You never want to hear the phrase, "We gotta go back to the drawing board." But Ford suspension engineer Sean Conway reports that's exactly what happened when his team went to Ford's Dearborn Truck Plant to oversee assembly plans for the 2021 Ford Raptor. This super truck substitutes and advanced off-road racing-worthy coil spring rear suspension for the traditional leaf spring setup employed by regular F-150 pickups, and Ford's assembly line wasn't prepared for this big change when Raptor models come down the line.
A Dearborn Truck Plant worker attaches components to the rear of an F-150's frame, with the rear leaf spring suspension visible.