Ok I bought this truck last year with 154000 on the everything but the motor Which had around 54000. I knew buying a 14 year old truck I would have some issues and stuff wearing out. Just didn't think they would all happen back to back. However she is up and running right now with no issues so finally I can start to spend money on some aftermarket stuff. The first pictures are the day I bought it. The next are as it sits right now. Only difference is I done away with those terrible 235s and went up to some 265/70 general grabber at2s which I think are a great tire. Next thing on the list is an hid kit which has been ordered from ddm and I should have in a couple weeks. I'll get pictures posted as soon as I get them and get em installed. Just wanted to start kind of a build thread so I can post updates and ask questions concerning possible upgrades I'm looking into without creating thread after thread.

 

Ok so my ddm tuning hids finally came in and I got em installed yesterday. This is the only picture I have for now it doesn't do em justice at all but you get the idea. They are definitly an improvement over stock and the install was pretty simple except for mounting finding somewhere to mount the ballasts and figuring out which wire went where for my hi/lo control that plugged into the old headlight socket since the wires weren't already installed in the plug from the kit. This is the 35 watt 6000k skimp ballast kit.

 

Nice truck man...I have a 97 ext. cab, and I hated those 235 sized tires...upgrade to 265's as well.

 

are your tow hooks bent? looks good by the way. crank those t-bars and get some 33's when you can.

 

I dunno if their bent or not I never noticed till just now. I was thinking bout 33s but dunno about that with it only being a v6. There was a seat of the pants difference in power going to the 265s. I just bought the tires though so it'll be awhile before I cross that bridge again. I think I'm gonna try and find fx4 wheels whenthese tires start wearing out.

 

Sharp truck man. I got an 01 sport 4x4 that is very similar. I also have a 4.2l and 5spd and I used to run 285 75 16s. I would recommend that size, if u plan to crank the t-bars, it will look sweet...here's a pic for an idea of the looks.....

 

Yeah man that does look real good. I'm gonna order those clear headlights before too long I think. I may end up going with headlight covers though since these new hids are brighter than I thought lol but that's a pretty sharp truck man. That may be my next tire size but I'm thinking I wanna go up to a 17 inch wheel not sure yet it's still a ways down the road.

Next I think will be led signals brake and reverse lights then tinted tails and third brake. Anyone done an led swap like that? Kinda curious what kind of bulbs you used

 

I have sonar led taillights and lightning led 3rd brakelight on my 150. I did replace my bulbs with led spiderlights on my ranger and also tinted the factory housings.

 

Im planning on keeping my stock tailights and third brake just tinting em. The after market led brake lights are a little to busy for my taste, the truck is an xl and is just real simple so im going for a more clean look than anything, just a bunch of suttle changes that add up if that makes any sense. Thats the main reason i didnt go with projector headlight housings. I found a website awhile back that sold leds and had a page that showed what leds to order based on what kind of bulb you had from the factory but ive looked in my owners manual and my haynes repair manual and neither have tell me what kind of bulbs come from the factory. I know advance or autozone could look it up and tell me but i havent had a chance to get to either. Im assuming that i can just replace the factory bulbs with their led equivilant. I know the turn signals need a special relay or a load resistor to make them blink properly but other than that can i just buy replacemnt leds and stick em in?

 

i would stay with the 16''s you got, tires will be way less than tiers for 17''s. i got the 17" fx4's on mine and am going down to 16'' stealies because the tiers i want are $50 less for 16''s than 17''s. but if you dont mind or get cheaper tiers i dont think it will make a huge diff.

p.s. monochrm-addict, that is one bad *** truck!