Hey guys,

I'm a noobie and I'm looking for some insight from some of you. I'm about to give my truck a SERIOUS overhaul but I wanted to reach out to those that have already done the "trial and error" to see if I can save myself some heartache.

A little backstory... I have an 04 Screw Lariat 5.4L 4x4 with 92K miles. Its two-tone gold on black with tan interior and power everything. I bought the truck Oct 2010 with minimal mods done to it. It had a bedcover, Ventshades around all door windows, and factory step bars. Since then, I've added a smoked 3rd brake light from Spyder and upgraded my interior stereo with a double DIN Pioneer touchscreen, Alpine Type S 5x7s in all doors, and a prefab dual 10 box sporting two Alpine Type S 10s and an Alpine MRD-500 mono amp. (I'll be changing this later after an LMI Seat Lift, but that's another topic.) So that's where she stands now.

I'm military and shortly after I bought the truck I PCS'd to the middle east for two years. (Took the Screw with me...that was a hell of an experience.) Anyway, I got back in the states March 2013 (this year) and am now FINALLY at the point where my wife is cool with me dropping the needed funding all at once to get my Screw where I want it to be.

So...I'm hoping that if I list out everything I'm looking to do, that the expertise here can guide me on the good/bad/ugly of the items I want to get. Any and all advice is welcomed and appreciated. I will certain be more actively engaged in this site as this project goes underway. I am going to jokingly refer to this as Operation Transformer, lol. (Btw, if I have posted this in the wrong place, I apologize. I didn't see where else to post it and "other aftermarket" seemed appropriate.)

Any pics you guys have of the things on my list (or anything else for that matter) would be appreciated as well.

The List...
Rockstar XD 18x9
Nitto Trail Grappler M/T 35x12.50x18
Hellbent Steel 2.5" leveling kit
Cervini's Ram-Air Hood
Bushwacker Pocket style Fender Flares
New OE "H" style grill painted black to replace my honeycomb
New OE Fogs and vinyl smoke the lens
Spyder Smoked LED tails
Spyder Smoked HALO heads
DeeZee Black Bull Bar
Black Nerf Bars (not sure what brand to go with, like Rampage though)
Black Ford Emblems (not sure where to get these)
Exhaust (not sure what to get, I like a deep tone but not obnoxious)
New Bed and Tailgate caps (current 04 caps are faded and look dingy)

Lastly, I want to be able to get rid of the two tone and do an all black rig. Seems like if I get the bumpers painted and the new fender flares, I would have just the small amount of gold on the bottom of the truck. I was told it is not advisable to just paint that part alone (especially since the factory paint is almost 10 years old) SOOOOO, I was curious if I could just get the rest of the gold on the truck vinyled over.

Thanks in advance to all!

(PS: I'll post a pic of my current ride up as soon as my camera cooperates)

 

Welcome! You have an ambitious plan! Hope it comes together for you.

 

Thanks Jim!!

 

Can anyone chime in on the pros/cons with a leveling kit vs. a small suspension lift? I don't need a huge lift, but I would like to bring her up four inches or so if I decide to lift vs level.

 

Hey nice truck... From my experience I thought I wanted a level so I go one... Wasn't happy so I went up to a 4" suspension lift.. Not happy still.. Next I plan to add a 2" level for a full 6" lift when I should have went big from the beginning.. Just steps that you probably shouldn't take..

Superlift, Zone, BDS, and Rough Country makes a 4" lift but between Zone and Rough Country 4 and 6 inch lift it's only $100...

Rockstars.... NO.... Our trucks look better with Deep Dish/Lip rims..

I did a Catback dual exhaust... Not loud at all but has a nice rumble to it..

 

I agree rock stars are played out.

 

Good luck to you. I have a long list that I want to do to mine but a little thing called money keeps getting in the way. I have to agree on the rock stars as well. Everywhere I look I see them. I like to try and keep mine original and not do what everybody else is doing.

 

I replaced my honeycomb grill with an H bar painted black - love it!

I don't think you'll be happy with aftermarket halo headlights, look into a retrofit. They're very functional and look much better IMO. And can cost around the same as the halos if you do it yourself.

I highly recommend the Smittybilt black bullbar. I got one for right around $150 from AutoAnything with a coupon. Nothing wrong with DeeZee, but mine has been great, from a big company that's HUGE among the Jeep world, and a great price.

I have NFAB step bars, which I love too, but they're really expensive. I got them for $80 and that's the only reason I have them.

Levels are really cheap, so start there and then move to a 4 or 6" lift later if you want. Go 6" if you're torn after a while. AutoSpring is a great little company that makes them. They're very well made, American made, are very cheap, and also happen to be the best in my opinion because of their unique design.

Lifted5.4Lariat (Brent) can do black Ford emblems for you if you PM him. He's doing a set for me after the Christmas craziness ends. See post #6. I'm getting mine done very similarly and they're gonna look awesome. He hasn't even started yet and I can already tell that he is an excellent guy to do business with!
https://www.f150online.com/forums/ap...rd-emblem.html

Get a Borla muffler for the exhaust, probably a ProXS for what you want.

You'd be surprised how little paint fades, so painting over the gold isn't a bad option, though it will run you at least $1,000 (been talking with another member on here who has the same color combo as you on his King Ranch and this is what he was quoted even with a connection. I can make sure you see how his turns out if you'd like) I am still very wary of the cab's portion being painted over though. I think it would look cool if you got some kind of custom-printed matte black vinyl laid over the gold. Perhaps a logo ghosted into it or your military branch's symbol ghosted into it (this would look AWESOME I think)! This would be extremely unique and should still be cheaper than having it painted. I almost bought a truck with the exact same paint scheme as yours. I didn't buy it because I found it had unreported frame damage, and while pissed at the time, I'm glad I didn't buy it because of the exact problem you're dealing with!

Getting new body style fender and tailgate emblems would look great. I have these too. The paint underneath when I removed my old badges was identical to the exposed paint, that's how I know it doesn't fade much. I'm a real stickler with paint matching and work at dealership and see at least a dozen cars each day that I can spot resprayed body panels on.

New 4X4 bed decals would look great too. I have some new, all black FX4 ones. A member called mrocha85 has some all black 4X4 ones on a white truck if you want to see those. Great use of $25.

Try some $13 Showroom New on the bed caps and bumper caps before committing to new ones. A few others have liked it and been pleased with how long it has lasted (few months to 3 years). I've got some enroute to the house right now. I'll let ya know how long it lasts and/or how it looks.

As for the wheels, a ton of people do have Rockstars, but if they're what you like the best, get em! I love how they look, but am a little turned off by how often I see them.


Lastly, and most importantly, thank you very much for your service!

*just saw that you posted in the emblems link haha. So I guess you know where to get them from!

 

Here's what I did with my badges just to give you an idea.

Working on the Ford oval on the tailgate now. It was peeling bad so I decided to make it match the rest of my badges. Will post when I get it done.

 

You have a very nice truck man, I like it!

Your plans sound good. I would suggest to step it up to 20s over 18s just for better looks. Rockstars are definitely played out. Fuel makes a ton of nice wheels, as does BMF, and KMC XD series. Trail grappler however, perfect tire choice!

I personally say stay away from pocket style flares until lifted 6"s or higher.

I have Spyder LED tails ( OEM style ) and they are tinted with paint and clearcoat, they have held up perfectly and look good and bright. I say get them.






As that KMAC feller stated, Brent on here paints Ford emblems for a fee. Does excellent work if I may say and prove so myself.



Go for a Borla XR-1 muffler and 4" tips, keep stock cats. You'll love it.

Last but not least, I suggest you swap step bars with me, as I badly want a set of those thinner OEM step bars to match my trucks theme better and hate my bulky 5" ones! , for real though, if you don't want them, keep me in mind. A straight trade with paying shipping charges would be awesome. A pic with mine & your style together.



Dude, post a write up! I want to do this to my tailgate to get the badge to match my emblem!

 

Wow!!!

Guys, I can't tell you how much I appreciate all the advice. Sincerely, the insight is astounding. Where to start...first, thanks for chiming in almost unanimously on the the Rockstars. I want my truck to be unique (as I believe we all do) and I concur, you see them everywhere. I just didn't put it in perspective until so many people commented on them. I am now inclined to believe a deep dish will be more satisfying.

Exhaust, sounds like Borla is pretty highly thought of with our F150's. However, I want turn downs. So is there anything else I need to consider on how this will effect the rumble I am looking for?

On the wheels, I think I would like to go with 20's, but I'm worried that with only doing a 2.5 level on the front and the type of tires I want to run, I might experience some rubbing or sacrifice wheel travel. Am I concerned over nothing on this one?

KMAC0694...wow! That was a hell of a lot of info to take in. I am going to seriously consider a lot of the suggestions you made.

DarrenWS6, those LED tails are EXACTLY what I want. I would be curious to know how difficult it is to smoke them though since I have zero experience with auto paint and/or clear coating.

I welcome any other input. Thanks again fellas!!

 

I want to say Spyder has taillights just like Darren's that come tinted like that, but maybe aren't quite as dark. Darren, did you buy red ones and paint them or just make tinted ones darker? Either way, Brent does taillights that look killer too if you want to send a set over to him.

For exhaust, you can certainly do turndowns/ dump with a Borla. Having the exhaust "dump" under the truck just makes it sound louder in the cab and gives it a deeper tone. Regardless of the muffler, I can usually tell by sound whether it's dumped or side/rear exit, but it's hard to explain what the difference is exactly. I'll be taking my duals off tomorrow and gonna run it dumped for a little bit.

The main factor in travel and rubbing is tire size, but bigger wheels could make the tires slightly wider/taller, but not much. 35's are gonna be a tough squeeze though. 295/60/20 like Darren has is the best looking size in my opinion and shouldn't rub once trimming is done. His sig pic has the 33s on though.

 

I'll look into the Spyder tails, but I REALLY like how well the tails on Darren's blend with the rest of the black. I think I know what you're talking about on the dump vs side/rear exit. It's like "grumblier" lol.

The more I look at the wheels, the more I like the XD Cranks. But I don't think I've seen them on any of the other F150's here to get an idea. I'm still searching though. As for trimming...I've heard people talk about that but have no idea what it means. Is that just taking out part of the fender well for clearance?

 

Grumblier is probably a good word for it!

Most people trim the inner fender/wheel liner that is closest to the cab, and also the plastic valance that is the lowest portion of the front bumper.

 

Gotcha, I'm sure I can find some pics/vids on-line. I really appreciate it! Any input on the XD cranks?