New to gen 1

[saleenstang88]

Iam moving on from my fox body obsession and want to try out a gen 1 lightning. Looking for everyone here to give me a quick education on the truck. Does the gen 1 have mass air? Is there a decent amount of aftermarket suspension parts for these trucks? Is there anything different in the motor compared to say a f250 351W? If I start to mod the truck how do the trannys hold up?

 

[kcsvt94l]

It is mass air, there are suspension parts available. The Upper and Lower Intakes are different. As for the tranny and really alot of parts once they get 100K on them things start breaking, leading, stop functioning. So keep that in mind a truck with 140k most likely has had alot of the common things replaced, tranny rebuilt etc...

I put 50k Miles on my Gen1 in 11 years of owning it. Half of those with a power adder of some sort. She never had any major issues, with the exception of VHT rotting the brake lines. Can't really fault the truck for that .

 

[427Lightning]

Not all Gen l's came with MA, not all blocks are roller ready, they handle great as is. Come over to NLOC and do some searching.

 

[bumperquip]

The Gen1 is/was NOT mass air. None of them are MA unless they've been converted. The OE setup is Speed Density.

 

[losthighway]

I signed up for this forum for this type of info.

I want a truck pretty bad but I don't desire to spend the mega money for one of those beautiful Tremors. Over the last few months, I learned about the early 90's sport truck explosion. I read about 454SS & the Syclone. They're all beautiful to me but I think I have feelings for the 1st gen Lightning more than any other. I like how it looks like a truck, is meant to be used as a truck, & seems relatively quick. Also all the high mileage ones seem to be in my budget.

So with this introduction, if I purchase a 1st gen, would my local independent shop that I've been dealing with for years be able to keep her serviced. I will call them & ask, but was wondering if I could expect the same day-two days later return time I'm used too. (I think they deal mostly with NAPA parts.)

I don't mind paying progressively for a fun ride & an occasional workhorse, I just don't want to buy something that will just sit after it breaks due to lack of parts.

Also, being new to trucks, how does one deal with the 5-6 days of terrible winter Ohio roads in a 2WD? (I'm guessing I just take the Jetta on those days.)

More than likely it'll be more weekend fun or something else. My 1st love is my motorcycle & I ride everyday...so it'll take a slight backseat.

 

[tbonemcniel]

They're very easy to work on, your local shop should have no issue with quick turn around. I live in TX, so no terrible winters here. My Gen 1 stays in the garage if there's even a 10% chance of rain.

 

[Tezz500]

Something I noticed with the Gen 1 Lightning and other "sport trucks."

SVT took the time to design a serious competitive sport truck.

Chevy and dodge with the 454ss and ram SST and Dakota RT were basically "let's throw some extra parts in a truck and call it a sport truck."

Differences from the Gen 1 L vs any of the 351w Fseries:
GT40 Heads
GT40 Intake
I believe a different cam.(not positive on this)
Shorty headers
4inch aluminum Drive shaft
E40OD Beefed up
4.10 Rears
Sport tuned twin iBeam suspension

As for the MA... No. OE is Speed Density. I believe most of the NLOC guys went with the TWEECER set up back in the day for serious tuning applications.

Bottom line... I've seen these trucks with Vortec S/Cs and a small nitrous shot run 11s all day on an other wise stuck drive train... Majorly impressive for a 4200lb truck.

 

[Tezz500]

Also,

bronco grave yard has tons of replacement parts both new and used.

Late model restoration can help find the more specific things.

The truck handles the winter fine long as you understand your not going to plow snow with it. Just put some weight in the back and have a reasonable set of tires.

The best part about the Gen 1... The surprise you give people that don't have a clue. These trucks are peppy from the jump. And with some mild work can be really fast and really fun. You won't regret buying one.