cmaduri415

Hi everyone, my name's Chris, I'm 19, and I'm from Fairfield County, CT. I am a student at the University of Connecticut up in Storrs, pursuing a degree in Financial Management. I joined the forum a while back, around the beginning of May 2013. This is when I bought my very first truck, a 2008 Silver ECMB 4.6 XLT 4x4. I've been reading the forum since then, but haven't posted anything. But, here's my start.

Coming from a Honda Accord, it was quite a large, but nice, change. Here's a photo of the truck right after I brought it home. It came with a Leer cap, but it was promptly removed and sold.



Bear with me on this post, it's gonna be a long one...

It had 78k miles on it when I bought it, and am just about to roll over 82k this weekend. It's got some nice optional extras that you usually don't find in an XLT, such as the electronic shift-on-the-fly T-case, the bigger painted aluminum rims with wider tires, premium audio with MP3, rubber floors, power everything except seats, premium mirror package, automatic headlights with factory fogs, tinted rear glass, a drop-in bedliner and a sliding rear window. The exterior and interior are incredibly clean, and being a detailer, I like to keep it that way.

Even before I got it, I had a small list of "starter mods", if you will, for the summer in mind and thankfully got all of it done before I came back up to school, and some.

First, I cannot stand the look of clear glass on a vehicle. Makes me feel like everyone can look in and see me (kind of the point of windows I guess), but regardless, within a week of owning it, I brought it to my tint shop (Sunlimited out of Bridgeport, CT) and had them match the factory rear glass. I also do not like the look of pickups that have more wheel gap in the rear than the front. So, obvious solution, ordered a ReadyLift SST 2" leveling kit and installed that as well. Was quite a job to do - the ball joints would NOT pop out of the knuckle, had to resort to removing LCA to drop the strut out - good fun that was...but it got done and looks great. Here's a photo of both combined right after completion. Also promptly got an alignment done.



Then, it was time to make her properly loud. Did both an intake and exhaust. For intake, I went with Volant's Powercore closed-box system with a Donaldson filter, and for exhaust I went with a Banks Monster dual rear exit system. Also purchased a Tractor Supply black toolbox, a pseudo-replacement for a trunk. Then I washed it and took photos





HID time! Installed DDM 4500K kits for the hi/lows and the fogs. Also removed the front plate bracket for a cleaner look.



My intention for this next part was to hold off on it until either winter or the following summer to upgrade, but circumstance kind of screwed me over. The tires the truck came with were quite worn, maybe 30% tread left, so I figured they'd last me through this school year. However, a construction site near my place of work had other ideas. I took nails going through two tires as a sign to just replaced what was on there for something new, so I did. Went with Toyo Open Country AT2's in the same 265/70R17 size.

.....I enjoy cleaning it......



Then I got the idea from a friend to wire up some strip-LEDs under the bedrails to illuminate the bed at night/when I inevitably purchased a tonneau cover for the school year. $20 and an hour of my time.



About two weeks before school, finally bought a tonneau. Extang's Trifecta Toolbox. Not at tight sealing as I'd hoped, but it works.



2 days before leaving for school, I was at Home Depot with my father and on impulse, bought a can of Rustoleum lens tint. Got bored and spray-tinted the taillights and third brake light. 3 coats, and taped over all clear surfaces.



And that my friends, is how she sits!

I wrote a whole lot more on the UConn forum, my forum of choice. Here's that link for those actually interested in more specs/photos.

http://www.uconncarclub.com/forum/vi...php?f=1&t=5052

But now, comes the dilemma. It is now paid off, and when I purchased it, I bought a 4-year, 48,000 mile Ford warranty. My first true love was a Powerstroke, but due to the newer ones costing $30k+, that made no sense for someone like myself to buy. After having done all this work, I love my truck. But there will come a day where it will go bye-bye and be replaced by a newer F250 'Stroker.

That being said, I have two real options. Keep it the way it is, and in a summer or two, sell it and buy an "eh" F250. OR....do what I'd like to do, which would include some semblance of lift and rims/tires, wait until the warranty runs out, and THEN trade it in and buy my 6.7 once I graduate. I'm leaning toward option 2, keeping it for the remainder of the warranty and making it more badass. I'd like to hear opinions.

Since I'll most likely end up keeping it, what does everyone recommend if I were to lift it? What brands? Amount? I don't wanna have to change diff ratios or any of that BS, so I want to go no bigger than a 33" tire. I'm also thinking 4" lift, which would be good in my book. I feel like if I did 6" lift, 33's would look tiny. So, please, all opinions welcome!

Thanks for taking the time to read this horribly long thread, and I look forward to hearing what everyone has to say!

Zax

Truck looks good man.