could anyone tell me the tell tale sings of a modded truck they claim the truck is 100% stock just wondering of things to look for that could have been removed
thanks in advance

 

hows this?

sorry to be a smart ***, but its Lightning, with two n's

 

my bad was in a rush so anything to look for

 

larger crank pulley, 2" drop shackles, drop in filter, CAI, inspect even inch of the exhaust to see if its ever been cut and rewelded, just look for the common quicky mods

 

thanks Patman going to look at the truck on friday

 

I was always also told to look at the body panels on some yrs...not sure what that was about but some L owners told me that.

 

look at the crank puley, see it it appears to have been removed

 

Get the truck on a hoist and check the bolt heads for marks from removal. engine and tranny cross member.

the upper plenum on the blower is easy to remove but in most cases the insulation behind it on the firewall gets rubbed from the socket and shows slight damage. scratches from the mechanic on the fan shroud.
How old is the truck . Some of the indicated sighns may be fromm the guy changing his spark plugs, or removing the blower to clean the intercooler.\\Find outr if he has done any of this. I can't rember thr stock plugs for the lightning but pull a plug to see if it a high compression aftermarket plug. like the tdk irridisum, is a common mod. When boost is increased most change the plugs, but because of the hassel some do not swap them back to stock.


the older years have some spark plug issues.

 

thanks for the info guys the truck is an 03 but the seller would not come down on his price he is asking 20900 firm

 

Wow, mine is an 03 with 33,000 miles on a stock engine and if I wanted to sell it I'd be happy to get $20,000 for it.

 

keep looking, in this market there are much better deals!

 

What are the main things to look for when buying a used Lightning? Im going to look at a 2004 Wednesday. Are there any years to avoid? Are these trucks pretty reliable and do they require just basic maintenance? Thanks.

 

In this market there are much better deals!

 

03 and 04 are the best years to buy. The heads have more threads so the plugs are less likely to spit out. The intercooler and maf are better, the axle ratio is 373 instead of 355. The 04 has a security key for the sparetire crank to ingage the winch.
Both years do not have the behind the seat storage compartment.( A better idea in my opinion) fewer made in those years.

 

i have a 2003 red lightning with 50k miles on it. selling it for 17k. write me back or email me at erikr15@hotmail.com