I'll grab those valving numbers off the truck later this week, its at the race shop so when I stop by tomorrow ill snag them. as far as install, just tack some tabs for the bottom of the shock, measure full bump and full droop with only the top leaf and bottom leaf making a little box thats the same thickness as the leafs that way you can cycle with ease. other than that don't over think the cage but also triangulate and make the right points of contact. any questions pm me or ask in here doesn't matter! that setup should be solid though, carlos ran it forever and his truck is a cooler version of mine IMO ha.


long story short i had the shop that i bought the tuner and cts from install my egt for free and when they did it they broke a tap off inside the manifold. wellll... they thought it was a good idea to try and blow it through the turbo and ya. ha bad idea.. so i ended up with a new free turbo!



the truck
as for the shark I'm basically starting over. theres a lot of things I want to do over and a lot of things I want to do better. new suspension, full cage, interior, exterior etc. I'll be selling everything after emissions and designing a centermount 4x4 kit along with linking it. its a lot of time and definitely a lot of $$ but whatever. its worth it to me. so look for some updates post may!

I'll have time to think about it and plan because I'm physically disabled at the moment. last sunday 4-27 i was with a group of friends at saguaro lake and ended up riding passenger in a friends bronco. mid day we climbed a hill right by the lake and rolled 5-6 times after we crested the top. long story short the cab caved, window blew in my face and I ended up pinned inside what felt like a trash compacted truck. i got out and ended up being life flighted to scottsdale osborn with neck back and severe finger injuries. I was later cleared of any serious neck or back injuries but had surgery on my right index finger. i should be ok and should have full range with just a gnarly scar. after looking at it all its taught me a lot of things. i should have died, no ifs and or buts about it. my side took most if not all of the harsh beatings and the roof was caved in past the window line. i was wearing a lap belt but if it were anything else i would have been gone.. quick thinking lead me to duck and get as low as possible for as long as possible. midway through I got thrown around and pinned in between the roof and the center console. any more and well.. i wouldnt be here.

with that said I want to make a statement to the guys who look at my truck and want to offroad like i do. suspension is awesome and definitely the first thing most people do but never forget safety. a cage would have kept us completely safe and given us a way better chance then we were given. i cant stress how important things like this are. im pretty seasoned when it comes to this stuff, but people make mistakes and although my friend is an awesome driver 99% of the time, this 1% almost killed us.

all in all, count your blessings, tell the people who you care about how much they mean to you EVERYDAY. and number one, never have a bad day. I'm not going to sugar coat it, I was given a second chance by somebody. and im taking it. stay safe guys. and let the little sh*t fly. lifes too short for that.

 

Holy crap, man . . . I'm so glad you're okay, but jeez.

I know it's not like we really know each other than through this site, but I mean you've told me a lot of pretty valued things about what I plan to do with my own future. And well, I really don't like that I never would've known if you'd have died and left this world, you know? I'm really glad you're gonna be alright.

 

Ya its definitely a crazy ride. I almost don't like looking at the pics. They're brutal and if I didn't duck.. well ya. Makes you wonder about all the things you haven't done, all the things you could have done, and what happens after you really do go. Just motivates me to do well when it comes down to it.

 

Definitely. I'm not sure I'd want to look at pictures of that either, don't blame ya.

 

front kit is for sale
http://phoenix.craigslist.org/evl/pts/4705481676.html

contact me if you are interested

 

so its been a while and I basically gave up on this thing, but recently I bought something pretty sweet to spark it back up! you die hard ford guys will hate me but after research upon research and going back and forth with it, I came across a great deal that I couldn't pass up and ended up buying a basically brand new LS3. it only has around 800 miles on it and it will be turned into a full blown stroker motor with a turbo 400 behind it. pics to come as well as some other things I have in the works for it.

also the kit as well as the deavers are still for sale although I do have a few guys very interested in it and one who supposedly will be dropping off the cash today. fingers crossed.

 

Sounds good, man! No problem getting a SBC. Fords are a PITA to get power out of.

 

so definitely been a while since I've posted or cared about this truck ha. but I have some news and some pics to share. I've decided to finally just sack up and go ahead with my plans for this thing since day one. big shocks, big motor, big tires, and just overall badassery. full tube chassis, centermount, linked, built motor, everything you can think of, its getting it. will it be a lot of money? definitely. will it take forever? probably. will it be one of the baddest f150s out there. without a doubt. heres the tear down and my progress so far.




what it looked like before I started








springs off





core support off








built a fixture cart for it to roll around on and to later index and build things off of





ls3











back half














suspension off








interior out














motor out and front cut off













also I have a bunch of parts for sale. motor, trans, transfer case, wheels, tires, long travel kit. etc. ask and I'll probably have it seeing as I will literally use none of the ford stuff.

 

You weren't kidding when you said sack up I'd never have the ***** to cut mine frame into three pieces. Looking forward to seeing the progress though.

Do you have an Instagram or something that you use more than this site?

 

Ya follow me on insta @rickycoppola

 

Cool, just did. @kent_mack

 

That spindle addon the dixon bros kit has for the 4x4 LT kit is probably the scariest/ugliest thing I have ever seen.

That being said.

WOOO you're building your truck into one badass ****, will follow on insta!

@jarrettdesigns

 

This is about to be my favorite thread on the site...

 

eh its really not that bad. I mean ya its a brace for a stock spindle but trust me when I say I've seen worse. it works and is strong enough to be beat on constantly for whatever I gave it among others I know. I just am surrounded by trucks of higher caliber all the time and have since day one wanted a full tube chassis for this thing. but with that said one of you guys should definitely buy the kit off me among other things haha


lets hope I dont disappoint

 

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