sholxgt

I'm a bit hesitant to call this a build. Maybe we'll just go with Truck Journey?

My truck was born on 3/15/19 in Dearborn, MI. It wasn't built for me, but I feel like it was. On 3/20/19, my beloved Lincoln MKS 3.5EB (ran mid 12's and was uber comfy) met a horrible fate at the expense of a deer's life. It was repaired and returned to me in poor condition on 4/5. As much as I liked the Lincoln, the poor repair job was going to eat me alive. On top of that, I had been truck shopping. Mostly with the idea of adding an inexpensive truck, but I had test driven the GM clones, Tundra, Titan, and '19 Ram as possibilities. The situation with the Lincoln made me decide to try to replicate it's features in a truck.

So, I spent the night on 4/5 and most of the day on 4/6 scouring through truck inventories in N GA to find the perfect truck. After a bunch of searching, I found one about 50 miles away that looked good on paper.

On 4/7/19, the Wife, Son, and I drove down to see the truck. A short test drive and a bunch of paperwork later, and this became ours...

sholxgt

My primary search was actually for a loaded Lariat 502a Sport. It's the best looking F150 for my taste. After not finding one in my area in the color I wanted with all options, I started searching Platinum models. Found the one above. It was only missing two options that I wanted (bed liner & rear wheel well liners) and only had one option that I would skip (panoramic roof).

So, my first goals were to make it exactly what I wanted...a fully loaded, chrome free truck, with spray in bedliner and wheel well liners...




All chrome was either blacked or sprayed body color. Even addressed the chrome lug nuts with a set of Gorilla nuts in black. Door handles were done in Automotive Touchup and are a perfect match.

Oh, also removed the FX4 stickers. Probably lost some street cred, but I truly don't like stickers.

sholxgt

Next up was to get the ride height just right. After a bunch of research on here, I settled on Bilstein 5100's front and rear. After installing at the +1.75" setting, I wasn't happy to see ALL of the rake gone or the empty wheel wells...

sholxgt

That led to the install of Nitto Terra Grappler G2's in P275/65-20 size...



And then to me installing a 2.5" rear block to get the stance I wanted...

sholxgt

With the exterior visual stuff mostly done, I finally had time this past weekend to install the Raptor steering wheel that was waiting it's turn to meet my wrenches...



Wheel was easy to install, but the wiring was a bit of a pain. Well, the wiring itself was made super easy thanks to boostedgreygoose, but the disassembly of dash and console panels was a pain. At least it all works perfectly thanks to his research and awesome wiring kit.

sholxgt

I'm not positive about the black F150 badges or the black mirrors. In case I decide to go full monotone, I bought and painted these...



Thoughts?

sholxgt

Truck is now at about 850 miles. Just waiting for the 1,000 mile mark for it's next adventure. Have Driven fluids, lube locker gaskets, Reische thermostat, K&N, and 5Star tunes waiting for the next chapter...



So, I'm about one month into ownership and have the basics done. Only other items in the near future are an upgraded interooler, full cat back exhaust, and a speaker/sound deadening upgrade. Oh, I'm also shopping for a bed cover. Think I've settled on the UnderCover Ultra Flex. Just haven't brought myself to cough up the dough yet.

Randall1111

Good looking truck. I had a 14 Platinum EB before the truck I have now. Kinda wish I would've went back with the EB but all the horror stories I've heard on here kinda swayed my decision. When its time for a new one again i'm pretty sure I will go back.

No knock on 5 Star tunes as I have never used them but I have used MPT tunes on my last 2 trucks and my 14 EB with MPT's PRX tune was an animal. That tune does require 93 octane.

If you don't mind telling, what did the Raptor wheel set you back?

Keep up the good work and keep us posted!

sholxgt

Thanks! In 2017, I would have bought the 5.0 FOR SURE! That was my original plan this time around until I started hearing all the problems in the Mustang world with the '18+ Coyote. Those problems then started popping up on F150's. Too bad because I wanted that sweet v8 sound! I have never seen a Blue Jeans Platinum in person. I love that color though! Bet it really pops on the Platinum!

I've heard good things about MPT tunes. I went with 5Star because I already had the X4 tuner from my previous vehicle. I don't believe MPT offers tunes for the 18'+ vehicles and the X4. I could be wrong, but that's what I recall from when I shopped around a month ago. I will probably also give Unleashed tunes a try. That's the great thing about the X4...I can try different tuners on the same device.

The Raptor wheel was about $450 and the wiring harness plug and play adapter was something like $120. You can save the $120 and wire it yourself, but the plug and play kit is 100% OEM quality and design. Once in the truck there is no one that would ever know it isn't factory wiring.

unleashedtuning

Sharp truck man, when and if your ready to try out my files let me know.