I have some questions for everyone. The truck is being brought to the dealer for a few minor issues. I will probably print this page up and show it to them.

There is no reason for them to think I'm the only one. Please talk about the problems you have had, and things you believe I should have my dealer look at when servicing the truck.

The problems below are problems I have specifically noticed. My vehicle has been in storage so I may have forgotten other problems. Refresh my memory please!

1: Scratched Front Valance

2: clunk noise in the suspension

3: pulls to the right (Need Alignment Specs again, could someone post?)

4: Etched clear coat from acid rain/chemical damage (Looks like water spots, but is smooth to the touch)

5: High Rev when starting/Idles High for 2 minutes. Almost sounds like Diesal! Engine Knock almost at start up.

6: Grey Grill, Which is supposed to be Black. Are the bed rails supposed to be black too?

7: Orange Peel, Looks like drops of paint that were left to dry under clear coat. I have about 4-6 of these bumps covering the truck.

I will be printing this and handing it to my dealer while we inspect the vehicle. Thanks very much for being so helpful everyone.

Just so everyone knows, the woman who sold me my truck is as nice as nice can be. I told her about the front valance damage which was done during delivery over 5 months ago, and she said no problem at all. I told her I did'nt want them to think I was cutting corners ya know.

I work 6PM-2AM and sometimes 6PM-6AM. It's not exactly easy for me to get this stuff taken care of.



[This message has been edited by Metallic Blue (edited 01-11-2000).]

 

Hey Metallic Blue, I have had the clunk and the scratched air dam. Clunk was cured by tightening control arms. I just found the scratched air dam and have not taken it in yet. I've had it for 3.5 mos. Crossing my fingers on this one.

------------------
White 1999 Lightning
Build Date 7-26-99
#2892
Snuglid
Bedrug

 

I have some deep scratches under the fog light area,I guess that is what you are talking about. I think that is from trasport truck. I never noticed till I saw posts here.Had clunk had moisture in tail lights,lost most of the silver off right rear wheel in 1500 miles. Developed full time knock @7000 miles. (new engine fixed that just fine) The "diesel" sound can turn on you.

 

I had the front end clunk as did many others. It turned out to be some front end areas that were left bone dry that were supposed to be lubricated. Proper lubrication made it dissapper.

Below is a copy of what I gave my dealer when I brought it in for the front end clunking:

1999 Ford SVT Lightning Truck – License K2PP

When making a slow, full or almost full steering wheel deflection turn, there is a loud metal on metal “clunking” sound in the front end.

More Information:

Apparently this is quite common with Lightning trucks – I have already found 8 people with the same problem. I am told there is a TSB out from Ford on this problem regarding front end noise.

The last person that had his Lightning fixed had the following work done to correct the problem:

1. Tightened two loose front-end bolts – one that was R/F on the upper control arm, and one that was L/F on the lower control arm. The first time it was repaired, one of the loose bolts was not discovered, and he still had the problem.

2. Replaced Idler Arm.

3. Aligned Front end.

Another guy needed his steering stops lubed.

Apparently the need to replace the idler arm is quite common.




------------------
Sandy (Spider) Scott
Skydive69@msn.com
Apopka, Florida
99 White Lightning #2091 DOB 6-8-99
Airaid air box & Superchip
Honda Valkyrie - 2 Bros exhaust - K&N filter -Corbin Seat (after 30 yrs. of Harley riding)

 

Hey Metallic Blue,

I too have the "cluncking" problem and the alignment problem with the truck pulling to the right.

The 99.5 LIGHTNING specs are as follows:

LH Caster = 6.9 +/- 1.0 deg
RH Caster = 7.4 +/- 1.0 deg

LH & RH Camber = -0.5 +/- 0.7 deg

LH & RH Toe = -0.05 +/- 0.15

I hope this helps. I wrote this info down and got it laminated and just kept it in the glove box.

Right now mine is in the garage covered until spring. The closest SVT dealer is about 50 miles away so I am just going to wait until spring to fix these problems.


Good Luck,
ROB

------------------
99.5 Red Lightning #1652
1/4 mile w/ only new exhaust 13.594 @ 101.98
2 Flowmaster 2 Chamber
Superchip
Downs Filter
Red Rhino Liner

1996 SVT MYTSIC Cobra #177 of 2000
2 Chamber Flowmasters

1999 Harley Road King Classic
Too much to list

2000 Mercedes ML430 SUV


[This message has been edited by H8 2 W8 (edited 01-11-2000).]

 

I had the "clunk" in the front end,and a passenger side window that struggled to go down.I had both corrected just last Friday.Both were fixed via a simple lube job.My latest problem which has just come to my attention is a cloud of blue/white smoke that exits my exhaust on a hard(read punch it) acceleration.This could be a few different things(so I am finding out via the message board) and none are very pleasing to hear.
I have complained TWICE to my service manager about alignment(pull to the right) and he told me the first time it's "right on specs" and last Friday he told me "they are made to have a slight pull to the right." MADE TO PULL TO THE RIGHT!!! No way. I traded a Durango because Chrysler jerked me around on servicing,they too swore I had no alignment prob and 4 months later I had 4 tires that needed replaced! So I traded it in on my L, I do not want to trade my baby away,so Ford had better step up and listen.
Brett the "Hitman"
99 Lightning(stock...so far)

 

Anyone having paint problems besides me? I also want to move this to the top.

Keep em coming. Tommorow is the day for the dealer.

 

I have the 'steering clunk' in the front and, in the back, I get a popping sound from the bed/rear suspension(haven`t sorted out exactly what the source is) that varies in forcefulness from a barely noticeable sound to something that has made my cd changer skip...

------------------

• 99½ Black Lightning
• Towing Package
• CD Changer
• BedRug
• Superchip & PSPFK (coming soon)

[This message has been edited by mikey (edited 01-11-2000).]

 

Up Top again!

 

asfdasfd

 

Hitman,

It is possible for the alignment to be "right on specs" and still pull. That, however, doesn't mean that the vehicle "has" to pull. If you notice from the specs posted by H8 2 W8, the right caster (7.4 +/- 1.0 deg) is more positive than the left (6.9 +/- 1.0 deg), but with a wide range. If we take the lowest of the range for the right (+6.4 deg) and the highest range for the left (+7.9 deg), you get a difference of 1.5 deg with the right being the most "negative", i.e., numerically lowest number. Such a vehicle may pull to the right as vehicles tend to pull toward the side with the most negative caster. This is the reason vehicles are normally set up with 0.5 deg less caster on the left, to compensate for the road crown.

As you can see, however, a vehicle can still be, for all intents and purposes, out of alignment and still "within specs" In fact, during my days as a front-end mechanic, we were constantly referred vehicles that pulled to one side or the other, but had been told by dealerships and less sophisticated shops that they were "within specs."

My advice to you is to find a reputable front-end aligment shop and have them take care of the problem. You will pay some good $ for a good alignmnent, but you will also get satisfaction. In addition, although most alignment shops won't tell you this, unless you hit a curb, change the ride height, or wear out a suspension component, the alignment will not change.



------------------
BLK 2000 F150 XLT 4X4 SuperCab SB, Shift-on-the-fly, 5.4L, 4R70W, 3.55 LS, 4-Wheel disc/ABS, ORP, Keyless, PWR Seat, Slider, Soft tonneau, Cab steps.
MODS: Rhino, Molded flaps

 

Hey Blue, Sal here. Since I am a Ford tech by day who owns several Lightnings, maybe your local dealer will listen to my comments.

1. Scratched Valance. Common problem, almost all trucks have them. Damage from loading, unloading off the transport truck. My truck has it, but it doesn't bug me that much, you can't see it unless you look under there. Nevertheless, the dealer should fix it if it bothers you.

2. Clunck noise. Usually caused by dry steering stops, but many have actually had loose front A-arm bolts.

3. Pulls to the right. If the vehicle is less that a year old (from time you bought it) AND has less than 12,000 miles, then the dealer can make "adjustments" under warrenty. Shouldn't be a problem for them to re-align.

4 and 7. Paint issues you will have to discuss. Hard to warrenty paint stuff unless it's really bad. Personally I would leave it alone unless it's really bad or you think it will get worse. I had my 95 repainted and it turned into a huge nightmare. Whole truck had to be re-done 3 times.

5. The high rev on startup is normal. Yes, it's annoying, but you can't do anything about it. The knock on cold start though is a very common problem. Caused by poor wrist pin loaction in some cylinders. Ford will replace the motor with an updated line engine (comes with everything from blower to pan). I put one in my truck at 2200 miles. It did it since day one, but it took the engineers a while to find out why it was doing it.

6. Both grilles and bed rails are supposed to be grey. They don't come in any color on the Lightning.

Hope this helps, let us know how you make out.

------------------
SAL
13.35@103mph
All stock with PSP 99 Lightning Chip and Filter Kit

Power Surge Performance--- Your SOURCE for SVT Lightning EFI Tuning and Performance!! http://members.aol.com/NLOCsvt/svt.html

 

Hey Blue, Sal here. Since I am a Ford tech by day who owns several Lightnings, maybe your local dealer will listen to my comments.

1. Scratched Valance. Common problem, almost all trucks have them. Damage from loading, unloading off the transport truck. My truck has it, but it doesn't bug me that much, you can't see it unless you look under there. Nevertheless, the dealer should fix it if it bothers you.

2. Clunck noise. Usually caused by dry steering stops, but many have actually had loose front A-arm bolts.

3. Pulls to the right. If the vehicle is less that a year old (from time you bought it) AND has less than 12,000 miles, then the dealer can make "adjustments" under warrenty. Shouldn't be a problem for them to re-align.

4 and 7. Paint issues you will have to discuss. Hard to warrenty paint stuff unless it's really bad. Personally I would leave it alone unless it's really bad or you think it will get worse. I had my 95 repainted and it turned into a huge nightmare. Whole truck had to be re-done 3 times.

5. The high rev on startup is normal. Yes, it's annoying, but you can't do anything about it. The knock on cold start though is a very common problem. Caused by poor wrist pin loaction in some cylinders. Ford will replace the motor with an updated line engine (comes with everything from blower to pan). I put one in my truck at 2200 miles. It did it since day one, but it took the engineers a while to find out why it was doing it.

6. Both grilles and bed rails are supposed to be grey. They don't come in any other color on the Lightning.

Hope this helps, let us know how you make out.

------------------
SAL
13.35@103mph
All stock with PSP 99 Lightning Chip and Filter Kit

Power Surge Performance--- Your SOURCE for SVT Lightning EFI Tuning and Performance!! http://members.aol.com/NLOCsvt/svt.html

 

6.I got black grilles and grey bed rails...see:


------------------
Red 99.5 Lightning,
#0975,
Born 5/6/99...Adopted 5/27/99
Chipped w/SuperChip Flipchip chip,
PSP Filter(track untested),
Water Wetter,
Mobil 1,
Foglamp Covers,
13.573@101.08

 

Perhaps if I were smart enough to go out and look at mine I would have seen it was grey grille and grey bedrails. Sorry Tuner, I retract my mistake.

------------------
Red 99.5 Lightning,
#0975,
Born 5/6/99...Adopted 5/27/99
Chipped w/SuperChip Flipchip chip,
PSP Filter(track untested),
Water Wetter,
Mobil 1,
Foglamp Covers,
13.573@101.08