Needing Some Advice
#1
06-13-2015, 01:54 PM
Join Date: Jun 2015
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Needing Some Advice
Hey guys,
I'm new to the site but I've read through a lot of threads in the past couple months. I have a 2002 f150 XLT 5.4 with about 138,000 miles. It was my dads truck and he basically gave it to me. My goal is to turn this into an everyday driver that's rugged enough to get me through snow and to good camping spots. I was thinking that I would start with removing the rust on the truck itself, there isn't a ton but enough to bother me. Then start working on the things that have worn down and have the transmission checked. I was thinking of a leveling kit, bigger tires, and some lights for the look. I also wanted an exhaust with a little more of a rumble and a little more power up front. Inside, I was thinking of just having the seats reupholstered and a rubber floor to replace the carpet because I tend to get my floor muddy. This is going to be a project where I learn as I go. I've always been interested in trucks but I've never taken the time to educate myself. I appreciate all the help and advice you guys can give me.
I'm new to the site but I've read through a lot of threads in the past couple months. I have a 2002 f150 XLT 5.4 with about 138,000 miles. It was my dads truck and he basically gave it to me. My goal is to turn this into an everyday driver that's rugged enough to get me through snow and to good camping spots. I was thinking that I would start with removing the rust on the truck itself, there isn't a ton but enough to bother me. Then start working on the things that have worn down and have the transmission checked. I was thinking of a leveling kit, bigger tires, and some lights for the look. I also wanted an exhaust with a little more of a rumble and a little more power up front. Inside, I was thinking of just having the seats reupholstered and a rubber floor to replace the carpet because I tend to get my floor muddy. This is going to be a project where I learn as I go. I've always been interested in trucks but I've never taken the time to educate myself. I appreciate all the help and advice you guys can give me.
#2
06-13-2015, 03:34 PM
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Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Yorba Linda, CA
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If you've never spent any serious amount of time modding cars, you probably don't know the meaning to the phrase "money pit". No matter how much love and attention you give your vehicle, it's just not enough. That truck will bite you in the wallet at every single possible opportunity, and always with the worst timing. Your friends and family will tell you to get rid of it, but you won't. If you’re older, you probably had one as
a 'young fella' and want to re-live your youth. It is probably your first vehicle, or as you mentioned in your post, you inherited from your dad. Bottom line is, you will always kid yourself into believing you actually need that (XX) year old rust bucket. If you're afflicted with this problem, it's very important for someone to tell you to wake up, and to go and Google 'car salvage' at the very first opportunity. Now, if you insist on pouring you heart and soul into this vehicle, then congratulations you have properly qualified as a hopeless car enthusiast, and we can now be friends.
My personal experience with my money pit usually goes along these lines: I'll be sitting in traffic in my truck that I'm totally happy with, and wouldn't change a thing on. This immediately makes my truck unexciting and propels my brain into a flurry of activity latching onto things that I look for in a toy. It has to be fast, it has to be unique and it has to be reliable. But not to be fooled, everything we want in life requires time, patience and a heck lot of money......and a lots and lots of more money.
Guys who restore 'classic' cars have a tolerance level for rust unlike any others. We've all seen examples where pretty much the whole car gets the treatment with the angle grinder and shiny new metal is welded in place. There's a good reason for this and it's called 'resale'. Your project may well cost you $1,000 or maybe less but always bare this in mind, it would never be worth more, it doesn't matter how much time and effort you put into it.
Never-the-less, there is an upside to all this, and that is knowledge. I have no formal training as a mechanic; everything I've learnt about my truck has been from doing some of the cosmetic stuff myself and allowing the experts wrench on my truck which has been exorbitantly expensive. I say, YES you have an EXCELLENT opportunity to learn and the perfect reason to get busy fixing and modding your truck. It might never be worth a dollar more than the day you inherited it, but the knowledge you gain during your mechanical adventures will stay with you for life.
Reading a how-to or watching videos will give you the general idea of how to do something, but until you're knee deep in parts with nothing but a service manual and a pair of pliers, you will never really get the hands on experience your brain needs to set the knowledge in stone. If you find yourself Google-ing 'car salvage' but you haven’t gotten your hands dirty trying to fix whatever problem pushed you over the edge, then you haven't tried hard enough. Get back in the garage and try again.
Oh, and don't forget to keep us posted. We may never respond to your threads but that doesn't mean we're not interested in reading about your adventures.
My personal experience with my money pit usually goes along these lines: I'll be sitting in traffic in my truck that I'm totally happy with, and wouldn't change a thing on. This immediately makes my truck unexciting and propels my brain into a flurry of activity latching onto things that I look for in a toy. It has to be fast, it has to be unique and it has to be reliable. But not to be fooled, everything we want in life requires time, patience and a heck lot of money......and a lots and lots of more money.
Guys who restore 'classic' cars have a tolerance level for rust unlike any others. We've all seen examples where pretty much the whole car gets the treatment with the angle grinder and shiny new metal is welded in place. There's a good reason for this and it's called 'resale'. Your project may well cost you $1,000 or maybe less but always bare this in mind, it would never be worth more, it doesn't matter how much time and effort you put into it.
Never-the-less, there is an upside to all this, and that is knowledge. I have no formal training as a mechanic; everything I've learnt about my truck has been from doing some of the cosmetic stuff myself and allowing the experts wrench on my truck which has been exorbitantly expensive. I say, YES you have an EXCELLENT opportunity to learn and the perfect reason to get busy fixing and modding your truck. It might never be worth a dollar more than the day you inherited it, but the knowledge you gain during your mechanical adventures will stay with you for life.
Reading a how-to or watching videos will give you the general idea of how to do something, but until you're knee deep in parts with nothing but a service manual and a pair of pliers, you will never really get the hands on experience your brain needs to set the knowledge in stone. If you find yourself Google-ing 'car salvage' but you haven’t gotten your hands dirty trying to fix whatever problem pushed you over the edge, then you haven't tried hard enough. Get back in the garage and try again.
Oh, and don't forget to keep us posted. We may never respond to your threads but that doesn't mean we're not interested in reading about your adventures.
Last edited by OGTerror; 06-13-2015 at 10:37 PM.
#3
06-13-2015, 10:18 PM
I have to agree with Leo. I needed suspension work done nearly 4 years ago. Long story short, people's mess ups have caused me to learn an incredible amount of stuff. Constantly learning and while frustrating to have experienced what I have, it's taught me many of the things I wanted to learn.