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Now that the new 2015 Ford F-150 is ready to be released, the American automaker has turned its attention on its Raptor performance truck.

Spy photographers have caught a Ford Raptor mule testing next-generation parts, sporting a new grille and hood along with the aluminum crew cab body from the 2015 Ford F-150. Other current Raptor parts have also found their way onto the mule, but noticeably missing are the signature blue shocks in the rear wheel wells which suggests that Ford could be testing new components for the next-generation Raptor.

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The new Raptor is expected to be either a 2016 or 2017 model year pickup and the spy photographers noted that when the mule accelerated, it sounded more like an EcoBoost V6 under the hood than a V8.

GALLERY: 2016-2017 Ford Raptor Mule Spy Photos

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