---
title: "Watch Ken Block Abuse a 2017 Ford F-150 Raptor in the Desert"
description: "The Gymkhana master and rally expert took Ford's off-road monster to the sand dunes for some fun."
date: "2017-04-11"
modified: "2017-04-11"
authors:
  - name: "Chris Tsui"
    job_title: "Contributor"
    link: "https://www.thedrive.com/authors/chris-tsui"
url: "https://www.thedrive.com/watch-this/9193/watch-ken-block-try-to-bend-a-2017-ford-f-150-raptors-frame"
categories:
  - "Ford News"
  - "News"
  - "News by Brand"
  - "Watch This"
tags:
  - "F-150 Raptor"
  - "Ford"
  - "Ken Block"
  - "Off-Road"
  - "pickup"
  - "Raptor"
  - "sweet jumps"
  - "trucks"
  - "Videos"
---

# Watch Ken Block Abuse a 2017 Ford F-150 Raptor in the Desert

![](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/images-by-url-td/content/2017/04/kblockraptor-e1491929255532.jpg>)
*\<em\>www.thedrive.com\</em\>*

As awesome and tough as the original Ford F-150 Raptor was, [some of its owners](<https://jalopnik.com/5820104/are-ford-raptor-frames-too-weak-for-off-roading>) were writing X-Games-inspired checks the truck couldn't quite cash—leading to hilarious videos like [this one](<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKQdlXvbWSU>). For its second generation, Ford was able to beef up the Raptor's structure significantly, due to reduced weight elsewhere—namely, aluminum body panels and a lighter 3.5-liter EcoBoost V6.

To see just how beefy the new Raptor's frame is, *Motor Trend*'s Jonny Lieberman recently enlisted the help of "Chief Hoonigan" and star of the *Gymkhana* series, Ken Block.

On this week's episode of *Ignition*, Jonny and Ken evaluate the 2017 Ford Raptor's off-road capabilities through the California desert. Jonny talks us through the various updates and improvements Ford has made to its new super truck and takes it for a top speed run on a dry lake bed, before meeting Ford's Hoonmaster General in the Dumont Dunes near Death Valley to inevitably take the Raptor off some sweet jumps.

https://youtube.com/embed/0ct4PwI7FGA

So, what have we learned? That bar the way it sounds, the new Raptor is better than the old Raptor in pretty much every way; the new Raptor can be jumped repeatedly over sand dunes without being structurally compromised; and that Ken Block is a terrible passenger.

## Author
Chris Tsui is *The Drive*'s former Reviews Editor and current freelance automotive journalist. He's based in Toronto.

### Author social links  
[Instagram](<https://www.instagram.com/cltsuii/>)