what would you get if you were me? 01-02 lightning or 03-04 lightning?

what lightning would you get if you were me?


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    18

slow_v6_stang

Registered User
so this summer there is a pretty good chance that i'll be taking out my first auto loan for either a 01-02 lightning or a 03-04 lightning. i'll be holding a decent full time job for good, need some credit and need to get rid of my money pit '88 f-150 that ALWAYS needs repairs.

so im torn between a 01-02 lightning or a 03-04 lightning and here is why...

PROS OF 01-02:
-monthly payments will only be $300-$325/month for 4 years
-the rear suspension doesnt sit so high like the 03-04
CONS OF 01-02:
-it doesnt come in dark shadow grey (i'd have to settle for black, which still isnt TOO bad)
-it has the common problem of spitting out spark plugs
-the wheels are uglier than the 03-04's
-chances are it would have more miles than a 03-04 (~75,000 miles)
-by the time it's paid off, it'll be 10+ years old and have 100,000+ miles on it


PROS OF 03-04:
-has the nicer wheels
-i can get dark shadow grey (my favorite color in a lightning)
-i can get one with much less miles than a 01-02 (~30,000 miles)
-it has an in dash 6-disc CD player
-no worries of spitting plugs with the 03-04 heads
CONS OF 03-04:
-monthly payments would be $425-$450/month for 4 years
-they increased the payload capacity in 03-04 resulting a raised rear end


PIC OF 01-02 THAT I WOULD BE LOOKING AT...
8g4mi4o.jpg

PIC OF 03-04 THAT I WOULD BE LOOKING AT...
6ufzgo1.jpg
 
Get the 1st Gen, and use the extra money each month and put it away for when the engine hits 100K, then rebuilt with mods
 
Just my opinion but the black looks more sinister and the wheels arent bad either.
i dunno, black does look badass when clean, but im a big fan of DSG, and i think DSG would hide dirt, swirl marks, etc better than black

Get the 1st Gen, and use the extra money each month and put it away for when the engine hits 100K, then rebuilt with mods
like first gen as in 1993-1995 or get the 2001-2002 2nd gen? the lack of spark plug threads in the 99-02 heads (99-00 is out of the question, lots of problems with the 99-00) scares me. i dont want to be left on the side of the road with spark plug threads stripped out of the head.
 
the black one looks sexy , and i see what you mean about the rear height, but i hate spark plug blowouts, has happened to me a couple of times on my crown vic , so if i were you go for safety
 
yep, it's not really the cars fault , when i bough the car i took it in to change the plugs like 3 years ago they stripped the last plug but didn't blow out til like a couple of months ago, then, its been doing it for a lil while., i just kind of fixed it with a tap.
 
I used to help my friend who was going to school to be an SVT tech and he worked as an assitant tech at a local ford dealer. No 04 Lightnings. 03 was the last year, and 04 went to the new present age bodystyle. You should want an 03 but settle for an 02. The extra 20 horses' stock is what your going to notice most between the 2 trucks, and there was a ford service bulletin about the heads and it should of been takin care of on any lightnings you would pick up, unless the previous owner was a re-re (retard) and not once brought it into a dealership. All effected motors were pulled apart and recieved the improved heads. Also not all the 5.4's were effected. Only some are "spitters" as they are known. Also Sonic Blue for the win baby, forget the black and DSG. Also most people will never get more then 15-16mpg with a lightning (just try and stay out of boost) and my friends old one lived off of Shell- V power to the tune of about $500-600 a month. Also he had a yearly budget of around $1500 for tires. $800 for snow tires, 500 for decent summer tires, and $200 for the set of Futura pep boys to melt away at meets and cruise nights. You can also tell a lot about how a lightning was taken care of by how the interior looks. Those suede/leather seats love to tear at the stiches and the suede dissolves away after being used a lot and it turns a whiteish/grey. If it has above 50k miles and the suede inserts still look new odds are it was treated with products like meguiars meaning they probably took better care of the car. Other then that they are strong trucks , and the motors will run forever if taken care of. Put a shift kit and big cooler on the trans and it should last if you change the fluid every year or so. If your going to use it in winter .....get snow tires, and keep old snowmobile tracks in the bed incase you get stuck. Those make it all the more easier to get the truck out of anything (can you tell we've done this before) AND remember go to a 3" exhaust all the way back if you want to put on a smaller pulley. It will save your head gaskets and prevent lifting the heads 9 times outta 10. Good luck and stay away from the 6 speed srt-10 rams. They will eat you alive.....
 
I used to help my friend who was going to school to be an SVT tech and he worked as an assitant tech at a local ford dealer. No 04 Lightnings. 03 was the last year, and 04 went to the new present age bodystyle. You should want an 03 but settle for an 02. The extra 20 horses' stock is what your going to notice most between the 2 trucks, and there was a ford service bulletin about the heads and it should of been takin care of on any lightnings you would pick up, unless the previous owner was a re-re (retard) and not once brought it into a dealership. All effected motors were pulled apart and recieved the improved heads. Also not all the 5.4's were effected. Only some are "spitters" as they are known. Also Sonic Blue for the win baby, forget the black and DSG. Also most people will never get more then 15-16mpg with a lightning (just try and stay out of boost) and my friends old one lived off of Shell- V power to the tune of about $500-600 a month. Also he had a yearly budget of around $1500 for tires. $800 for snow tires, 500 for decent summer tires, and $200 for the set of Futura pep boys to melt away at meets and cruise nights. You can also tell a lot about how a lightning was taken care of by how the interior looks. Those suede/leather seats love to tear at the stiches and the suede dissolves away after being used a lot and it turns a whiteish/grey. If it has above 50k miles and the suede inserts still look new odds are it was treated with products like meguiars meaning they probably took better care of the car. Other then that they are strong trucks , and the motors will run forever if taken care of. Put a shift kit and big cooler on the trans and it should last if you change the fluid every year or so. If your going to use it in winter .....get snow tires, and keep old snowmobile tracks in the bed incase you get stuck. Those make it all the more easier to get the truck out of anything (can you tell we've done this before) AND remember go to a 3" exhaust all the way back if you want to put on a smaller pulley. It will save your head gaskets and prevent lifting the heads 9 times outta 10. Good luck and stay away from the 6 speed srt-10 rams. They will eat you alive.....

wow...you need to get your stuff straight before you talk on message boards or people will really get misled

1. in '04 there was the "herritage" F-150 that was still the 99-03 body style. there indeed was a 2004 lightning.
2004 Lightnings on autotrader

2. the 99-00 had 360hp/440ftlbs and the 01-04 had 380hp/450ftlbs...the 03-04 has no more power than a 01-02

3. do you have a link to something about ford replacing the 99-02 heads with the 03-04 heads under warranty? im pretty sure there is a reason that everyone on nloc and svtp use $450 timesert thread inserts instead of simply taking the truck to the dealership to be fixed free of cost.



on to the other stuff...

i really like sonic blue on the new edge mustangs, but it just doesnt catch my eye on the lightnings for some reason, maybe a bit too flashy for a truck paint color.

for fuel economy, im only seeing 13-14mpg with my 300 inline 6 1988 F-150, i'd gladly get 15-16mpg and have almost 400hp instead of 145hp

as for the suade, i've seen a few trucks with tears on the divers seat by the brace. the suade/leather interior is one big thing i like about the truck and will make sure i get one with mint interior!

as for the transmission, it should hold the power pretty well since it is the automatic that they used behind the 7.3L powerstroke...but i will be using a bigger pan on the transmission and a factory tech valve body, maybe an aftermarket trans cooler if the temps get high.

snow tires and 16" steel F-150 XL rims will be my first purchase for the truck, and the snowmobile track thing is a fricken awesome idea...thanks!

as for opening the exhaust for more boost, im not sure how much more boost i'd feel comfortable pushing with the weak powder metal rods, maybe someday when the eaton is ported i'd get a pulley.

and ive only seen a SRT-10 ram once in my life and that was on a showroom floor, so i dont think i'll have to worry, haha
 
I thought that Ford would only fix the heads with thread inserts, and only if the plugs already got spit out. I wonder if Lightning owners got better treatment than the owners of regular F-150s.

Anyway, I think the truck is cool, but I don't think it will save you any money. Even if it gets better mileage, isn't it premium gas? And the big tires are certainly expensive, as someone else mentioned.

I don't really see a huge difference between the two versions you mentioned.

It's really up to you, what you can afford, and your own preferences.
 
I stand corrected about the years, and horsepower, but look up the head recall. If it was an SVT dealership they would replace the heads completly atleast when the new 03 design came out. I remember my doing it himself on his own true blue 02 at the shop. I'm not sure if it really is the exact same trans from the 7.3's. I'm doubting that considering those transes hold outrageous torque considering so many people buy the powerstrokes and throw a 4 or 5" turbo back and a power tuner on there and push 700-800 at the wheels. Deeper pan should help out with that. Stock-bottom ends will suppourt mid 11's with a good tune and a front mount I know that. About 14-15 psi if I remember correctly
 
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just an update...i decided on the 01-02. i dont think its worth the extra $4k

first i thought about getting a 01-02 lightning for ~$14k then thought about a 03-04 for ~$18k, then thought about a 02 harley davidson F-150 for ~$18k, then thought about a 2005 FX4 F-150 for ~$20k, then thought aobut a 03 F-250 powerstroke for ~$22k...

...then i sat back and realized that i was at almost $10k more than what i originally was looking at spending :eek:
 
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