2018 F150 XLT Special Edition
-
Such a solid looking rig, how many miles did you end up putting on that bad boy?
What year F150?
Details my guy!I flew to Detroit Friday night after work. My brother picked me up at the air port as he lives in Ann Arbor and stayed with him for the night. He drove me to Charlotte, Michigan, about an hour west of Ann Arbor, right away in the morning. Picked the truck up and started the 6 and a half hour drive home.
In the F30, after about an hour and a half of continuous driving, my legs and back would start to hurt, and closer to 3 hours I would not be able to drive for how uncomfortable I would be. Change of driving position in a truck makes things significantly more comfortable. When I got home I didn’t feel beat up or in pain from driving a long duration of time.
2018 F150 XLT “special edition”
Has the better grille and the black line headlights, as well as the “sport” cloth interior. It came with a bed cap, which I just sold last night for $900. I took all of the decals off immediately, swapped to a shorty antenna, removed the mud flaps, added a tailgate assist, replaced the license plate and cargo lights with LED bulbs, and added some WeatherTech floor mats.
I did replace the low beam, high beam, and fog light bulbs with some LED ones, but am having issues adjusting the aim of them. Either the additional wires and resistors from the LEDs tucked into the headlight housing is restricting the aiming, or my gear are stripped. Thankfully, Mr. @patsbimmer1 will be sourcing me aftermarket housings.
I have an Eibach strut and shock leveling kit on order, the struts should be here tomorrow. Going to have a coworker help me install when the other portion gets here. I have some 285/75R17 BFG KO2’s in my storage unit waiting for wheels. Might be working with a manufacture to get a new flow forged line they are coming out with on the truck, but waiting to hear details on that.
Have a Truxedo tonneau cover that I am waiting to have delivered to a local shop so they can install, should be early next week.
How it looked when I first got it
Decal and cap removal
First wash at a friends
Cargo lights
Tail gate assist (shock connecting the bed and the tail gate)
ters’
LED bulbs
-
Love the color!
-
Some other miscellaneous truck upgrades mods.
Did a mechanical decon of the paint two weekends ago and did one layer of Jescar paint sealant and then two layers of Collonite 845 wax on top. Will keep me sane until I get the truck corrected in the spring and then coat it.
Rear wheel liners. Minimize some dirt getting into places and just looks cleaner in my opinion.
Before:
After:
Front struts came in. Ceramic coated front and rears.
Bed decals removed. I was semi torn on this because I didn’t not like them, but I think with these fender badges having the red accent around them for the “sport” edition, it looked a little busy on the side. I like the way my parents truck looks with bed decals. Can always added them back if I want.
Exhaust tip was crusty, was going to repaint it black, but essentially had to destroy it to get it off because it had welded itself to the exhaust pipe. Just bought an eBay one, looks good to me. I don’t know how far out it should stick? This looks fine to me, but maybe it needs to get pushed in further.
Sold the truck cap a few days after getting the truck. Purchased a Truxedo ProX-15 bed cover. Like that it sits a lot more flush. These tonneaus are crazy expensive for some of the nicer one. This one fit the bill being about $500.
And my ricer mod. Found these emblem decals on Etsy for $20, figured for that little it was worth a chance. I didn’t dislike the blue oval, but wanted to see what it would like in this color rendition. I like it, but don’t love it. Real way to do it would be to pull them out and disassemble the badges and paint them. They’ll do for now.
Suspension installed hopefully soon. Just waiting on the wheels to come in, was approved for sponsorship on these new to market wheels. Went a little outside my normal comfort zone on the color, but I think it will come together nicely.
-
Looks great, wheel liners especially. Ive always felt that should've been a factory thing especially in snow climates.
Don't worry, it's a $325 option on a new truck!
-
Eibach level kit was installed two weekends back. Truck rides great, the new struts and shocks really eliminated that hoppy and jumpy sensation the rear would get when going over bumps. Can’t tell a difference between this suspension and the factory stuff in terms of ride quality. Looks kind of dorky with the stock wheels and the level lol.
I had the windows tinted with 3M ceramic because I didn’t realize how much more heat comes in with the larger windows on a truck. Really like the look as well. 70% on the windshield, 20% on the front door windows, and then 70% on the rear door windows and back of the cab over the factory window tint to even out the fronts.
Two of the wheels have arrived, hoping the two others will be here tomorrow or Friday. Will get them mounted on the tires whichever day they come in and then hopefully on the truck that same night. Getting close.
-
I look forward to seeing the new wheels on!
I'd say the new decals look just fine, and I agree that they are far better than the stock blue ovals!I enjoy that we are all here because at some point we were working on BMW's, but at the end of the day it doesn't matter what we own, because it will be getting modified.
-
I look forward to seeing the new wheels on!
I'd say the new decals look just fine, and I agree that they are far better than the stock blue ovals!I enjoy that we are all here because at some point we were working on BMW's, but at the end of the day it doesn't matter what we own, because it will be getting modified.
It’s fun to try new things
-
I should have just started a thread for this. But here the wheels are on the truck. 17x9 0 offset VenomRex VR601BL with 285/75R17 BFG KO2’s. Offset and sizing is just right to give it that perfect almost flush/slight poke look.
The look was exactly what I was going for and I am really glad I took a chance on the bronze, think they great on the truck. Wheel to tire to wheel well ratio is perfect IMO, no rubbing at all.
-
^That looks great sir
And we know I'm a condescending asshole who never has anything nice to say, so this is high honors. -
Take that damn air dam off the truck! Otherwise it looks great!
-
Keep the air dam. Looks great
-
Keep the air dam. Looks great
I plan to keep it.
Train keeps rolling with the modifications. This one both functional and aesthetic. @patsbimmer1 has me able to actually see properly at night time now with these Alpharex LUXX LED protector headlights. I swapped the halogen bulbs for some LED ones in the stock housings when I first got the truck. Albeit an improvement, it was incremental. These headlights actually have a defined cut off point and do a great job illuminating the road. After driving my moms new Acadia that had good headlights, I’ve needed that for my own vehicle.
I think the black housings, projector “eyes”, and DRL planks fit the truck well without looking overly aftermarket.
I was very much against having to use an additional wire harness for the DRLs as I want to have as minimal intrusions to the actual functioning parts of the vehicle and to not have a rats nest under the hood. Think the tuck job came out well and was able to make a couple small notches in the fuse box for the trigger wire to run through that still allows the box to seal properly.
-
-
I'm getting all jelly with your ford mods. Recently sold my Gen2 Raptor and picked up a Sierra. What a different world.
Huge pile of mods to do to it to 'make it mine' Should be fun, but I do miss the Ford.
Love the color of yours, great choice on the wheels!!!Gen 2 raptor is the dream for an unnecessary daily driver. Not a huge fan of the newer GM interiors, think the Ford ones are better.
Funny enough a co worker has pretty much Raptor I want, in the same color as well.
-
Gen 2 raptor is the dream for an unnecessary daily driver. Not a huge fan of the newer GM interiors, think the Ford ones are better.
Funny enough a co worker has pretty much Raptor I want, in the same color as well.
You vs the guy she tells you not to worry about?
-
You vs the guy she tells you not to worry about?
Exactly.
-
Agreed on the interiors. Ford is way ahead. Looked and looked for an F250 Lariat Black edition Diesel and couldn't find one, dealers that had them wouldn't deal on my truck, dealers that didn't were offering me the moon for it....so weird. So, I found a Sierra and made a deal. Very weird, but I made out OK.
Your coworkers truck looks great! Ask him if he's interested in a RPG bumpstop kit, or fender liners, or mudflaps, or 2" drop shackles or Cobb Tuner. All new in box (except the cobb, I'd have to see if it can be sold or if it's permanently married to my old truck). I have some parts to get rid of..... hahaha.
-
Agreed on the interiors. Ford is way ahead. Looked and looked for an F250 Lariat Black edition Diesel and couldn't find one, dealers that had them wouldn't deal on my truck, dealers that didn't were offering me the moon for it....so weird. So, I found a Sierra and made a deal. Very weird, but I made out OK.
Your coworkers truck looks great! Ask him if he's interested in a RPG bumpstop kit, or fender liners, or mudflaps, or 2" drop shackles or Cobb Tuner. All new in box (except the cobb, I'd have to see if it can be sold or if it's permanently married to my old truck). I have some parts to get rid of..... hahaha.
Same experience looking for an F250 XLT diesel in velocity blue. I came across a couple where the “market adjustments” were astronomical as well. I’m holding out for a bit since my F150 still does what i need it to.
-
Mods keep coming, but this is likely the last for a while. The F150’s that did not have the premium stereo options are pretty widely regarded as dog shit. I agree, it’s a serviceable system that does the job but is not good. Even after the F30’s non HK system, there was a lot to be desired. I purchased the following Infinity Reference speakers to do a complete 7 speaker replacement.
This is my first attempt into car audio so ordering through Crutchfield was a big help and the included adapters made things really straight forward for the door speakers. Tweeter and center console was some pretty straight forward butt connections.
This came with crossovers, but trying to route the wires is not something I am interested in taking on at the time being. Future project. You can see there’s a pretty significant difference in just the speaker build alone:
Overall, worthwhile improvement. Significant increase in just overall sound quality and texture, which is exactly what I wanted. A little additional bass as well. After doing this, I think a sub is required. Kicker makes a powered sub that fits behind the rear bench seat that looks just like the OEM style ones.
Hello! It looks like you're interested in this conversation, but you don't have an account yet.
Getting fed up of having to scroll through the same posts each visit? When you register for an account, you'll always come back to exactly where you were before, and choose to be notified of new replies (either via email, or push notification). You'll also be able to save bookmarks and upvote posts to show your appreciation to other community members.
With your input, this post could be even better 💗
Register Login