02L's and bad rods???
 

Hello everyone, I am new to the board but not Fords or HP. I am looking at getting a L very soon infact I will be looking at one this sat in FT. Worth but I heard some disdurbing things today that got me all worried. Something about L's made in 02 during Febuary and May have something wrong with them causing them to blow a rod. Does anyone know about this or heard anything like this. I am really wanting an L but with this and the stories I keep hearing about plugs shooting out it's kind of worrying me, I thought these trucks were strong and all that jazz. Please give me any tips or advice. Thanks in advance!!

Dont let the problems of a few dictate your decision to buy one, they are AWESOME trucks!

shooting plugs....is a problem Ford should own up to, Ive heard stories of bone stock Lightning's blowing plugs, also head stories of regular 5.4 engines blowing plugs. I dont know the numbers, but apparently its not serious enough to issue a recall or TSB.

Rods...they work very well in stock applications, you go pushing 15 or more pounds of boost with a so-so tune, and you can pretty much guarentee the rods will vent the block. BUT....I have heard a few stories of L's and HD's pushing 15 or more pounds of boost and are very reliable, it all depends on the tune...and the driver.

At any rate, if you want an "L" get an "L" they are strong trucks!
If you want to push major boost though, I would recommend you do a lot of research and get hooked up with a good tuner.

thanks for the reply, I got the L on Sat and I LOVE it, these trucks are awsome indeed. I don't plan to get crazy with the truck but I will be using some spray on ocassion but I have a superchips module with a program set up for the NOS. The truck also had a 6lb crank pulley, how much more boost would that increase.

Congrats on the "L" purchase!
They are very nice trucks, I would have one except I have to haul 2 kids, so I got the HD (next best thing)

Anyways...in stock form they put out 8lbs...so a 6lb pulley will put you right at 14 lbs boost total.

so if you decide to spray a little, make sure you get the tune right on the $$, I mean take it to a dyno with wideband O2 capabilities, some dyno places can also "Tune" your chip to make any adjustments needed based on the dyno results.

And whatever you do....DONT do any kickdowns!....cruising in third and then mash the throttle so the tranny kicksdown into 2nd, I have heard this is one of the main reason for broken rods!

Good luck with it!!!
And be careful!

thanks for all the advice and info, I appreciate it. I will be sure to take it easy on her.