I bought this plain jane XLT last August - only real options were the towing package and upgraded mirrors.

Since frequenting this forum, my truck has become an obsession of sorts - I see all the goodies you guys have added and wanted to personalize my XLT also.

I know it's not a real looker, but what started out as a work truck has come a long way I think.





I'm listing what mods I've done, but certainly don't want to add up what it all cost!

Westin step bars
Extang full tilt toneau
Harley tails
LED smoked 3rd brake light
Hella blackout heads
PIAA extreme white bulbs
Stealth parking lamp bulbs
PTM grille surround (original was chrome)
removed 4X4 labels on bed
2" autospring leveling kit
18" Lariat wheels (with a little custom paint)
Cooper Zeon LTZ 275/70-18
Front window tint 35%

That's it for now - thanks to all that take the time to post the photos of their trucks - they all gave me ideas on how I wanted mine to look.

 

Good looking truck. It would look a lot better if you took the mud flaps off. I hate the way any kind of mud flap looks but thats just my opinion.

 

psss you forgot the performance mods

 

Looks sharp!

 

Looks great, those lariat wheels really stick out

 

Truck is coming along great and is looking good for what you have done to it so far.

 

Well, they say that when you are too close to something, you can't see it....

I was so used to those mud flaps, that I didn't even notice them anymore.
So, I thought it would only take 5 minutes to take them off to see how it looked.....well, I like it much better, especially with the larger tires.

Thanks for pointing that out!

 

Looks good, now lets see some performance mods!

 

Well done, nice choices for sure.

 

I quite like what you've done with the wheels, Do you have any closer shots of the wheels. What was the process to paint them? Did you do it yourself or get them powder coated?

 

Looks good!

 

I like the wheels. Let see some close up pics.

 

looks sweet, glad to see its back on the road, too bad you are out of money, theres so many other things to do

 

Thanks for the comments on the wheels.

Actually, to me, this was a poor mans way to have a decent set of wheels.....and besides, I just couldn't choose what wheels I wanted, and can't afford to drop a grand on wheels right now.

Here's a pic:



I actually got the idea from a thread on this site posted by 05_F150.
Here is his wheel:



What I did was bought a set of Lariat wheels on eBay - got them for $230 for the set. They were the ones with the Arizona Beige inserts. I guess these wheels are cheaper because of the beige in them - really have to have a good color match to your truck.

So, I liked what 05_F150 did. I lightly sanded the beige sections of the wheels - they scuffed up quite nicely - I feel the paint took to them real well. The masking process sucked......but it was a winter project and did it little by little over the winter. I did the same with the center caps, but I don't feel the paint is going to last as well since the beige inserts on the caps are plastic.

I've always had great luck with tractor implement paint from Tractor Supply for various projects around the homestead, so I used their gloss black. It's very good paint, and seemed to take well to the wheels.

My original intention was to run these wheels/tires in the spring/summer/fall, but now that I have them on my truck, I don't know if I will be able to bring myself to take them off in the winter. But, with my redneck paint job, I feel they will be fine in the summer, but the salt will probably be bad on them in winter.

 

I'm glad to have it back too - the way it looked a couple weeks ago, I sure didn't think I would be here posting nice pics!



And as I was saying the same to my wife while posting my photos about being done for now, she rolled her eyes for some reason........