Raptor Motor Replacement

"FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com" (alphaass)
05/04/2016 at 08:05 • Filed to: POWER WHEELS, FORD RAPTOR

Breaks down just like the real thing...

So my daughter hit a stump tearing around in the back yard the other day, and afterward her truck was making an awful noise and putting down power intermittently. Time to put it up in the air and see what was wrong. First I needed some sort of makeshift lift for such an unusually-sized vehicle...

What could possibly go wrong?

An old folding side table works nicely. There’s a nice lip between the “transmission tunnel” and “firewall” that I was able to wedge it into so that everything stayed put. With that, I could access the gearboxes, and immediately see what I thought was the problem.

That hit something.

The left-side gearbox was cracked open. Seemed like a simple enough fix if the gears themselves weren’t stripped - I would just take it apart, epoxy use some epoxy and filler and slap it back on. To get to it, though, you need to do a bit of disassembly. First, the seats come out. They are held on with 4 screws that are clearly visible from above the truck.

Seats come out easy enough, but don’t really provide much access to anything of importance.

Next, two screws under the bed come out.

These are the easy ones.

Then there are two more on the other side of the axle - these required some crawling to get to.

I see light.

Finally, the there are two screws in the fenders - one in each. After I spent half an hour searching for my short screwdriver, I realized just taking the wheels off would make accessing this easier.

Easier to get to if you take off the wheels first.

The “SVT” logo center caps come off just by squeezing them to open the plastic tabs.

The fake sunstar on the cap is a nice touch.

Underneath is a simple cotter pin.

Pull the pin and the wheel comes right off. The lug nuts are fake, sorry.

With the wheels off, the screws in the fender are easy access. After that, I had to cut the graphic stickers with a razor blade along the bed seam to free the bed. My kiddo was not amused.

Unlike most of the Raptor’s I see on my morning commute, this one actually has something in the bed.

Behold the power of two-motor-two-wheel drive. Now we can pull the bad gearbox... Oh wait, what’s this?

Well, shit.

One of the tabs had actually sheared off of the motor. That explains the intermittent power. Interestingly, the way this thing is wired up the right motor still spun in “2nd” gear (high-speed), but there was nothing in reverse or 1st. Both motors run in R, 1, and 2 when they are both actually hooked up.

At this point, repair wasn’t really an option. I went to !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! and resisted the urge to buy an 18V conversion kit. Since the other motor was likely close to a similar fate, I decided to pick up 2 OEM motor/gearbox combos. The owner of ML Toys doesn’t screw around. They shipped same day and were at my door 2 days later. I’ll definitely be heading back to upgrade to 18 or 24V later on when my son gets this thing in a year or two. My daughter is big enough that a 50cc quad is the next step for her.

Yay new stuff!

Interestingly, these have white hubs and the originals are orange. Supposedly, this is an updated, more durable design from Fisher-Price. AS long as it works for a few months until she hits something again, I’m happy. Next step was to try to de-solder the spade connectors

Not gonna happen.

Unfortunately, my crappy soldering iron didn’t have the balls to melt whatever solder the factory used to put secure it in the first place. So I just cut them off.

Snip.

The smart thing to do at this point would have been to solder on new spade connectors. But I was doing this after a long day at work and not thinking straight (more on that later). So I just stripped the wires and proceeded to just attach the wires to the tabs with a small mountain of solder. Hopefully it stays on and if it breaks it will just break the solder joint, not the motor tab.

I have mended at thing!

At some point while doing the other side, I dropped my soldering iron and instinctively reached out to grab it with my left hand. That didn’t end well for me. I did remember to disconnect the battery at least, so I managed to not shock myself.

Ouch.

The cool thing about burns like this is that they pretty much destroy the nerve endings and really don’t hurt that bad. So I just pushed through and got the other motor attached.

Both new motors/gearboxes installed.

Reverse the disassembly steps, and it goes back together in 5 minutes.

My assistant performs a crucial roadworthiness inspection.

Before I put the seats back in I gave it a test. The battery was nearly flat, but both motors ran in R, 1, and 2. Success! Time to wrap it up.

Look it even does a pretend transmission leak to look just like a real grown-up Ford.

And now the battery doesn’t want to charge. Not sure if it is the battery or my rapid charger that has crapped out. I have it on the trickle charger with fingers crossed. But overall, I’ll call this a success. At some point down the line I’ll post again when we go 18V or 24V.

PS - Just after writing this, I took the dogs for a walk and my neighbor two houses down is in the process of replacing the clutch on his Ranger in the middle of the road using a floor jack, 2 jack stands, some 2x4's and a few hand tools. At night. My little success seems positively insignificant in comparison.

DISCUSSION (17)

BrianGriffin thinks “reliable” is just a state of mind > FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com
05/04/2016 at 08:25

Man, these things have come a long way since the YJ (young jeep) Wrangler that I rocked in the 80s...

adamftw > FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com
05/04/2016 at 08:28

Dude, those fingernails. Cut them.

Otherwise, nice writeup. I was at first fooled by your title and was waiting to see a 6.2L V8 when I clicked.

yamahog > FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com
05/04/2016 at 08:33

“I dropped my soldering iron and instinctively reached out to grab it with my left hand. That didn’t end well for me.”

If your little helper was around for that, she may have picked up some new vocabulary! Hope it runs nicely after recharging, A+ parent mechanic skills!

Phyrxes once again has a wagon! > FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com
05/04/2016 at 08:37

About those gear boxes, FP made several different versions of it over the years and as everything is plastic if you put it under load it will warp, crack, and fail spectacularly. The motors they use just use a press on pinion and the fan for the motor is actually attached to the armature so if you stall one it doesn’t cool and things go sideways very quickly. This is a particular issue as that motor will spin at about 25000 RPM free speed with a 12 volts power supply. I’m pretty sure I have spec sheet with the power curve for it around here somewhere if you are interested.

That plastic gearbox is over 100:1 reduction, the exact ration depends on what version of the gearbox it actually is.

FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com > BrianGriffin thinks “reliable” is just a state of mind
05/04/2016 at 08:40

Yeah I balked at the price until I saw the quality of the thing. Still using lead acid batteries - I imagine in a few years with new technology they will have run times in the hours.

FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com > adamftw
05/04/2016 at 08:42

I thought I might rope in one or two with the title. Someday I would like to have a real Raptor. But keeping 2 kids alive doesn’t leave much room in the budget. Yeah sorry about the nails. They have since been cut.

FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com > Phyrxes once again has a wagon!
05/04/2016 at 08:45

This is awesome info, thanks! I suspect the design is primarily to meet a price point that parents are comfortable with even if they don’t last that long. The site I bought the replacements from sells upgrade kits with different motors and metal gears. It probably is best long-term to go that route, but right now this is an occasional use toy.

Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap > FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com
05/04/2016 at 08:50

Should have put an RC brushless system in it.

Phyrxes once again has a wagon! > FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com
05/04/2016 at 08:58

You should be able to google the part number off the can of the motor to find the right curve, FP used different suppliers over the years so the actual specs do change a bit. I just looked at the spec sheet I had sitting on dropbox and it rates the free speed about 20000 RPM and a stall torque of about 0.45 N*m at 70A for that particular revision. The gearbox referenced on spec sheet was about 139:1.