Hey guys,names Kevin. This is my first of many things. I've always owned 4-cylinder small vehicles...and now a Big *** V8 pickup truck has entered my life...let me introduce you to Brasko!




Brasko
2003 XLT
2WD w/AOD
4.6L Triton
Regular Cab w/Long Bed (8')
Black w/Silver Trim
Grey Interior








I am staggered by how much this truck has grown on me in the past 2 weeks. Some sort of relationship is building...it's rather strange to be honest!

Now when it comes to my plans for this truck things get very simple:
-Refurbish paint
-Refurbish transmission
-Brakes
-Refurbish interior
-Bed-lining
-Bed-cover
-Suspension- new bushings, anti-roll bars, chassis braces.
-17" Torque Thrust wheels with a good set of normal tires offset to stick out past the fenders .5" ( just a little 'poke'!)
-Supercharger

Brasko is a daily commuter/general purpose truck the exhaust will remain factory and I don't go off-road to make lifts or big tires logical. I just want a good, comfortable, reliable truck for the pavement.

 

looks like a great truck that has a bright future ahead of it haha congrats

 

After burning through tank #2 I am realizing I am really going to have to start saving up money for this truck!



But first I will wash the truck, hopefully it wont be raining on Wednesday.

Can I power-wash my engine(?), we did it all the time when I worked at Lexus so it must be ok right?

Does anyone have any advice on what product to get to refurbish these black/grey plastic parts, the grille especially looks like dog****, its almost milky.


Also I suspect the cooling fan will need to be converted to an electric unit, I believe it is causing strange vibrations, more research must be done first.

I have also decided to not buy an aftermarket set of wheels, I've always wanted to make a vehicle look better by simply using factory equipment, so I have decided to begin searching for a set of 2000-2004 Expedition/F150 King Ranch wheels. Hopefully I will find a set at a junkyard in the area and get them on the cheap.

And going with the factory parts I am thinking of buying those Lightning headlights and maybe the grille too. I will start looking for those online here shortly. Part of me wants to just get a Lightning front/rear bumper too...but it seems wrong to do it ya know what I mean?

Aside from getting new seats that give me a bit more side support in turns, I have no idea what I am going to do in here.


And one last thing, has anyone ever built their own bed cover? I really don't see the need in shelling out 500+ when I could just build it...I mean it really can't be that difficult right?

 

Nice truck man. You probably could build a "tonneau cover" or bed cap of sorts yourself, but engineering the tracks may get complicated. Even the best home built one would likely look home built unless you had good materials. What were you thinking of building it out of?

-cheers

 

Looks like a great truck and it seems like you have a good start. My advice ischeck out a scrap yard for a better looking honeycomb grill they look alit better. Otherwise you can take yours off sand it and paint it.

 

And lots of guys take the grill off and just plasti dip black. At least I've seen it a lot on different threads.

 

My grille was just as bad as that and I used some restorative chemical on it, and it looks brand new now. But for the life of me I can't remember what it was called. Sorry bub.

 

They have a new one out now called wipe new.... As seen on TV so I dunno how it'll work I know ole Wally World had it today for 19.77 but good luck and let us know hat u decide to use an how well it works

 

Plastidip wouldnt be a bad idea. Get it to match the truck, like my grille does. Though Im planning to switch to a HC grille with a silver painted surround...

 

I was thinking of using tarp/pleather type material and just make a roll-up cover, I will have to do some serious planning and measuring etc. I know it wont look professional but I believe I have sufficient skills to get it done right as long as I can find a guide or something of the sort. This will be an addition further down the road!

And as far as the grille goes, I will be going out to Napa/Autozone/Advanced/Walmart to see what sort of products they have to clean these plastics up, perhaps I will even get a headlight restoration set to deal with my yellow headlights, might as well as I have to replace a burnt out turnsignal.

I am confident my mod list will decrease a bit after I wash the hell out of the truck. I will be taking all 4 wheels off and giving them a good scrub inside in out. I am hoping these wheels will be beautiful when clean and I will not feel the need to replace them.

Thanks guys for the advice, you are helping me get my head around my truck heh.