Made my mind up this is going to be my next Big purchase..

Can pull a Trailor ,doesn't look to bad, And has potentail to be fast.

Has anyone seen one for sale.. or could point me toward a decent dealer.

 

I don't know of any for sale but you can check out these Lightning websites.

National Lighting Owners Club website
F150 Online

Also, here is a link to search for SVT dealers

 

Really, sez who? How many #'s?

RRRR

 

5,000 or 5500, can't remember which.

 

'04 Lightning specs

5,000lbs towing, 1,350lbs payload.

 

Grab your local free auto trader. I've found several 2000-2001's with mid to low miles going for around the 20k range. I don't remember the hp ratings through all the years but I think in 99' it was around 390hp and went up 10-20hp each year thereafter. I've seen a few used as tow vehicles as well, from what I understand they have no problem pulling either. One guy I met used to pull his buddies car to the track with his lightning, unhook the trailor and race the truck at the same time his buddy was running the car. I think eventually he said he got the truck faster than his buddies car lol. Now that would be funny.

 

I believe the 2001's were better than the 99's or 2000's. I believe after 2001 or 2002 is when they got 3.73 gears instead of 3.55, they got better exhaust, better supercharger design and they had more power, there were other minor changes as well. They work well for pulling, my buddy has pulled with his, the restriction is in the rear suspension because it sags alot with weight, although all fords tend to do that. There decent trucks just make sure you get one that wasn't abused and make sure it never had problems with the supercharger, most superchargers don't last more than 50-70k on those trucks if they were raced. If you go pick up an autotrader you will find a bunch of them.
The next generation based off of the new F150 design is going to be a sweet truck. It will have over 500 hp, independent rear suspension, and an additional 50hp on tap from a system that uses the AC to fill a tank with cold air which will flow through the supercharger at full throttle and then recaharge but the cold air blast only lasts 45 seconds, other goodies as well.
Good Luck.

 

It was either the 01 or the 02 model year that received a larger MAF, aluminum driveshaft, 3.73 gear. The big thing if your really into making it run well is the later years have better heads and intercoolers. I also believe the 03-04's got an aggressive tune from Ford. I know mine stock was 17 deg WOT and laid down 360/430 @ the wheels stock. $700 in mods(I have a great hookup though), put down 408/496..and runs times in sig...and wonders how it will run when it gets cold around here.

There are guys towing upwards of 8000 lbs. Most people simply have to much tongue weight and don't try to balance the trailer out.

I bought my L for my daily driver/tow truck/hauler/different street racing vehicle.

 

They can pull a ****load. Theres a couple guys I've met that have a newer lightning for a daily driver and use it to tow their race truck, a 1st gen Lightning on a trailer.. haha

 

My buddy has one of the gray supercharged harley trucks, and he was very disappointed with how his pulled stock. He has since done some mods and it is better now. Maybe the lightnings are better though, I don't know the difference in drivetrains between the 2. They are a really cool truck though!! I don't know what you mean that it has the potential to be fast though..... those things are already pretty darn fast!! Good luck with your search. I will keep my eye out for a good deal in the GR area.

 

Lightning have a little higher tow rating than the 'charged Harleys (L's have a little more HP and TQ) but I would think the Harley's would pull a little nicer being that they have a longer wheelbase.

 

dear god NO!! i hope they dont do that.....!

will they have a solid axle rear end option?

between towing and putting the power down, they better not use the same weak IRS that they tossed on the cobra..


just think. GM put weak rear ends in all the Fbodys.
Ford was just slightly ahead in that respect by having a nice strong rear under there.... until they make a blown high HP potential car.
then they put a weak IRS under there... WTF?!

 

The 99-00 Lightning was rated at 360hp, and 440lb ft of torque. The 01-04 Lightning was rated at 380hp and 450lb ft of torque. Both were underrated. The differences in the 01+'s were 3.73 gears vs 3.55, they used a 90mm mass air vs 80mm, and they had a slightly reworked blower inlet and intercooler.

The 99-02 Lightning had a payload rating of 800lbs, and a tow rating of 5000lbs (or 8600 with a weight distribution hitch). The 03-04 has a payload rating of 1350lbs, and the tow rating remains the same.

The limiting factor on towing and payload has always been the lowered suspension and car based tires. This is why when we do heavy towing we use Expedition take-off 16's. We also always use a weight distribution hitch. Due to the excess of power, the Lightning always gets steller fuel economy towing as fast as you want to go. Towing 8500lbs 580 miles in mountainous country (from sea level to 7500ft), the truck averaged just a hair below 10mpg. This was going as fast as you wanted to go (hwy 40 has a 75mph speed limit in AZ). Try that with ANY other gas engine truck.

Yes, we really like our truck. With 58,000 miles, and the only mod being a 4lb pulley ($200 shipped), the truck pulled 366.5rwhp and 461rwtq.

 

He said it pulled ok in the aspect of it pulled nice and straight, and the trailer wasn't drifting all over the road (proabably attributed to the wheel base), but he just said it was underpowered. Not anymore thought.... sweet truck.

 

The Harley truck is rated at 340hp and 420lb ft of torque stock. The lower rating is due to the blower pulley, and the computer tune. It is very easy to get that power back, however.

Bone stock, they run anywhere from 14.3-14.8. They are significantly heavier than the Lightning.

Their tow rating is lower than the Lightnings due to their 20" wheel and tire package.