Project Midnite UPDATED
 

ok well i figured it was about time to start a "build" thread if you will.
nothing drastic is going to happen with the truck but it dsefinatly isnt going to be stock.

the truck: 1995 f150 4x4, e40d, 3:55 gears.

future plans includebut not limited to 4" lift or atleast level kit.
33x12.5r15 cooper discoverer stt tires.

when i got it it was bone stock. even factory radio.
http://a2.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot..._2385967_n.jpg
http://a3.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot..._8054609_n.jpg

first thing to go was the radio... as it is on every vehicle i have owned...
i put my kenwood deck and 1600w amp in and started with 2 10" jbl subs that i had laying around.
http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot..._3152317_n.jpg

picked up 2 12" explodes in a bigger box for nothing so i decided to use these instead.

http://a2.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot..._7611567_n.jpg

next was then dashlights, swapped them all to red leds i found on ebay but found the light want straight out instead of sideways to light up the dash so i swapped in the 194r red incandescent bulbs. and removed all the green from the guages, 4x4 buttons and the HVAC controlls.
just recently figured out the odometer thanks to wes.
sorry for the crappy pics
http://a7.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot...77300198_n.jpg
http://a3.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot...22057690_n.jpg

my exhaust decided one day to fall off while driving down the road so that resulted in me chopping the cat off and going 3" pipe into a flowmaster super 44 and dumped under the bed. the pic is before it got dumped. i just cut ir off at the elbow and rotated the muffler higher into the frame so it is no longer the lowest part of the truck.
http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot..._4900403_n.jpg

i found this f250 bumper at the JY in great shape and i love the look of this bumper v.s. the old one
http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot...62271270_n.jpg

i know im gunna get bashed for this one but i got a intake for it off ebay. i like the look and the sound of it.
i also did the 6liter tune up with msd cap/rotor, coil and ford 9mm red wires new plugs and timing bump
http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot..._8062605_n.jpg

also installed a b&m shift kit and new tranny fluid/filter

im sure im forgetting stuff but oh well...

picked up a new used set of springs from the JY today as well as a bug deflector...
http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot...89502003_n.jpg
http://a1.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot...59279678_n.jpg

I like the dash lights. Wonder how it would be in real life though. Is glare a problem driving at night?

no glare at all, ill try to get a better picture when it gets dark out.
it atually less distracting then the original green ones.

i find the under dash lights to be a bit distracting at times, i can see the reflection in the back window when trying to back up at night, but they on a switch so they can be turned off. i like having them on when driving tho..

some better pics
the dash lights are still dimmable too

http://a7.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot...16549590_n.jpg
http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot...75933342_n.jpg
http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot...96771581_n.jpg

Nice looking truck there. I like to see build threads. Keep up the progress! I like the red lights, everyone does blue.

Is that a 351 and shortbed

I wished mine was shortbed. It takes up a lot of realestate at my townhouse.
I need to swap in my 1000watts of stereo as well. Where did you run your wires. Under carpet or doorsill or under truck and up through floor.

Very nicely done!

I am curious to know, and this isn't specifically for you, but why run the exhaust in front of the tire instead of behind it?

Easier and cheaper.
Some like the sound with it closer to the cab.

Yes it is a 351 shortbox.
I ran my wired along the doorsil. Power on one drivers and the wires from the cd player on the passenger. To eliminate any interference




Exactly, i wanted it louder then it was anyways and it was on a very tight budget when my old one just fell off.
I even ended up cutting he tailpipe part off of it, now it just dumps after the muffler.

My truck has had 3 exhausts on it in its first 35000 miles.
When I got it I said the one I put on will be stainless and never deal with it again. So when it fell off, I cut the rear cat off, bought a 3-2.25" reducer and temporarily stuck a flowmaster on there with 3' of pipe.
Now I'm waiting on a free weekend to do a complete custom stainless head-back exhaust.
All I need is to order the 3" tailpipe from summit....and get a free weekend.

I just ran 3" the whole way, even the muffler is 3" SISO

Yeah that's how my stainless will be. But I needed temporary and had all the other stuff kicking around I cut off other trucks.
I'm doing long tubes into dual bullet cats into a dual 2.5 in single 3" out magnaflow muffler and single side exit in stock location. Maybe a resonator if the lil lady complains its too loud.

Hey Midnite, I was lookin' at the pic w/the springs and bug thing there. I noticed the slide out tray in the bed there.What's the scoop on that? I made one for mine outta plywood and 2x4's and it is heavy.Do you have a website or somethin' I could check one out on?

she's looking sharp there Midnite.:-X22

That's atually my company truck, but the roller is made by highway products.
I think the boss said it was 1500-2000$ all aluminum, I love it especially for Pails of oil

Thanks man,I'm a carpenter and I lug around quite a bit of stuff.I think mine setup prolly cost $200 but there is a substiantial weight thing goin' there.I'll have to check that out, it wuold be tax deductible for me.

You wouldn't have any pics of them lights before you removed the green film, would you?

this is the only one i have of my truck with green guages if thats what you were refering to
http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot...4_126781_n.jpg

you sure had much better luck than i did with the red lights.
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/8...he-dash-6.html

i guess you really do need to scrape off the green film.
what bulbs did you use?

BOX - 10 #194R RED AUTOMOTIVE AUTO DOME LIGHT BULBS 194 | eBay
these are the bulbs i used...i scraped a little too think in a couple spots too

that was my mistake when choosing red lights,going LED probably.
those seem to have the brightness required.thanks.

10 Red LED T10 194 168 Plate Dashboard Side Light Bulb | eBay
i tried these ones first but they had a narrow beam angle so didnt really work worth a damn. the normal bulbs have a much greater angle

ordered a 2" front leveling kit today in preparation for the 33's when i get my incometax return.

great looking truck. keep up the good work and the pics

thanks man, do you have any closer pics of your hood scoop? or of the install

Well got my new to my truck leafs in. They aren't arched as much as the stock ones so I didn't think I was going to gain any height but I gained 1/2" at The wheel wells and 3/4" at the hitch.

Look like im going o be lookin for a set of 2 possibly 3" blocks for the rear to go with the 2" front spacers.

Also thinking about a 3" body lift. Haw hard are they to install?
What's a average time to install a full kit?
I am a millwright with a full shop of tools at my disposal even forklift if needed.

I'll post some pics when I get to a computer, can't on the iPhone

3" blocks are $60 here in town and then just ned ubolts. Probably around 50 for those so $110 ish for the rear 3"

And was $80 for the 2" front.

$200 isn't bad for a 2-3"lift lol

A few pics. I changed the leafs and gave it a bath today.

The taller spring is the one I took out...
http://i1110.photobucket.com/albums/...d/acc53c2b.jpg

Got the new to me springs in and emptied a can of black paint lol
http://i1110.photobucket.com/albums/...d/83354ef9.jpg

Here's the broken leaf
http://i1110.photobucket.com/albums/...d/a96929fd.jpg

4 leaf springs hitch to floor
http://i1110.photobucket.com/albums/...d/51346bba.jpg

5 leaf hitch to floor
http://i1110.photobucket.com/albums/...d/26946008.jpg

Stock height
http://i1110.photobucket.com/albums/...d/1a4d8f3c.jpg

Front lifted 2" with jack and rear lifted 3" with forklift. I think this is the stance im going to go with.
http://i1110.photobucket.com/albums/...d/51368175.jpg

A few pics cleaned up
http://i1110.photobucket.com/albums/...d/3ef33571.jpg
http://i1110.photobucket.com/albums/...d/490b2b5c.jpg
http://i1110.photobucket.com/albums/...d/9996677b.jpg
http://i1110.photobucket.com/albums/...d/1c6053f2.jpg
http://i1110.photobucket.com/albums/...d/21a9c83e.jpg

Anyone have any suggestions for what to use to polish these rims up? This is the shiniest I have had them yet. When I get the new tires I want to polish them up
http://i1110.photobucket.com/albums/...d/043bab9f.jpg

And finaly my industrial "jack" and saftey stops when I did the leafs since my little floor jask wouldn't reach the grams let alone lift the wheels off the ground by the frame.
http://i1110.photobucket.com/albums/...d/29097ccb.jpg

Ok one more, my current exhaust
http://i1110.photobucket.com/albums/...d/8ae80cb2.jpg

Took me about two days to do mine. I went with the Performance Accessories 3" body lift kit. Installing the kit isn't hard, it's more getting the stock bolts out that was a PITA for me. My truck spent most of it's life in Michigan so I couldn't free up most of the bolts. I grinded all of the stock bolts off except for a few in the cab that came out cleanly.

You could probably get yours done even quicker than I did since you have a shop. I don't have air tools, so I used hand tools to do the install. Only power tools I used were an electric drill and my 4.5" angle grinder. Did it out in the driveway.

If you decide to do a body lift, you better check your core support. Mine was rotted out at both of the frame mounts, and had to be replaced before proceeding with the lift. I bought a new support along with the bushings and had that all installed prior.

Feel free to contact me if you have any more questions, I'd be glad to help.

Well I got my rear blocks and ubolts today.... Now for the front spacers to show up...
http://i1110.photobucket.com/albums/...d/2e9fa109.jpg

Mail man came today! And brought me a present.

Guess I know my plans for Saturday... Rear lift blocks, front spring spacers, front drive shaft u joints, front axle ujoints and drivers wheel bearing.... And fix leaking exhaust clamp

Forgot the pic lol
http://i1110.photobucket.com/albums/...d/9b220e27.jpg

Well decided to get cast blocks instead of the aluminum ones.


Got 2.5" cast blocks. Going to bring back the 3" aluminum ones.
The 3" aluminum were $126 and 2.5" cast $46... So it was a no brainer and I feel better having he cast ones too.

http://i1110.photobucket.com/albums/...d/cdcef80b.jpg
http://i1110.photobucket.com/albums/...d/8c944c3e.jpg

the full 2/2.5" lift pieces
http://i1110.photobucket.com/albums/...d/a217b79e.jpg

Get some pics up after you install the stuff this weekend.

ok well today was a productive day..... 9hrs later...
drove to work and got started on the front end. drivers side ujoints and wheel bearing went without a hitch until i went to install the coil spring spacer. i broke the stud extension..... so i made one (love having a welder and lathe at work) got it all back together then onto the passenger side... removed the hub and gave the axle a tug, cameout at the slip joint. and i couldnt for the life of me get the inner part of the axle out... go figure that was the bad ujoint too..... so i had to change the ujoint with the axle on the truck.....talk about a pain in the but! so got that all done and tightening the nut in the hub. got the inner one set, the lock ring in and go to tighten the outer nut and as i tighten i cant turn the wheel anymore... just great... take it apart again and the pin that holds the lockring in place broke off ... FYI a roller fron inside a ujoint cap is the EXACT sixe of that pin that i just broke off... so i had about 50 replacements sitting on the floor around me... got that all back together and buttoned up the front end.

heres a before shot
http://i1110.photobucket.com/albums/...d/5fe6418e.jpg

with the front spring spacers it looks level in the pic but standing beside it it seems like the back end is lower.
http://i1110.photobucket.com/albums/...d/cf233f7f.jpg

and installed the rear 2.5" blocks. got dark so the pic is crappy will have better ones tomorrow
http://i1110.photobucket.com/albums/...d/39fdf201.jpg

i know its dirty lol, gunna wash it tomorrow and get better pics. and i definatly need an allignment now
http://i1110.photobucket.com/albums/...d/9f61bb8b.jpg


also did the headlight harness and relays. i used #12 wire for it.
before and after pics

before lowbeam
http://i1110.photobucket.com/albums/...d/9c921651.jpg

after lowbeam
http://i1110.photobucket.com/albums/...d/c3efb158.jpg

before highbeam
http://i1110.photobucket.com/albums/...d/274513bd.jpg

after highbeam
http://i1110.photobucket.com/albums/...d/274513bd.jpg

it seems alot more noticeable on the road.

Looks awesome dude! Now you need some bigger tires, lol

The inner axle stub for passenger side has a c-clip on the inside I thought. Because there is a slip fit on the inner ujoint there has to be a way to hold the inner axle in.

I'll have to get a d44 LSD and have it on the shelf. I'm guessing I'll need to do ujoints eventually and I would love to have something extra in the front.
I really like my truetrac front diff in my other truck but can't justify the cost of it in a dd front end.

That looks good Midnite! I'm thinking about a similar size lift for mine.