I’m not new to Fords by any means, my first car was an ‘89 Mustang notchback with a 4 cylinder. I stepped up to a ‘95 Mustang GT... that I totaled 6 weeks after purchasing. Next I owned a 1993 F-150 with the straight 6 cylinder, 2WD. My latest is a 2000 F-350 XL CC LB 4X4 with the 7.3 PSD and the 4R100 tranny, sorry i’ve learned you gotta specify. I bought the truck April of 2017 with 230,000 miles on it for $11,300 tax title and tags. Since owning the truck i’ve put nearly another $9,500 into the truck to include:

a factory A/C system (truck was originally an Alaskan truck and didn’t have it)
whole new steering to include tie rods, power steering pump and red head steering gear
new bilstein 5100 shocks all around to include the steering dampener
max a/c mod
aftermarket radio with Apple CarPlay, backup camera, SiriusXM and hands free calling
TS-6 position chip
40,000 GVW Transcool aftermarket cooler
Dynamat inside doors and one roll of dynapad to reduce interior cab noise (plan to add a ton more to try and make it to where you can have a normal conversation in the cab)
Soft tri-fold tonneau
new tailgate
RiffRaff’s FRX and HPX
new water pump, fan clutch, fan blade and Degas bottle
aftermarket power locks with keyless entry
i have also been replacing all of my interior lights with LEDs
lastly, I just put a brand new set of Goodyear 35x12.50R17 Duratrac E rated tires on

The truck is my daily and our tow rig for our 7,000lb travel trailer. I’m hoping to do a lot of things to the truck to make it the perfect truck for me:

Allison 1000 6-Speed swap, I keep reading that no one thinks this is a good idea that the Allisons can’t hold up but I figure if I buy a rebuilt beefed up one that is rated to handle the 400-450 horsepower i’m Looking to make in the end it will work out great. I could pair this transmission with 4.56 gears and be able to cruise at 70 MPH in 6th gear (.61) at around 1,850-1,900 RPMs while dropping down to 5th gear (.71) at 70 MPH at 2,150-2,200 rpms for towing. This is almost the perfect combo for daily mileage and excellent towing RPMs, if not someone please tell me why not.

i intend to put a full air ride suspension from Kelderman on the truck to soften up the rid and give me better control over the load in the bed. I will also be debating between the ‘05-‘07 front suspension swap versus the Full traction front coil over swap.

I will be adding more interior sound insulation as mentioned before, aftermarket power windows, alarm/remote start viper system, 2008 interior to include door panels, full dash with custom Dakota Digital gauges to try and make them look like the original 2008 gauges, overheard console and front captain’s chairs with center console and rear bench with folding armrest.

Retrofit ESOF into the truck... i’ve run all winter with the hubs locked so I could just switch to 4HI as needed... knuckles don’t like that or at least so it sounds. I live in an area where the ability to switch into 4HI and back to 2HI while still driving are beneficial in my opinion.

Retrofit the truck from 2-wheel ABS to 4-wheel ABS

Retrofit the truck from manual A/C controls to the single zone Auto A/C from the 2005-2007 trucks

there are a lot of other little things I intend to do here and there not to mention the maintenance items to do in between. I am not a rich man who could drop the money to do all this at once so this will be an on-going project over the next few years. My last thing to do will be to do an engine rebuild with a blueprinted block.

Many have asked me why not just go buy one of these new Super Dutys and call it done... I have three boys and I intend to use this truck and their own trucks they will own to teach them that your dreams can’t be bought... they must be built with sweat, blood, tears, hard work and determination. The final product in the end is far more beautiful than anything that can be bought.


wow I ranted sorry and HI!