I am ready to completely trick out my ride. Until now i havent been that serious about offroading in my truck b/c it is my daily driver, but now i got a new truck and i wanna make my 96 F-150 4X4 5.0L 5spd an offroad machine. However, because i am still somewhat of a begginer i would like to know everyones ideas on the MODs i should do. I know i wanna drop a new engine in the truck, but i dont know much about that (What size, make, liter size, etc?). I also wanna put a straight axel in the front. I dont know much about how to go about that. I think that 78 and 79 F-150 are the way to go, but what all goes into that and will is be coils or leifs? Then i got to lift the thing, but i dont wanna lift it to much because i dont wanna roll. This thing is going to Telico and doing those crazy *** trails. But i was thinkin no larger than 38's and i would like to know what lift to use. Then i wanna put lockers front and rear, again which brand would be the best way to go. After all that, i know theres other stuff that needs to be done, so i would like to hear about what yall think i should do to my rig. Again i wanna build a rig that can take some pretty serious trails. Maybe a little mudd but more to be build for trailriding.
Thanks,
Will

 

if you are plannin on going to tellico with it you might wanna run some of the trails first. i have seen some guys make it up lower 2 with 35's! it's all about driving skill not how big of a tire you can put on. also with rocks you have to worry about breaking shafts more b/c grip comes and goes VERY quickly unlike mud where everything is pretty much slick and theres not as much of a chance of snapping a shaft. with smaller tires you have less rolling weight to worry about. also trail riding is not how tall you can get your truck like some of the mall crawlers on here ( ) but about how low you can get your CG (center of gravity).

you should do a lot of reading. browse around on here and go browse around pirate b/c you dont have a clue (obviously) of how you wanna do it. and with that in mind and you asking some VERY vague questions you are gonna get 500 different opinion on what you should do with your truck!

for trail riding you need lots of low end grunt but you also need to get some wheel speed. your best bet would prolly be a small CI diesel or a big block and build the low end of it. make sure you get your drivetrain up to par with your motor so you dont break something every time you go out (although its expected).

anyways, lemme know if you ever wanna go ride at tellico cause i go pretty often as i have a house up in that area.

-cutts-

 

Sounds to me like you will need to do a SAS with a Dana 60 front axle, 4.56 gears, ARB front locker, Detroit rear locker, 351, ZF tranny, NP205 T-case.......There is a lot longer list than just this, this is just giving you an idea of how much work this will be.

You can run Coils or Leafs up front, that is totally up to you. You can even buy a straight axle conversion kit for about 2grand more than it would cost you to make your own.

For lift I would go nore than 6" and then trim what needs to be trimmed, if anything.

 

I agree with Fish.

Another engine is the inline 300, It's small, has diesel like torque, and doesn't weigh as much as the big blocks. That is if weight matters to you, if not go big block.

 

The other guys are right; but you should ask yourself this question, and answer it honestly: Do you want to spend several months of nights and weekends making these mods, along with spending several thousand dollars to do so? The key to your next step is to determine whether or not you want to go the distance. As a newbie your possibilities are limited only by your wallet and your ambition. Option B is to sell what you have and buy something very close to what you want, then put the finishing touches on it. I've got about 2 years into mine and more money than I care to admit; and I'm still not done. I enjoy the planning, tweaking and knuckle-busting; but not everyone does. Give it some thought, look around for ideas (a search of this forum will yield a gold mine of info) and decide what you want to do.

 

Read Johnsonswamp's info on his truck in his gallery. Bigger axles would be ideal (Unless you really are fighting weight), but since hes got chromoly, hes ok. Throw lockers in there and hes got a really good setup.

Look at Proeliator's, Fishy's, or Ivan's trucks. They are good examples of quasi-semi-sorta streetable trucks that are purpose built boggers...

Id use coils up front if you can. ARB air lockers are excelent, however, if its a dedicated trail rig, Just get detroits.

 

I have lockers front and rear.

If you use a strong motor I would recommend something bigger than a D44 front, I was breaking stock axles as fast as I could put them in, So far I have only broke one stub shaft with the chromoly axles.

I am only running a inline 6 cylinder now, I have a 351/C6 going in it in about a week, So I will be going to D60 if things start breaking again.

 

Oh, Either I didnt see them listed or you didnt put them in there...

Ok, so look at johnson's gallery, and you have everything you need unless you want bigger tires. Then you need bigger axles and a larger engine.

 

what cutts said, the most important thing is to keep a low COG, and have at least One locker out back, preferably one up front as well. And since you are starting from scratch, go ahead and shoot for a 60 up front.

decide what tires you want, and then build your axles for about a 6 inch larger tire than you decide....because you will always want to go bigger. I finally got my axles up to par for my 44's after 2 years(college budget)

 

Low COG is for wussies, a high COG makes for a MUCH more entertaining and involved wheeling experience

 

double postamajigger

 

You know, most normal people would probably back off a little or get an exo after they rolled their bogger...

Of course you wouldnt though....

 

Normalcy is for WUSSIES!!!

And exo's are teh ghey.

And I only rolled it once. Ahwile ago

 

Amen on hte exo portion...

 

Behold the magic powers of the sawzall.

Big tires no lift!