New (to me) winter ride

**40thGT** · 12-18-2011, 11:38 AM

1996 Ford F-150 XLT 4x4. Very good condition for the age, barely any rust at all and only a few scratches/dings.

**PaxtonShelby** · 12-18-2011, 12:21 PM

Looks nice bud!! Don't mind the bad mpg - it is worth it to keep that sweet GT of yours safe and clean!!!

**Silverhatch** · 12-18-2011, 12:48 PM

Winter ride? I'd rock that year round for small trips! Clean lookin' truck.

**PaxtonShelby** · 12-18-2011, 12:52 PM

How many miles? It is a 5.0, right? Take a look at your hard brake lines - they love to rust out on these trucks. Easy fix with pre-flared lines from the parts store, but definitely something to look at.

**40thGT** · 12-18-2011, 01:35 PM

Originally Posted by Silverhatch

Winter ride? I'd rock that year round for small trips! Clean lookin' truck.

Im driving this year round. I want to keep the miles down on my Stang, so its only coming out for cruises and random nice weather drives.

**40thGT** · 12-18-2011, 01:37 PM

Originally Posted by PaxtonShelby

How many miles? It is a 5.0, right? Take a look at your hard brake lines - they love to rust out on these trucks. Easy fix with pre-flared lines from the parts store, but definitely something to look at.

189k on the clock and 90k on the engine thanks to Jiffy Lube draining the oil and forgetting to put oil back in. It is a 5.0 302. I will keep an eye on the brake lines. But so far it is a great solid truck and Im very happy with it.

**blackfive-o** · 12-18-2011, 06:04 PM

It is a very nice clean truck, son!

**95V6** · 12-18-2011, 09:55 PM

Nice! Looks to be in great shape. All the F150s I went and looked at were rusted on the rear fender flares and rockers. Yours looks to be solid.

The one f150 I looked was bad. Pictures online were angled just right to not show the rust. The rust was so bad I could taste it in my mouth.

All I need for my winter truck is the high pressure and low pressure lines for the power steering, ill post some pictures as well.

Congrats on parking the Stang for the winter!

**40thGT** · 12-18-2011, 10:38 PM

Parking my stang for the winter is the thing I am most happy about. Its been my daily driver for the last 2 1/2 years so I would always be worried about snow. Now I cant wait for there to be a couple of inches on the roads!

**95V6** · 12-18-2011, 10:52 PM

That's what I'm happy about too. Parking it for the winter and be able to do a project and not have to worry about not finishing and not being able to get to work. And I'm having issues getting it to pass inspection its been up since Nov.

Truck would look good lifted on 36s! Hahaha!

**40thGT** · 12-19-2011, 12:36 AM

Originally Posted by 95V6

Truck would look good lifted on 36s! Hahaha!

Hahaha Im used to driving a mustang with a 1/4 inch of ground clearance. I already feel like im driving Gravedigger when Im in this freaking thing. Im still avoiding potholes. Im sure the mod bug will bite me with this truck too though lol.

**PaxtonShelby** · 12-19-2011, 01:14 AM

Even 31's look nice in my opinion...or 33's. Whatever you can find on CL...

Here's mine on 31s

They barely clear the front bumper/spoiler when turning.

**40thGT** · 12-19-2011, 12:23 PM

I like the look of your truck with those tires Ron. Is that the stock height of the truck? I would like bigger tires and maybe a lift smewhere down the road. I just want to make sure my truck wont need big money dumped into it to keep it on the road before I start doing aftermarket stuff.

**PaxtonShelby** · 12-19-2011, 12:47 PM

Thanks Andy - in that photo my ride height is stock. Since then I had a rear leaf go bad, so I removed the bad leaf, and the same leaf on the other side, and inserted two "new" used leafs in each side ( for a little extra carrying capacity ). So now the rear of the truck sits up maybe an additional inch. If I didn't know better I wouldn't even notice the difference.

I also had to replace the rear drums ( they were rusted out if you can imagine that - the truck sat for quite a while before I bought it ), rear shoes, front pads, the front-to-rear hard brake line, complete tune up, and recently a new water pump and rad hoses. Oh - and the rear U-joint was completely shot - when I took it apart I couldn't believe how bad it was. I was surprised the truck would even move an inch without breaking what was left of the U-joint.

I plan on keeping this truck for a long time, as it still has under 73k miles on it. It will need some very minor rust repair in the near future, but nothing too bad.

Next on the list is a trailer hitch, then, hopefully, a nice 16 foot or 18 foot open trailer...

**95V6** · 12-19-2011, 01:46 PM

Couldn't agree more. I want to get my Ranger in perfect working order before aftermarket goes on. It shifts alittle hard, and that has me alittle nervious it might be the sycros. But I want 4" susp., 1" body lift, on 33s with an aftermarket 15x8 black D window steel wheel.

**40thGT** · 12-20-2011, 01:32 AM

So far everything seems fine with my truck. If it makes it through the winter with no problems then in the spring I will throw a lift kit and bigger tires on it hopefully in time for the country concert season.

**95V6** · 12-20-2011, 01:59 AM

Originally Posted by 40thGT

So far everything seems fine with my truck. If it makes it through the winter with no problems then in the spring I will throw a lift kit and bigger tires on it hopefully in time for the country concert season.

x2 except for the country concert thing.

**pRojekt02GT** · 12-20-2011, 09:01 AM

Lookin' good! Very clean too! I loved my 96 F150 XLT Ext cab. thing was awesome in the snow! Gas mileage wasn't the best but I've had worse. Nice find!

**40thGT** · 12-20-2011, 11:51 AM

Originally Posted by pRojekt02GT

Lookin' good! Very clean too! I loved my 96 F150 XLT Ext cab. thing was awesome in the snow! Gas mileage wasn't the best but I've had worse. Nice find!

Thanks!