For a while now i have loved the Svt lightning. with my re-enlistment bonus i am looking to pick up a 99-04 lightning, can any of you guys tell me the draw backs to this wonderful truck. what kind of things do i need to look for as far as red flags about these trucks. also what is a good mileage range and price range?
Thanks
Cpl Corey A Sims
USMC

 

They get horrible gas mileage...but for me, it's smiles per gallon, not miles per gallon!

'99-'02 model year had the heads with 4 threads per spark plug holes. This causes a situation where the spark plugs are easily launched from the heads.

This problem is not limited to the Lightnings, as all the modular engines Ford made have this problem.

Starting with the '03 model year, Ford started using heads with more threads in the spark plug holes.

The '99 and '00 model year L's produced 360hp and 440 ft. lbs of torque and had 3.55 gears in the diff.

Starting in '01, due to slight changes by Ford (80mm MAF to a 90mm MAF and some other tweeking), the L's produced 380hp and 450 ft. lbs of torque and were now sporting 3.73 gears in the diff.

Ford also stopped using the 3.5" steel driveshaft and started putting a 4.5" aluminum driveshaft in the L's in '01.

All of the Gen 2 L's have the 4R100 tranny. A very stout unit used by Ford for the 7.3L PSD's.

That's all I can think of off the top of my head. Can anyone else think of something I might have missed?

Stewart

 

I too want to gte into the lightning family! but in canada its hard to find them... i want a 94-96 style one, how were those lightnings?

 

That's a question best answered by Matt (Blurry94) since he's the expert on the Gen 1's.

Stewart

PS - The Gen 1's were '93 - '95

 

Thanks alot Stewart, is there any real problems that i should look for when i am purchasing a lightning? how many miles are too many miles for this beautiful truck, and when looking what red flags are there that i should keep my eyes open about?

thanks again

 

haha ok thanks!

 

Not that I can think of off right off hand.

Look for obvious stuff. Has it been modified and how extensively? If it has been modified, were there any custom tunes put on the truck? If so, how? Chip or flash and who wrote the tune? Someone reputable?

I'd also check how many owners the L has had. Are you buying from a younger adult or an older adult?

One thing I do is look at the engine bay. You can USUALLY ascertain if the present owner has kept the bay clean, or if its just been recently cleaned because it's for sale.

I look for this because, even though its very subjective, usually if the owner is meticulous enough to keep the engine bay clean all the time, then he has an eye for detail and will usually treat/work on/modifiy and generally take better care of the truck than someone who doesn't clean the engine bay.

Again, that's not a hard and fast rule, but I've found it to be true more times than not.

Also, get an Oasis report and a Carfax. You can never have too much info.

Since these aren't diesel engines, that's really a case by case type of question.

You can have one truck with less than 30K miles on it, has been modifed with a chip, pulley, CAI, custom tune, etc and it's been beat to heck, ran hard, and raced at the track every weekend.

Compare that to another truck that has 100K miles on it, but has very few mods, and has never been raced.

See? It's all subjective. It's really something only you can decide, because lets face it, the youngest Gen 2 L is three years old, and the oldest Gen 2 L is 8 years old.

Stewart

 

Dude if you want a truck this ebay link will show you a one of a kind sick *** truck. It is being blown out because his girl wants an Acura.
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ebay reference number

 

thanks for all the good info stweart. i to am looking to get a lighting hopefully. i have a stock 02 f-150 now but my family does construction and we need to use that truck for jobs we cant have our lettered trucks on. long story so my dad wants to get me my own truck that will be mine and my brother cant use. i really want a lighting as why get a stock truck when i can get a lighting. hopefully we can swing it even if i have to work more to help pay it off. i was thinking of getting a audi but i cant stand not haveing a truck and it not being American.

 

Corey
First off let me say thanks for what you and all our servicemen are doing for us.

Second try this link for all the Lightning info you will ever need. NLOC has members that are knowledgeable in all areas of the lightnings from stock to 7.88 1/4 mile fire breathers and are open to all questions. You are getting pretty good advive here so NLOC would be another resource.

Good luck and thanks.

Mike

 

Welcome to FTE and Semper FI Corey,
I will be watching this one also, ok from what I had read so far,,, gen1 was the 90's body up to the 97 yr change, gen2 was the 97,8,9 up body, and gen 3 is the new square?

 

Basically, yes, yes, and no.

Yes, the gen 1 L's are the older body style, offered in 1993, 1994, and 1995.

Yes, the gen 2 L's are of the body style after that, offered in 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, and 2004.

No, there is no gen 3 L. Plans for the next generation Lightning were scrapped shortly before SVT was dissolved.

Stewart

 

Cory

Stewart is spot on. Try this link to get a bunch of info on Gen1's
http://www.nloc.net/vbforum/gen-1-lightnings/

Mike

 

There were intercooler issues on the 99-00 models. Not a major issue though.

I'd say you cant go wrong with any of them. I"ve owned my fair share of them and have had nothing but good things to report. Good luck!