At what point (miles) do lightnings become trouble?
- Thread starter r103
- Start date
honestly not much...they tend to run superb for a long time....tons of them with 150-225k miles.
I own a 99' lightning with 168,000 miles. I have a 6lb lower crank pulley Accufab TB, Ported Blower, CAI, and headers, etc. All bolt-ons have been on since 9K miles. Still runs strong. Does that answer your question.:rockon:
The drivelines in these trucks are pretty stout and should live a long time if they're maintained. Only things that may need attention or extra consideration would be the leak-prone intercoolers on the '99-'00's, the four-thread heads on the '99-early '03's, and the J-code transmissions, which I think came in either the '01's or '02's. None of these would keep me from buying any particular year of truck, provided the rest of it's in good shape.
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My truck is stock and it runs great at almost 117K miles. I can tell you this a L that's been maintain right is a whole lot less aggravating than a Terminator. Lets be honest F150's are just a whole lot better constructed vehicles than pre-05 Mustang, and while Terminators are badass cars they are littered with all kinds of little gremlins and issues. I DD mine for 3.5 years and it was a blast, and no doubt much faster than my stock L, but I was always trying to fix a stalling issue, or vibration at 80+ mph, or or a shimming effect I could never pinpoint in my frontend, or a hunting out constant squeak, or whatever else. I've DD old Mustang for years and I love them, but now that I'm old and 30 I say **** that. A L is just a much more comfortable, and easy to live with vehicle especially on a long trip, and a bed and trailer hitch will spoil your ass. I've almost traded my L in on a new GT twice, but I like my truck too much, and I actually use it for workin and hauling quite a lot. A L does work as good as any other 2wd SBSC 1/2 ton truck I've used. In 03 Ford beefed up their leaf springs which up their payload rating from 800 lb's in the 99-02 models to 1,400 lbs in the 03/04 models.
Most L owners will tell you that the best first mod for these truck is a performance valve body. Not only does it make the tranny shift faster but it also helps the tranny last longer. If you do pulley the truck I highly recommend doing a good home port job on your blower. Just now that a L's factory motor isn't blessed with strong rods like a Terminator so if you're not careful you can vent a factory motor rather easily.
Some other problems L's sometimes experience are 4 threaded spark plug heads can launch a plug. The mid 03-04 L's had 8 thread head. Very similar to how it was with Terminator, and treat the 4 thread heads the same way. Don't over tighten the spark plug. I like to go hand tight, and then about 1/4 a turn with the wrench. Also 2v coil packs are known to go bad. Another thing that's common with all 97-03 F150's is a popping noise when turning the wheel sharp and mainly when backing up. This is because the left lower a-arm is slotted instead of just having a hole for one of it's bolts. It's not harmful, just annoying. Here is the fix for it.
LFP Pro Front (Clunk Washers) Clunk Fix Lightning at LightningForcePerformance.com - Your American Muscle Parts Depot
Hope some of this helps. One thing better than owning a L and also better than owning a Terminator is owning both a L and a Terminator. Have the L for frequent DD use, and to haul something or tow a boat/car, etc, and then use the Terminator on the weekend for fun. Still a fast, good handling truck is a pretty fun vehicle to drive in it's own right.
Most L owners will tell you that the best first mod for these truck is a performance valve body. Not only does it make the tranny shift faster but it also helps the tranny last longer. If you do pulley the truck I highly recommend doing a good home port job on your blower. Just now that a L's factory motor isn't blessed with strong rods like a Terminator so if you're not careful you can vent a factory motor rather easily.
Some other problems L's sometimes experience are 4 threaded spark plug heads can launch a plug. The mid 03-04 L's had 8 thread head. Very similar to how it was with Terminator, and treat the 4 thread heads the same way. Don't over tighten the spark plug. I like to go hand tight, and then about 1/4 a turn with the wrench. Also 2v coil packs are known to go bad. Another thing that's common with all 97-03 F150's is a popping noise when turning the wheel sharp and mainly when backing up. This is because the left lower a-arm is slotted instead of just having a hole for one of it's bolts. It's not harmful, just annoying. Here is the fix for it.
LFP Pro Front (Clunk Washers) Clunk Fix Lightning at LightningForcePerformance.com - Your American Muscle Parts Depot
Hope some of this helps. One thing better than owning a L and also better than owning a Terminator is owning both a L and a Terminator. Have the L for frequent DD use, and to haul something or tow a boat/car, etc, and then use the Terminator on the weekend for fun. Still a fast, good handling truck is a pretty fun vehicle to drive in it's own right.
I will be keeping the 04 Cobra. I'm looking for a truck to drive to work 5 days a week and tow the Cobra to the track about 5-10 times a year. I have done all the work to the Cobra to include the t56 rebuild. Im not affraid of working on something but I'd rather not work on my DD. So how often do the plugs go flying?
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