reginhild

As for more power under the hood - if you try to blast the power on sand you are likely to just dig yourself deeper!

Mod (Ret.)

The wife and I enjoy the beach trips in the summer. Our home in Orlando has us only 40 miles from Daytona Beach.

The only way you have a chance at keeping your 2 wheel drive from getting stuck in soft sand is to keep the driven wheels (rear) in the hardest part of the surface. I would watch folks back their vehicle into a spot on the beach; the area furthest from the water has the softest sand. They would get stuck.

Keep the front wheels straight when backing up! If the front wheels are turned even slightly, this adds resistance.

The best way is of course to have 4 wheel drive.

Buck

The tuners everyone talks about are a computer programmer that u can buy to reflash the ECm for more horsepower.....some add up to 35+ horsepower, which is damn good bang for your buck. Look into Troyer tuning, VMP tuning, or PHP tuning. All three are great the first two use SCT tuners, and PHP uses what they call the Gryphon (basically a custom tuneable Edge) I think its a must. But expect to pay high $300s to mid $400s if u want custom tunes.....I still need to purchase a tuner and custom tunes and Im leaning towards The Gryphon by PHP....but u cant go wrong with the 3 I listed. U seem like a smart guy so I trust u can make a decision based on the research u do

Magnaflow sells full cat back exhausts but they can run upwards of $400 for a bolt on system. What I did was buy just the magnaflow muffler from Summit Racing for about $75 give or take then took it to my local exhaust shop and had them custom bend and weld up a 3" exhaust using the muffler I bought. This will usually save u a few hundred bucks and is pretty much the same thing as the cat back system u can buy that bolts on. I think my system ran me $175ish to have the shop bend up a custom system, plus what I pad for the muffler. SO I paid in the $200s instead of the $400s for the system

And Bucko is right....having a two wheel drive truck doesnt really help you in the getting stuck department...U really cant expect to be able to go the same places and do the same thing as your 4 wheel drive buddies. I personally will NEVER own a 2wd truck. I use my truck as it was intended and it is imperative to have 4wd where Im from. But If u put on some wider tires that will help u a bit with flotation in the sand. I think Nitto makes a sand type of tire called Dune Grappler u may want to check out. With sand street tires will not do very good, but at the same time some meaty mud terrains will often just dig u deeper. Its imperative to have the right tread for sand and I think thats what Nitto was aiming at with their Dune Grappler.

JonBeBonanza

I KNOW!!! I felt like such a bitch with my no 4wd. Like a little kid **** haha. Any way to like convert that ****? I know something like that would cost me a pretty penny, but **** i'll start saving.

firstimef150

i live in dallas tx and had 5% tint all around but got pulled over twice in the first 3 weeks i had it so unless they are alittle more easy on the rules where you live i would think about getting some other shade of tint. I paid 250 for each of the two times i got pulled over. i did pay 100 for getting installed the first time. i got 35% in the fronts and 5% the rest around. It does look noticeable but at least im not getting pulled over anymore. The Hid's are great, i too got them off ebay and were easy to install, one of the best mods i did to my truck. I recently just purchased some longtubes,troyer tunes, intake, and magnaflow exhaust, so once i put all this on i will let ya know how it sounds and feels but this was the performance way that i headed. Like they have been saying reading up on these forums does really help out with getting great ideas on how to make your truck look great.

JonBeBonanza

Yea, i'm like addicted to the forum already lol. And would you mind putting up some picks? I'm actually heading out in couple of minutes to go check out some tint. But someone had said to get the same shade all around, and thats probabbly the route i'll take. I just hope it's done nicely and not all ugly and peeling off and looking purple within like two weeks. But oh well, you learn from mistakes. Thanks for that, and some pics would be done when you can. I thing i'll get some pics of what's under the hood, just sand for now, but i have no idea where to remove the headlights from so i'm like freaking out lol. Thanks man.

brub27

Well one thing I hope you realize is if you add all the stuff your wanting to put on their up, you'll have the money to get tires and rims. I got my 05' at 18 and did all the little things that you've listed to it and kept track of all the money I spent and I have done pretty much all cosmetic stuff, all the lights have been upgraded, the only performance stuff I have is a programmer and exhaust and I haven't even touch the stereo system yet. As of right now I have close to 3k in it, in just little stuff. It's ridiculous how it adds up, but the little stuff is always more fun to add on because those are the things that really set your truck apart from the everyday f150. I have an extended cab like yours and it cost me $145 to tint the entire truck, five windows, and eyebrow.

Buck

heres my truck.....
Factory tint in the rear windows.....25% tint on the front two windows....

5.4FX4

Congrats on earning your truck, quite an accomplishment for a teenager.

and I guess that " need serious help" for a teenager means tint advice

5.4FX4

Nice looking truck, I have a DSG Screw, am I the only one that thinks the black plastic door handles look better than PTM?