Stage3Motorsports

Having done a few 2011-2014 F150 5.0Ls in the past, we wanted to do something a little different this time around to answer the question: can you truly redeem a very tired work truck? Meet our 2011 F150 5.0L XL Project Truck. Purchased for a pre-tax $9500, this truck has a 5.0L Coyote V8, SuperCrew Cab, Oxford White Paint, and 4WD. While that's good, what's less good was its 174,000 miles of work truck wear, tear, and outright abuse. So, while we got it at a steal of a price, would this tired truck steal our sanity before we had the chance to turn it into a a fun and aggressive do-everything F150 Build?

Specs:
2011 F150 XL
5.0L Coyote V8
4WD
SuperCrew Cab
Oxford White
5.5ft Bed

Stage3Motorsports

The first step of our build was to give this tired XL truck some TLC and fix a few of its more egregious problems. It's first fairly major issue was grinding hubs, which was caused by a complete IWE failure. You read all about that not-so-fun adventure on our IWE Fixes and Problems Blog Post.




Next, Jason got to remove the tool box and bed drawer in Phoenix in June, which left the truck with holes in its upper bed caps. To fix that issue, we grabbed a Bed Moulding Cap Kit that includes both driver's and passenger's side mouldings.



The other fairly major issue was that it's Y-pipe was pretty much done, with both catalytic converters looking and feeling like molten slag. To fix that little problem without blowing our budget, we grabbed Magnaflow's Federal Driver's Side and Passenger's Side catalytic converter assemblies. Magnaflow's cats are 48-state legal stock replacements that come in around half the price as an OEM Y-pipe from the dealership.





Parts Installed:
Full IWE Overhaul
2011-2014 F150 Bed Cap Kit
2011-2014 F150 5.0L Magnaflow Driver's Converter Assembly
2011-2014 F150 5.0L Magnaflow Passenger's Converter Assembly

Stage3Motorsports

With our Work Truck's major problems solved, it was time to get on to the fun stuff in our quest to turn this XL work truck into a fun on and off-road truck build.

First, we overhauled the suspension with one of our 2011-2014 F150 Boss Trail Package 1 Kits, which includes Halo Lifts Coilovers, Halo Lifts Rear Shocks, and at the time Fabtech UCAs (now ICONs).

Then we threw on a set of awesome wheels and tires with 18x9" Moto Metal MO971s with -12mm offsets wrapped in 325/60R18 Toyo Open Country A/T II Tires. We did have to trim a lot for this wheel and tire combination, but the look was worth it.

Next, we put on one of our Xtune Headlight and Taillight Packages to replace the beat and sad-looking factory headlights and taillights.

Since the stock grille was broken and cracked in about six places, we swapped that out for a Paramount 2.0mm Mesh Packaged Grille which includes both the interior mesh and an ABS shell that completely replaces the stock grille with no cutting.

The end result is pretty great:











Parts Installed:
2011-2014 F150 Boss Trail Package 1 Kit
Moto Metal 18x9" MO971 with -12mm offsets
325/60R18 Toyo Open Country A/T II Xtremes
2009-2014 Xtune Smoked Lighting Package
2009-2014 Paramount 2.0mm Mesh Grille with Shell

whitefx4mike

Great build guys! Simple yet a huge improvement!

Magna_Flow

You guys killed it as usual! Its interesting to see how just a few tasteful mods can completely change the looks and performance.

Stage3Motorsports

Thanks guys! Tell Jared Chavez Hi for us.

Smasher!

How do you guys like the tires?? I am in need of some tires come the spring on my FX4 5.0L. Always ran BFG's, but thinking of something different! The tread pattern really nice on the toyos, but I also need them to be good in the snow(I live in Canada).

These are 285/65R20 BFG A/Ts

Stage3Motorsports

Good-looking truck!

We haven't tried the A/T IIs up in snow yet, though we have tried them in just about every other condition Arizona has, and they've done very well in regards to traction and wear. Their only downsides are that they are a bit stiff and a bit loud for true all-terrain tires. Granted, we're also using a big 325/60R18 size (12.8x33.4") making it an A/T II "Xtreme", which doesn't help.

The other potential downside for someone in Canada is that they're not 3PMSF (3-Peak Mountain Snow Flake) Severe-Snow rated, so you can't use them year-round in certain provinces (I don't think Ontario is one of them, but Quebec definitely is).

We're actually prepping for our annual Flagstaff trip as we speak, and we'll be thrashing them around in the snow this weekend. We'll make sure to report back.

Smasher!

Thanks, and awesome! I look forward to seeing the pics that follow! And also thanks for the info on the Snow Rated, I didn't even think to look at that! Ontario does not require snow tires...yet. Its in the talks though. We do get 5% off insurance if we have them, so atleast my BFGs get me that lol.