I have an 07 F150 that I am looking to turn into an off road truck. I want to add a winch to it and was looking for suggestion on what winch also a brush guard. I am planning on doing alot to this truck. First will be a new exhaust and a K&N intake. After that a suspension lift. I have Goodyear Duratrac tires on it right now. If anyone can help me and give me some pointers I would appreciate it.

 

Take a look at Warn's Trans4mer grill guard system. I had one on a previous truck with an XD9000i winch, and I was very happy with the setup.

As for the K&N intake, I would avoid that. Just do some searching on them & you will find plenty of info.

 

Thanks Deluxe05 I will check it out. Why not use the K&N? Do you prefer something else? What do you think of the Mile Marker wiches? I have been doing a lot of research on a good winch. Of course warn has the name recognition but these Mile markers seem to be really good to. Thanks again

 

Most of the aftermarket intake systems & drop-in style OEM-replacement filters all increase air flow by reducing the amount of filtering media. Many of these then try to capture the fine particulates by requiring a light oil coating on the filter. Too much oil, and the intake passages & MAF get coated in a light film of oil. Too little oil, and the filters let in more fine particulates. And, regardless of how you oil these filters a certain percentage of fine particulates are still "ingested" by the motor.

If you do some searching on air filters (or "cold" air intakes (CAI)) throughout the various F-150 & 5.4L V8 forums, you will find a pretty significant number of threads regarding these. The overwhelming proof (and support) is that the OEM system provides the cleanest air & flows more than enough air to support even mildly modified motors...well beyond what you could achieve with a simple programmer & exhaust 'upgrade".


As for the winch discussion, Mile Marker is definitely a contender. Back when I bought my Warn XD9000i, I was a frequent forum member over at Pirate 4x4.com. And, while lurking over there, I did a ton of research that led me to the decision to go with a Warn. Ironically, I cannot recall the details around that decision, but I do remember it was a close battle between Mile Marker & Warn. But, there were one or two small, underlying facts that tipped the scale in Warn's favor. If nothing else, you may want to go over there & do some searching & reading between their forums & tech articles. Be forewarned that they forums are "adult only"....just in case profanity is an issue.

 

i forget the model name, but warn makes a removable winch that attaches to the 2" receiver. you put one (reciever) on the front and one on the rear and wire it and your good to go. very versitile winch. i loved it. a few extra bucks up front and well worth it. you have to remember that winching forward is not always helpfull or easily done. sometimes going back is the best route.

 

I have seen those winches that fit into a trailer hitch. I always wondered how they mounted to the front. Plus there is the other problem of running wires to the back of the truck. Do you try to run some type of hard wire system or just bring some extra wire so you can hook it up on the spot. Right now this truck is my primary transportation. I am not a huge off road guy but do ocasionally go to the mountians and like to play.

 

I'd skip the intake.....a waste of a few hundred dollars that could go elsewhere much better......the hitch mount winches are nice for light use, but they aren't as strong as a solid bumper/frame mount

 

Ok so if I skip the intake what about doing a chip for the computer? I was planning on doing the brush guard mount. My main thing is which winch? I like the new Milemarkers. They seem to pull less amp and are a little cheaper. I am mostly looking at them because of the lower amp draw.

 

My milemarker winch worked well.....i'd buy one again. My only complaint was they didn't hold up to the elements real well...so make sure you get it covered if its kept out

 

Really I didnt realize they didnt hold up to the weather? You see all these pictures of these winches in all types of weather or covered in mud. I will make sure I do that if I end up buying one. I like the look of the new ones they have coming out. Its the V series if I dont do that one they have the other X series with that new control. Check out the videos they have on their website. If I dont do that I will end up going with a warn 9500ti with their brush guard setup. I have been able to find them a lot easier online the the Milemarkers.

 

Many folks that use a removable winch carrier have wired their trucks (front & rear) with battery cable & something like Warn's quick connects. If you do a quick Google search on them, you will see what they are & immediately know how they work. They are actually pretty handy.

(Side note, on my '78 FJ40 Land Cruiser project, I used a different connector that incorporated both an air line & battery quick connect in the same housing. But, I have forgotten who made those.)

The downside to this solution is almost always the front receiver hitch. Most front receivers are only class II or III hitches, and the class III is only rated to 5,000lbs.

While that may not sound too bad, you have to consider the "mire factor," as it was called in Motor Vehicle Recovery courses in the Marine Corps. This is the exponentially increase in draw required to free a vehicle based on how deep it is stuck. A vehicle only buried to the sidewalls will generally require a pull equal to the gross vehicle weight (GVW). A vehicle buried anywhere from the sidewalls to the axle will require a pull equal to twice the GVW. You go up to 3x GVW when buried above the axles up to the frame. And, anything beyond that you start with a base figure of 4x GVW.

As most of us know, pretty much every F150 has a weight in excess of the roughly 5,000lbs that many front receivers are rated. But, when you look at the mire factors above, you can see just how quickly one could overload the front receiver hitch during a recovery operation....especially with a 9,000lbs or larger winch. I have read horror stories (some over at Pirate 4x4.com) about owners damaging their front frame sections, radiators, front fenders, and beyond by blindly or unknowingly using a winch in a front receiver hitch.




On the programmer/tuner front, I would suggest that you contact someone (probably Mike) over at 5 Star Tuning. While it may be more expensive upfront, Mike & team can write you custom tunes that will be much better in terms of performance & longevity than any chip or tuner with "generic" tunes.

 

Wow I didn't realize it took that much to pull a truck out. Yeah I think the 150's are in the 7000 pound range now. If I remember correctly I think its around 7300. I am going to go with the brush guard with the winch. Maybe down the road I will add a reciever hitch. I am sure the 2" recievers are a classIV now on the 150's. I just saw this new V series winches from Milemarker which they say are waterproof and have that new MIFI technology. They have a cool video on how the guy uses the winch with 400 lbs of weight and a cup taped to the bottom and puts the cup on the ground. I don't know what that has to do with winches but it was neat to watch. Thanks for all your help with this it has made my decision easier. Also I am from Philadelphia so I am not sure who those people are for the chip but are they close to me?

 

yep...a good rule of thumb when selecting a winch is to take the vehicle weight times 1.5.

so if the truck weighs 5,000 lbs, you need at least a 7,500 lbs winch. And since winches lose pull capacity when then have more wraps of wire on the spool, BIGGER = BETTER since you will never know how much line you'll be using.

I had a Warn XS9500 on my old Bronco and old old F-150. I buried those trucks to the frame rails several times. The winch was mounted on a Warn replacement bumper. The 9500 did the trick, but it struggled several times. And those were 1993 and 1994 models.


If you are truly going to be off-roading and using a winch, I suggest you do a full on replacement bumper. Like a Boondocks or Ranchhand. You will need the integration with the frame that only these bumpers can provide. Not to mention the extra support and "bump steer" you gain when in tight quarters offroad and that offending tree is in your way


If you are serious about doing this project, my suggestion is a 12,000 lbs winch. That way you get the serious pull power. Anything bigger (ie: 15,000 lbs) and you run into fitment issues with the normal winch mounting systems.


Also, don't forget to upgrade the battery/alternator. A long hard pull with a winch will kill the battery. Like when you swamp the motor and have to pull out from the middle of a mud pit with water above the headlights

 

Yes well I think I have the winch narrowed down th the Milemarker V12. Its a new winch. I like the fact that it is waterproof, it pulls less amps then the warn and its a 12,000 lbs pull capacity. Plus for the price of a 9500lbs warn winch I can get the 12,000 pound milemarker. I cant seem to find the boondocks bumper. I wish that fab fours would come out with a bumper for the 07 F150 they have them for the 09's. But they also seem to be a hidden winch and I would like the winch to be exposed for convienence of removing the winch if I choose to. Milemarker has a brush guard and winch holder that is rated to 12,000 lbs. From what I can tell it looks like it mounts to the frame most likely where the front tow hooks attach to the frame.

 

If you have the cash you might want to look at the warn winches with the built in compressors. I've had the milemarker and a tabor winch, both were 9k and held up pretty well. Still have the tabor on my F250. Tabor is the economy model from warn. Like was previously mentioned, you want the biggest battery/alternator combo you can get. If the truck stalls you won't have a lot of time/power to winch out.