2009 F150 Adventure/Everything Truck

[TRDFAN]

After crawling the internet for all these years, and admiring all of the amazing truck builds, I have finally decided to contribute my own thoughts and experiences concerning my latest rig.
A little over a year ago I sold my beloved 07 F250 for an 09 F150. The price of diesel as well as the cost of ownership was a little more than I could handle with the arrival of my son in May 2014.
So the build starts here... The day I picked up the new truck

Back at home and side by side to my old F250. These truck are almost exactly the same size in length. the f150 is slightly narrower.


Next step was to move my racks over, install a tool box, and get the front windows tinted to match the back.

This truck actually tows awesome. The sway control really works and makes towing the boat alot less "involved". In the summers it is back and fourth to the lake and the beach with the boat in tow. Truck does fine for power, (I miss sick nasty turbo diesel power though) and STILL cost less to move the boat around than my old truck.

Auto Spring 2.5" up front


Really getting the squat on with only the front lift. I was waiting to install the AAL.

AAL finally installed, forgot to mention I installed some tow mirrors as well.

Bringing home the 1957 Willys Pickup project

I blacked out the F150 emblems, and picked up some raptor wheels, and a sweet ASFIR aluminum skid plate from ROVERTRADER (thanks man!)
Also found some used 315/70/17 duratracs


I kept my stock 20's becasue I couldn't decide which wheel I liked better. The 20's handle better but the 17's raptors look great and preform better offroad. I decided to play around with some plati-dip and came up with this.



After looking for a topper since I bought the truck I finally came across the one I had been looking for, nearly exactly what I had on my F250!! $250 craigs list find in Charlotte. IMO these are the absolute BEST toppers you can have on an expo/functional rig.


I painted the ladder rack black at the house and let my local macco color match the shell for $300


Also ordered some outlaw offroad hood light mounts and some rigid dually spots. Can't say enough good things about these little lights. Also added lifetime LED 70w headlights, and putco 50w matching fogs. The Light colors match perfectly and throws some serious light at night.


(picture with stock headlight bulbs still in.)

I looked all over the the interior of the truck for a good place to install switched and came up with this..

I am only using two f them at the moment. The rigids and a traction control override switch. More lights to come in the future.

 

[TRDFAN]

I got bored with the white fogs and like the unique and functional yellow light. I also ended up selling my 20's to a friend in order to buy some more stuff for the truck. Sooo, I installed a rought country 12k synthetic line winch with wireless remote, mounted via rough country hidden winch plate. The wireless remote is a game changer for sure. Makes winching by yourself very easy!



My dogs are with me almost all of the time. I like to have clean drinking water for them and water to wash my hands and boots when Im out and about. I decided to make my own water tank for the truck.
I have been tossing this idea around for a while and finally came up with the design below. I had already planned on installing a shelf system in the truck and wanted to be able to carry as much water as possible. After some measuring and a few trips to the store I came up with this.





Fill location



The pipe section just past the valve is designed to pull out and store so you can still close the doors.

Stored pipe extension

The shelf rest on the bed areas designed to hold 2x6 boards. I chose to use 2x8's this time around for a little extra strength. I can tell you this shelf will hold around 6-700lbs no problem. I have filled the bed with logs for splitting on top of the shelf with no problem.





Please excuse the blood stain. A deer needed to go for a truck ride!!

I haven't bought a bow case yet and wated to have a mount in my truck that was out of the way so I put this together with some quick fist. I liked the idea so much I plan on insulating the roof, running all my wiring through there, covering it with plywood,carpeting the ceiling, and mounting another gun and some other random stuff on the ceiling as well.

(dog wondering what I'm doin)

 

[TRDFAN]

Most recently I splurged and got come Camburg UCA's and F150lifts Boss coilovers set at 3" in the front. Now I'm back to squatting a little in the back. I think I may go with some firestone airbags in the rear to help out the AAL and bring the rear back up. I also removed the front swaybar to see what the front end is capable of. I haven't experienced any adverse handling without the sway bar. The 700lb springs up front offset the body roll.

Installed, new stance



Im getting some major rubbing on the UCA's with these tires. They are rubbing at full lock only, but these trucks turn like a boat and you need all the steering you can get to navigate/park. I tried a set of wheel spacers but I then began rubbing REALLY bad on the back of the front fender... Im trying to get a little more life out of these tires then moving to 285/75/17.

I will continue to post some random truck pics and updates as I got. Hope you guys have enjoyed looking thus far. I will also be adding some picture of the F250 and Tacoma builds along the way! stay tuned!

 

[iluv83vettes]

I really like what you did with your stock rims. I did something very similar with my old Jeep wheels. That's not a bad price on the bed cab paint.

 

[TRDFAN]

I really like what you did with your stock rims. I did something very similar with my old Jeep wheels. That's not a bad price on the bed cab paint.

Thanks. I wanted to do something different. It took a good bit of time taping, painting, and peeling. I messed up a few times, but overall I liked the finished product. Worst part was the friend I sold them to didn't want the black so I had to peel it all off before selling him the rims. oh well

 

[Sooper Camper]

cool build, you are starting to make me regret selling my 04 S-CREW 4x4.

how many gallons does your water tank hold?

 

[TRDFAN]

cool build, you are starting to make me regret selling my 04 S-CREW 4x4.

how many gallons does your water tank hold?

36 gallons of fuel, and 20 gallons of water.

I plan to install a shurFlo water pump in phase two of the topper build. I am still collecting parts to redo all of the bed area.

 

[uscg2008]

Dang brother that's a good looking truck you got there keep it up! Sub'd

 

[riccasey]

What am I looking at in this picture of the under carriage of the front of your truck? And yes, I have enjoyed reading and looking at the pictures of your project. Thx.

 

[TRDFAN]

What am I looking at in this picture of the under carriage of the front of your truck? And yes, I have enjoyed reading and looking at the pictures of your project. Thx.[/QUOTE]

I was supposed to put this picture up where I was talking about the front skid plate I added, but I took it after I added the new suspension. The skid plates are one of those mods that people never really see but is functional none the less. I guess I am just showing it later in the thread. My apologies

 

[Raul B]

Looks great. Glad to see another f150 on here.

 

[Blacknight]

Looking good bud!

 

[TRDFAN]

Finally got some new tires. Nitto Terra Grappler 285/75/17. the goodyears were starting to get a little noisy. I chose this size because I wanted to see how much a difference a little smaller lighter tire made on the truck. Truck tows a pretty good amount with striper trips to the lake and towing the contender to the ocean. I give a progress report in a few weeks. I do miss the more aggressive looking tread though.

 

[plainjaneFJC]

Nice truck. I got a small chuckle though. You said you sold the 250 to get the 150 because of cost of ownership. Then you mentioned towing the contender to the ocean. None of my business I just thought it was a little funny.

 

[TRDFAN]

Nice truck. I got a small chuckle though. You said you sold the 250 to get the 150 because of cost of ownership. Then you mentioned towing the contender to the ocean. None of my business I just thought it was a little funny.

I totally miss the diesel for pullin the big boat around, but the mileage is prob. 2mpg different at roughly $1.00 less a gallon and i have the 36 gal fuel tank. overall the cost of ownership is less when you add in oil changes, fuel filters, and price of fuel.

The 150 actually tows the boat fine with the trailer brakes, the sway control works great in this situation . I rarely tow with a ton of fuel on board so it isn't really that heavy.

Lake fishing this rig for the winter, flounder and redfish killer in the summer.



tender catches some fish too!!

http://youtu.be/xEYI3jSZLVQ

still getting the boat dialed in for now