it can take the weather our truck sees on a daily basis.
Aside from being one of the better bang-for-your-buck light bars on the market, another reason we chose the Rough Country light bar was for its mounting flexibility. This particular aluminum housing is designed with mounting points on the side and bottom of the bar. The nice part about the lower mounts is that they are adjustable so we can easily fit them to the desired mounting holes.
While Rough Country sends a harness bundle to make wiring extremely easy, we used our Raptor’s stock switch panel to power the light bar.
The Final Product
This is the light blast coming from our modestly sized 30-inch Rough Country light bar. The 30, 5-watt LED lights put out an impressive 30-degree light spread, equating to more than enough front lighting for our late evening off-road adventures.
The first-gen Raptor is one curvy machine. Thankfully, ADD did an excellent job of matching the lines and building an American-made bumper that fits snugly to the truck.
Beyond its killer aesthetic, the ADD Lite series front bumper opens up the path to the front tires tremendously. This added approach angle means our 315/70R17 Nitto Terra Grappler G2 tires will hit the terrain long before our bumper ever will.
Overall, we couldn’t be happier with the new look and function of the front bumper. The 0.120-wall tubular steel bar offers us the look and durability that we need, without the added bulk of an oversized front bumper. For those of you looking to add a winch to the front or even more lighting options, be sure to check out the rest of ADD’s front bumper line at addictivedesertdesigns.com
