Hello all,

I am looking very seriously at getting a new 2001 L.
And am looking for help in what/which to choose and look out for.So far I favor the silver first, white second, and then red. Is there a preferance for longevity/value/ease of maintence?

My intention is to use this beast about 550miles a week avg. for commuting and to race it about 6 times a year at Milan dragstip in SE Mich. (test and tune)


I am looking for high 12 second runs in strip prep and about mid 13s for regular commuting. And would really appreciate any help/advice you guys can give. insurance/mods/especially DURABILITY ect...

As mentioned in the subject, I am able to give some answers to help out with these bad boys. I am a designer/engineer in the O.E. Ford world and was intimately involved with the water pumps (& related components) on all 4.6,5.4,6.8, & a few special "Modular" projects.

I give an advance thanks for your input and direction.

WOT wydopnthrtl@yahoo.com

 

The best advise I could give you would have been the 'READ HERE BEFORE POSTING" Check the FAQ and do a search.
noelvm

 

I did Mr noelvm!

And "second is only first to lose" (D .Earnhardt quote from 2000)

 

Hey we're open for any questions you may have but if you start at the top and just start reading you should find just about anything you can think of. If you have a specific ? put it out and I'm sure some one knows tha answer or will find you one. We don't need to convince anyone to buy a L the question is are you ready to own one.

 

I am soory for the "confusion" on my part.



I have not spent hours looking at this site before posting. my Bad. Only about 1-1/2 - 2 totall before posting the first time.

Guess that was not good enough???



As far as being "ready to own one"? I have an adequate income and a heavier right foot than most (size 13 foot and a the left side of my brain says "push harder"). I have owned and successfully raced approx 10 street cars over the years but never a truck or supercharged car/truck.

I am an engineer in Dearborn Mi. working on Ford products and have worked on the 6.8l ext. cab Lightning. (never saw light)

If you want an insiders experience and opinion I am here for you.
If you want some new meat to chew on? I am NOT.
All I am asking for is actual "real world" experience in value of mods / racing/ durability / do's and don'ts from the guys who are spending their hard earned dollars to have these first class trucks in their drives.

Your choice, WOT

 

Ford Nut

No worries...

Most of us Lurked for weeks ( almost 2 years ago in my case ) before posting. Even back then there was a TON of stuff to learn from the search button. Since then we have put together a FAQ that is 2/3 updated and Steve worked real hard to move the 150,000 threads to a Software/hardware platform that can handle the volume.

We appreciate any input that isnt marketing related. It is great to see that Ford people are buying Ford products and are visiting Ford Sites.

As was mentioned ask specific pointed questions and you will get all kinds of help. The general open ended questions drive some of the old guys here crazy since they have been answered hundereds or thousands of times.

So Welcome aboard... Rev up your internet connection and dive in. I posted a quick search how to about 3 weeks ago if you are not familiar with using search engines.

Here is the thread mentioned above. It gives the basics of searching on this site https://www.f150online.com/forums/sh...ghlight=search

One BIG change for the better is that the signature is NOW a separate field in the database so if you search for Superchip and limit the serach to the last 9 months or so ( since Furum upgrade ) you wont get a million hits from folks that have superchips in their signature.

Doug

 

OK here is everything on "the line"

I am not a web nut. I am not well versed in how/where/when to research a given site.

I am a car (more like1/4) nut. Period.
Would'nt Ford benifiet from more like me? I like to think so.

I really appreciate your input as I am about to spend 27-31K on a new vehicle purely for my fancy. I come from a poor backgound where houses only cost this much money (first one was only 27K in 1994) and one would never think of spending this much for a "car". Maybe I am out of touch with current times but a dollar is a dollar in my book! I just was looking for some real world experience on the awsome Ford Lighting that I could draw upon before my purchase. Sorry I did not probe the proper spot to begin with before actually talking/typing to others of Gods creatures.

I will spend the next few days probing this site and all links that I can possibily find concerning the 01-02 Lightning as this is what I really want.

Any additional links would be appreciated.

Sorry for the "intrusion" into anyones personal space or amount of work put into this site.

WOT

 

First of all let me say welcome wydopnthrtl, whether you own a L or not. I browsed this board for about 6 months before I bought an L, and learned an immense amount of info from all the people who posted here. If you can make it past the 'search police' and the more aggressive personalities, you will find a plethora of information on not just the L, but all ford trucks, on f150online. If you don't have a 'thick electronic skin', you will soon revert to lurking in the L forum. Some of the 'old-timers' here have a tendency toward the 'alpha dog' syndrome, where they have to put the newbie in their place. Don't let it discourage you, just ignore the cantankerous posts, and respond to those who have something positive to offer.
I am reassured to know that Ford employees are buying their own products, and even happier when one who has 'source' knowledge on the f150 posts here. You will find you are one of many who work for Ford in one capacity or another and spend time browsing this site.
To answer your one specific question...Red is the best color. Black is too hard to keep clean, Silver is too 'wallflower', and white is just 'appliance'. Now that I've pissed off 2/3rds of the other L owners, I'm going to leave you to your browsing...enjoy!

LocoSVT
00 RED L

 

Since you asked...I don't think you'll like the Lightning.

Regards,

Spike

 

i dont think i would get a lightning if i were you. you seem wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy over the top to own a lightning.................. lol

 

I'm 'relatively' new too. My 01 L has a few mods(see sig.) and I too drive mine daily plus Fri nites at the 1/4 mile. So far, no problems--stock or mod wise.

There are 3 top tuners and several vendors that you can 'use'. I have bot from 5. They are: Johhny Lightning, PSP/Sal, JDM, Mark Force( the 5th one is still being evaluated by me). They each and everyone, have quality mods and service. You have to decide 'who' and 'what'--don't worry, you'll read posts about all of them and what they do. They each own and race their Ls.

Be patient but keep on askin'.

Dan

 

I say welcome aboard . Don't worry about the "search police", believe me THEY didn't know it all when they first came aboard. Hell they don't even know that you can race a full 1/4 mile instead of an 1/8 mile... BTW, you being a FoMoCo big shot , thought you would pay less than 27K

 

LOCOSVT, Thank you for some sympathy for the "little dog on the porch" woof!!


Spike,

Really?? You don't know me yet. How many family men have you know that have modified and raced their wifes late model Crown Vic? She thinks it's normal for the tires to bark on her Vic during the 1-2 shift. Oh.... yes they do!


lightning al, I am BENT and plan on staying this way. Because of my "Bentness" (if thats a word?) the Cobra has an additional 3 hp at the crank. Made my boss mad but oh well. Cobra owners? you are welcome.


(LIGHTNINROD, (Dan) Thanks and spot on as them Brits would say.

Fast Gator,
27-31k is within my budget. If it's less than that? More power sooner! Say are you from the great state of Fla?
And just for the record here: I am just a "little shot" within the Ford Community. Otherwise I'd have a high hp company car provided.

Thanks for the welcome! Bark Bark Bark back at ya there.

WOT

 

You should be consistently into the 12's in an '01 with a well-tuned chip (there are tons of opinions on who is the best tuner, with loads of people willing to give you their opinion - I have bought from 3 of them and have been pleased with all), a good filter kit, and a lower blower pulley from one of the tuners. Other good mods to be had on the L are shift kits/line modular valve replacements, slicks, traction bars, and nitrous.

Check out these sites for the goodies (in no particular order of precedence):

www.johnnylightningperf.com

www.powersurgeperformance.net

www.lightningforceperformance.com

www.svtperformance.com

www.Truck-Traks.com


Oh, and the chip/filter/pulley mods should be less than $1000.

 

Correct. I don't know you, yet you asked for input and I responded. With that, let me change my answer. I think you should buy one, but only if it's white. Also, you won't be able to afford any modifications, unless you increase your budget.

Spike