So this happened.

Thinking about that Landcruiser got me thinking about how nice it would be to have an extra rig in the driveway.  Then limping the '99 across town dragging the '85 got me thinking how nice it would be to have a truck again.  Too long since I've had a proper truck.  Can't afford a Tundra, and couldn't find a crew cab F250 that worked for me, so I found this instead:



2001 F150 Lariat Supercrew with the Triton 5.4l.  Pretty much exactly the truck Tyson sold last year, except this one doesn't have a tailgate shaped like a taco.  It'll do.

This makes me miss mine! You will love it. They are unique trucks. Where they were only made for 3 years you don't see a ton of them.

A couple things to watch out for. Just like any older rig watch the ball joints. Spark plugs, if they haven't been do they will need to and they can be a bitch. They kinda freeze up and if you break one of you will have to pull the had and have it milled out. Last as you know the 5.4 is notorious for that stupid exhaust manifold leak. Watch for that. It can go one of 2 ways. Most Common is a broken stud. If your lucky like me it will break to where it's easy to get out. Some are harder. Others have the exhaust manifold actually crack with as many old 5.4s it wouldn't be hard to find a salvaged one. Let's hope you don't have to worry about any of them! With its year and milage, likely it had all been done already!

Good luck and enjoy the ride.

By the way. It had a torsion bar front end. Super easy to level.

Good looking truck man!  

If you make a build thread for it, you'll force me to make one for mine.

Ty wrote:This makes me miss mine!  You will love it. They are unique trucks. Where they were only made for 3 years you don't see a ton of them.

A couple things to watch out for. Just like any older rig watch the ball joints. Spark plugs, if they haven't been do they will need to and they can be a bitch.  They kinda freeze up and if you break one of you will have to pull the had and have it milled out. Last as you know the 5.4 is notorious for that stupid exhaust manifold leak. Watch for that. It can go one of 2 ways. Most Common is a broken stud. If your lucky like me it will break to where it's easy to get out.  Some are harder. Others have the exhaust manifold actually crack with as many old 5.4s it wouldn't be hard to find a salvaged one. Let's hope you don't have to worry about any of them!  With its year and milage,  likely it had all been done already!

Good luck and enjoy the ride.

By the way. It had a torsion bar front end. Super easy to level.

I had this same torsion bar front end on my Explorer.  Same trouble with ball joints, too - I'm going to get some decent shocks and give the torsion key a couple twists and hopefully take some of the pressure off them.  The motor sounds great with just a little bit of injector tick, no sign of an exhaust leak (knock on wood).

dutchman wrote:Good looking truck man!

If you make a build thread for it, you'll force me to make one for mine.

I won't do much building on this, at least not yet. We definitely need to take our beasts up Forest Lake at least once though.

When you do take a truck trip. I'll still be in my runner. So ehow I don't think my second car will make it anywhere not paved. Although it is fast at least

offroad_medic wrote:When you do take a truck trip. I'll still be in my runner. So ehow I don't think my second car will make it anywhere not paved. Although it is fast at least

Time for you to get a truck!
Ty, sell that minivan thing and buy your truck back!

Ty wrote:By the way. It had a torsion bar front end. Super easy to level.

What'd you do for the rear, blocks or add a leaf? I'm feeling a set of 255/80r17 Cooper ST Maxx in my future, but I might need to get a little higher to clear them.

I ran 285/75r16 and 305/70r16s with just the torsion bars adjusted. I didn't do anything to the rear. All you need to do is level it out and you will be fine.

dutchman wrote:Time for you to get a truck!
Ty, sell that minivan thing and buy your truck back!

This and this. Especially you, Ty, you need get rid of that AWD monstrosity. Tell Britt I said so.

Ty wrote:I ran 285/75r16 and 305/70r16s with just the torsion bars adjusted. I didn't do anything to the rear. All you need to do is level it out and you will be fine.

33s clear with no lift? That's awesome.

Ty wrote:I ran 285/75r16 and 305/70r16s with just the torsion bars adjusted. I didn't do anything to the rear. All you need to do is level it out and you will be fine.

33s clear with no lift?  That's awesome.[/quote]

Yup! 255s would probably be even better. But you know me, I like the width.

dutchman wrote:

offroad_medic wrote:When you do take a truck trip. I'll still be in my runner. So ehow I don't think my second car will make it anywhere not paved. Although it is fast at least

Time for you to get a truck!  
Ty, sell that minivan thing and buy your truck back!

Not going to happen.  I'm saving for one of these bad boys!!



Or one of these!!  Preferably one of these, but I want the 6.2L gasser not the diesel.

Problem is it might take me a while to save enough!!

You have horrible taste in wheels.  Those are abominable, what's wrong with you?


I'm almost afraid to post this for fear that it'll make you do something utterly stupid, but check this out:

I'm not sure if your serious or not. I love the wheels on the blue truck. In fact I think they are the same as I had on my green truck. And I don't like the yellow. I actually think it's hideous.

Ty wrote:I'm not sure if your serious or not. I love the wheels on the blue truck. In fact I think they are the same as I had on my green truck.

I think they are too, and I didn't like them then either!

And I'm just kidding - I know you like the bling, but you have to know that I'm going to give you grief for it every chance I get.   

I like I good looking Chrome wheel. But not over bling. No bigger than 18"

Ty wrote:I like I good looking Chrome wheel. But not over bling. No bigger than 18"  

I'm trying to find a way to get rid of the chrome wheels on my truck...

Kevin, I'll be going to 33s (275/70r18 most likely) on mine soon. Thought about 35s, but cost and the performance drop don't agree with me.

Ty wrote:

Grandmaster Pickup Ninja wrote:

Ty wrote:I ran 285/75r16 and 305/70r16s with just the torsion bars adjusted. I didn't do anything to the rear. All you need to do is level it out and you will be fine.

33s clear with no lift?  That's awesome.

Yup!   255s would probably be even better.  But you know me, I like the width.

Did you have stock backspace on your blingy awesome wheels?

Yes stock back spacing

Sweet. I'm going to have the expoest Ford ever.

The Man Without A Truck wrote:I ran 285/75r16 and 305/70r16s with just the torsion bars adjusted.

So was that with the stock gearing (3.55 I think)?  I only drove it the once and I don't remember how well it accelerated and climbed, did you notice any significant loss of power?

I never had a problem with power. Obviously when it was towing it wasn't racing. It's not a diesel! I pulled my dads orange Jeep to Evanston up past Jordanelle. That was a hell of a climb. It probably pulled me down to 35mph. But really that's not bad for a gasser.

Ok, maybe a little modding.  But no building.

Replaced the shot 12v ports with some snazzy BlueSea sockets, and the archaic CD player with a pimp JVC bluetooth unit (now I guess I need speakers).  A set of sorely needed Coverkings are on the way, and then I think I'll get some Weathertechs or Huskys or something.  Warn makes a nice hidden winch plate that I'm eyeballing, and then perhaps a bed rack and some sliders and...

Wait!  Must... not... build.  Must resist... (but really, some sliders and skinny 33s would be nice...)

I'm actually getting decent mileage I think. I had to reset the computer before I used my first tank of gas, but I think I got around 17 mpg mixed, which is much better than I expected.

dutchman wrote:Kevin,  I'll be going to 33s (275/70r18 most likely) on mine soon...

I think that size is perfect in every way, shape and form. The price is unbeatable for a 33" tire (BFG KO's are $199 a tire...most 33's and 34's are $250+ a tire). The weight of each tire is just barely higher than my stock 275/65/18's. Unfortunately, I already have 18x9 rims, and the widest recommended wheel is 8.5". I could always throw my stock wheels back on once I wear out the Nitto beasts I currently have.

Kevin, what is your lug pattern? Maybe you could find some 18x7 or 18x8 takeoffs from a newer Ford?

Building a truck is FUN! You get some 33's and a bit of armor, that'll get you to 99% of the places we'll go!

Andrew wrote:Building a truck is FUN!  You get some 33's and a bit of armor, that'll get you to 99% of the places we'll go!

Get thee behind me, Satan, for thou art an offence unto me.  Thou savourest not the things that be of reducing my debt, but those that be of getting my sorry ass divorced.