Originally Posted by 93chaosdx
For a while now i have loved the Svt lightning. with my re-enlistment bonus i am looking to pick up a 99-04 lightning, can any of you guys tell me the draw backs to this wonderful truck. what kind of things do i need to look for as far as red flags about these trucks. also what is a good mileage range and price range?
Thanks
Cpl Corey A Sims
USMC
They get horrible gas mileage...but for me, it's smiles per gallon, not miles per gallon!
'99-'02 model year had the heads with 4 threads per spark plug holes. This causes a situation where the spark plugs are easily launched from the heads.
This problem is not limited to the Lightnings, as all the modular engines Ford made have this problem.
Starting with the '03 model year, Ford started using heads with more threads in the spark plug holes.
The '99 and '00 model year L's produced 360hp and 440 ft. lbs of torque and had 3.55 gears in the diff.
Starting in '01, due to slight changes by Ford (80mm MAF to a 90mm MAF and some other tweeking), the L's produced 380hp and 450 ft. lbs of torque and were now sporting 3.73 gears in the diff.
Ford also stopped using the 3.5" steel driveshaft and started putting a 4.5" aluminum driveshaft in the L's in '01.
All of the Gen 2 L's have the 4R100 tranny. A very stout unit used by Ford for the 7.3L PSD's.
That's all I can think of off the top of my head. Can anyone else think of something I might have missed?
Stewart