Hey what's up everyone, I just got a 1995 Ford F-150 4.9 extended cab from my father in law. Any suggestions on what I should do to it?

 

I guess that depends whats wrong wit it, and what you are looking to do with it. I have the same truck except standard cab.

Some problems I had so far are rotted gas tanks, bad rear leaf spring, bad front radius arm bracket, bad Speedometer module, and a lot of steering play.

Give it a look underneath. If any parts look rotted or not functional (ex. Shocks/brackets), you should change em out. A tune up will always help too (spark plugs, wires, cap, rotor, fuel filter, air filer, new vacuum hoses for the EGR/EVAP/PCV system, clean out throttle body). Also check battery terminals for cracks and corrosion. New, clean, terminals can save you a lot of headaches.

 

Thanks, I appreciate that, do you have any modifications in mind? Especially anything that will increase the horse power. Also do you plan to put a lift on yours?

 

Maybe in my younger days I would put a lift on, but as for now I'm just trying to get my truck to a condition where I can haul stuff around and not worry about the truck breaking down.

I have worked on a few trucks and put lifts on them, here are the pros/cons

Pros:
-It looks badass
-More room for your axle to move around if your planning on rock climbing with the thing
-You can throw on giant mud tires and drive around like your in a country music video

Cons:
-Higher body means more wind resistance and less gas mileage
-High center of gravity means higher risk of rollover during a tight turn
-Expensive!!!
-If your lifting high, you may need to get new drive shafts and adjust the pinion angle on both differentials to prevent the U-Joints from burning up all the time
-If bigger tires are going to accompany your lift, you will have to Re-Gear both differentials to accommodate the change in circumference of the tires.

As for HP, the tune up stuff I mentioned earlier will boost your HP. There are a ton of mods u can do. Air Intake and exhaust are the easiest, but don't give you that much of a boost. Roller rockers on the heads will give you a decent amount of HP, higher performance spark plus and wires for a bigger spark, better distributor and ignition coil.

 

I like your way of thinking, what are the biggest tires I could put on without putting a lift kit or changing anything?

 

I'm really not too sure, you might want to make a separate thread about the tires and see what some of the other guys on the forum say. I am running 31 inch tires without much of a problem. My truck calls for 235/75 R15 which is equal to a 28.9 inch tire. I really should be getting smaller tires to get optimal performance.

If you put bigger tires on and you don't re-gear your differentials, your acceleration will be less, your max speed will be less, and your gas mileage will go down (not good).

You pretty much have to decide if you'd rather have the looks or the performance. Re-Gearing the differentials can give you both, but it can be complicated and costly. Id say around 300 per axle if you do things yourself and get a good deal on the gears.

 

I just did a full tune up on my new to me truck. Made a huge difference in acceleration an a small bump in mpg. If its a 4x4 you should be able to do 31/10.50 tires. I'm just doing a leveling kit on mine an doing 32's. Don't want a monster truck, just a better stance.

 

Welcome to the forums. The biggest tire size you can expect to fit is about a 31x10.5 without any rubbing. If it's a 4WD you can accomplish that without any lift, it is a 2WD you will probably need to level it.

Check out what your axle code is on the doorjamb sticker. That will help us help you in the right direction.

You should also google "F150 6-cylinder tune-up" or the like and read up on what some folks have done to gain some quick and easy hp out of their 4.9 without breaking the bank.

 

Running 32x11.50 with rough country lift (2") adjustable camber bolts and alignment gonna set me back