Hi all, I'm fairly new to this forum and thought I would post how my current project is going. My family is growing and my trusty 2003 lifted Sport Trac was getting a little too small and a little long in the tooth so we decided to buy a brand new 2020 F-150 XLT Super Crew Cab 4.0 with the fabled 5.0 L Coyote engine. We needed more room and something much more reliable as my well maintained but 17 year old midsize truck was not cutting it for a family of 4 and 2 dogs. After overlanding in everything from a 94 Mazda B, an Isuzu Rodeo, Multiple Subies, a Ford Focus, and my aforementioned and beloved Sport Trac, we picked up this beauty. It was the very first vehicle I ever bought Brand new and I didn't compromise on any of the features I wanted so it's exactly tailored to me. Here she is right out of the dealership:
After a day trip down to Morro Bay, we took her on a 5 day trip to the Mammoth Lakes area in Cali.
first mod: gotta go with a stubbhy antenna!
we kayak, fish and I also wood work so I needed a set of crossbars. I went with Thule Wing Bars (60")
first overland trip to Mammoth Lakes with no lift. No fancy racks or towers, just throw everything in the bed and go!
This truck has proven to be very very capable in its stock form, so not much was needed in terms of modifications. It came out of the factory 4x4, with locking rear differential, plenty of undercarriage clearance, 400 hp, 400 lb-ft of torque. After many years of lifting other trucks, stuffing tires, trimming wheel wells, rubbing, recalibrating speedos, and all the things that come with lifts, I didn't want or need to jack this thing up. I chose to go with a simple 2" leveling kit by Rough Country. I did the lift myself in my shop in Berkeley CA.
lift day:
how she looked on stock wheels/tires with a two inch lift.
I marked and measured the apex of the wheel wells before the lift and was at 37 1/8". After the lift, I netted 2", jumping to 39 1/4".
After the lift, I slapped on a set of Goodyear Duratracs 275/70 R18 on the stock Sport Package wheels which I really love. The tire measures out in inches to 33.3" x 10.8". I have always run 33 x 12.50" tires on my old truck and on our Jeep JK, but since this thing for the majority of its life will be used to haul my family around, I wanted to keep the cabin noise down so I went with a tire that would fit just inside the wheel wells. I also wanted to minimize the MPG loss and power loss. So far, I am loving it. I measured the cabin at freeway speed with a meter at an avg of 65 dB, post 33's, the avg only increased to 66 dB. The crossbars actually gave a bigger increase in cabin noise jumping almost 3 dB when I put them on. I was tempted to stuff 35's under there, but on top of all of the reasons I listed above, I believe 33" is the perfect off road tires size. It gets you the clearance you need, but is still easy to source in case you are in a pinch for a replacement some place in the middle of nowhere.
Just got this Bestop Supertop 2 in. I did the install yesterday. Took about 2 hours to get it all on there, and then another hour mounting and wiring the third brake light. I had a Leer fiberglass shell on my old truck, and while I love that hard top, it was a pain getting it off the truck, and an even bigger pain storing it when it wasn't on the truck. I know the soft top wont offer any security for things in the bed, and I have heard all of the opinions that the zippers will freeze up in cold weather but I didn't really buy it for that. I live in the sunny Bay area, and I needed this top for two things. The first was to give my dog shade from the sun, and shelter from the cold, and the other reason was to make the truck bed a place to sleep and camp out of when it is just my wife and I on short overnight camping trips. Outside of that, this top will be either in the folded down position, or taken off and stored easily in my garage unlike my fiberglass top.
Next up are just a few more things. I am still trying to decide on which roof basket to go with. Right now I am leaning toward a rocky mountain basket. I will also be adding a set of rocky mounts rock sliders, and then adding a hidden winch in the stock bumper. Once the shocks need ot be replaced, I may go with a Fox Coilover lift, but being that the truck was brand new, I didn't want to scrap and waste the stock shocks that came on the truck which are really good. After that, this truck will be complete. I really try to keep it simple, less parts equals less things to worry about in my mind. My wife and I are planning our first trip to Death Valley right after Thanksgiving and will be camping out of it for about 5 days. This will be our first big overland trip to a place we have never been. Here are a few more pics.
overlooking Mono Lake
right outside of Twin Lakes
June Lake
my old truck (which I still own) at Donner pass
After a day trip down to Morro Bay, we took her on a 5 day trip to the Mammoth Lakes area in Cali.
first mod: gotta go with a stubbhy antenna!
we kayak, fish and I also wood work so I needed a set of crossbars. I went with Thule Wing Bars (60")
first overland trip to Mammoth Lakes with no lift. No fancy racks or towers, just throw everything in the bed and go!
This truck has proven to be very very capable in its stock form, so not much was needed in terms of modifications. It came out of the factory 4x4, with locking rear differential, plenty of undercarriage clearance, 400 hp, 400 lb-ft of torque. After many years of lifting other trucks, stuffing tires, trimming wheel wells, rubbing, recalibrating speedos, and all the things that come with lifts, I didn't want or need to jack this thing up. I chose to go with a simple 2" leveling kit by Rough Country. I did the lift myself in my shop in Berkeley CA.
lift day:
how she looked on stock wheels/tires with a two inch lift.
I marked and measured the apex of the wheel wells before the lift and was at 37 1/8". After the lift, I netted 2", jumping to 39 1/4".
After the lift, I slapped on a set of Goodyear Duratracs 275/70 R18 on the stock Sport Package wheels which I really love. The tire measures out in inches to 33.3" x 10.8". I have always run 33 x 12.50" tires on my old truck and on our Jeep JK, but since this thing for the majority of its life will be used to haul my family around, I wanted to keep the cabin noise down so I went with a tire that would fit just inside the wheel wells. I also wanted to minimize the MPG loss and power loss. So far, I am loving it. I measured the cabin at freeway speed with a meter at an avg of 65 dB, post 33's, the avg only increased to 66 dB. The crossbars actually gave a bigger increase in cabin noise jumping almost 3 dB when I put them on. I was tempted to stuff 35's under there, but on top of all of the reasons I listed above, I believe 33" is the perfect off road tires size. It gets you the clearance you need, but is still easy to source in case you are in a pinch for a replacement some place in the middle of nowhere.
Just got this Bestop Supertop 2 in. I did the install yesterday. Took about 2 hours to get it all on there, and then another hour mounting and wiring the third brake light. I had a Leer fiberglass shell on my old truck, and while I love that hard top, it was a pain getting it off the truck, and an even bigger pain storing it when it wasn't on the truck. I know the soft top wont offer any security for things in the bed, and I have heard all of the opinions that the zippers will freeze up in cold weather but I didn't really buy it for that. I live in the sunny Bay area, and I needed this top for two things. The first was to give my dog shade from the sun, and shelter from the cold, and the other reason was to make the truck bed a place to sleep and camp out of when it is just my wife and I on short overnight camping trips. Outside of that, this top will be either in the folded down position, or taken off and stored easily in my garage unlike my fiberglass top.
Next up are just a few more things. I am still trying to decide on which roof basket to go with. Right now I am leaning toward a rocky mountain basket. I will also be adding a set of rocky mounts rock sliders, and then adding a hidden winch in the stock bumper. Once the shocks need ot be replaced, I may go with a Fox Coilover lift, but being that the truck was brand new, I didn't want to scrap and waste the stock shocks that came on the truck which are really good. After that, this truck will be complete. I really try to keep it simple, less parts equals less things to worry about in my mind. My wife and I are planning our first trip to Death Valley right after Thanksgiving and will be camping out of it for about 5 days. This will be our first big overland trip to a place we have never been. Here are a few more pics.
overlooking Mono Lake
right outside of Twin Lakes
June Lake
my old truck (which I still own) at Donner pass
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