F-150 with a gigantic lift and a modified, supercharged V8 from an SVT Lightning makes one wicked mud truck.
It is rare to see a Ford F-150 SVT Lightning playing in the mud, as this street performance pickup was only offered in rear-wheel-drive, but there is no question that all of that supercharged power would have been fun in the pit. Fortunately, one 2002 F-150 owner swapped the big, blown V8 from the SVT pickup into a lifted four-wheel-drive half-ton, creating a monster mud truck with the heart of a legendary street truck.
In the video above from the YouTube channel of Jacob Strickland, we get to watch the Lightning-powered pickup show off its abilities in grand fashion.
Lightning-Powered F-150
The truck in action in the video above is a 2002 Ford F-150 SuperCrew and while we don’t know what engine is featured from the factory, the stock mill has been replaced with a supercharged 5.4-liter V8 from the SVT Lightning. In stock form, that supercharged V8 offered 380 horsepower and 450 lb-ft of torque, but this engine isn’t stock. The owner has added an aftermarket camshaft, ported cylinder heads and a smaller supercharged pulley, leading to more boost.
We don’t know how much extra power the engine upgrades add, but it is safe to say that this F-150 is making well over 500 horsepower, but this isn’t just an average F-Series truck with an engine swap.
The owner has also lifted the truck by more than 20 inches, adding a four-link front suspension setup with 16-inch King 2.5 shocks and larger rear leaf springs with traction bars. All of that lift makes space for the 44×19.5×20 Pitbull Rocker tires, providing the footing needed to dig through the deepest mud.
Flexing the Mud Muscles
The video begins with the Lightning-swapped F-150 easing into a long, muddy trench that progressively gets deeper. It is all going pretty smoothly at first, but as the mud gets deeper, we see that the truck is in rear-drive mode, and without the help of the front tires, the high-riding Ford is just spinning the rear tires.
After a few seconds of wrestling with the mud in two-wheel-drive, the driver engages four-wheel-drive, backs up and gets another run at the deeper slop, digging through to the other side with the sweet roar of the supercharged V8.
"Before I was old enough to walk, my dad was taking me to various types of racing events, from local drag racing to the Daytona 500," says Patrick Rall, a lifetime automotive expert, diehard Dodge fan, and respected auto journalist for over 10 years. "He owned a repair shop and had a variety of performance cars when I was young, but by the time I was 16, he was ready to build me my first drag car – a 1983 Dodge Mirada that ran low 12s. I spent 10 years traveling around the country, racing with my dad by my side. While we live in different areas of the country, my dad still drag races at 80 years old in the car that he built when I was 16 while I race other vehicles, including my 2017 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat and my 1972 Dodge Demon 340.
"Although I went to college for accounting, my time in my dad’s shop growing up allowed me the knowledge to spend time working as a mechanic before getting my accounting degree, at which point I worked in the office of a dealership group. While I was working in the accounting world, I continued racing and taking pictures of cars at the track. Over time, I began showing off those pictures online and that led to my writing.
"Ten years ago, I left the accounting world to become a full-time automotive writer and I am living proof that if you love what you do, you will never “work” a day in your life," adds Rall, who has clocked in time as an auto mechanic, longtime drag racer and now automotive journalist who contributes to nearly a dozen popular auto websites dedicated to fellow enthusiasts.
"I love covering the automotive industry and everything involved with the job. I was fortunate to turn my love of the automotive world into a hobby that led to an exciting career, with my past of working as a mechanic and as an accountant in the automotive world provides me with a unique perspective of the industry.
"My experience drag racing for more than 20 years coupled with a newfound interest in road racing over the past decade allows me to push performance cars to their limit, while my role as a horse stable manager gives me vast experience towing and hauling with all of the newest trucks on the market today.
