My '17 F150 5.0 FX4 Thread

NotBlake

New member
Hey everyone - new member here. I've primarily been a street/track performance guy all my life, but have been aware of 4x4 activities and especially baja and desert racing all my life, growing up in southern california. Looking back, some of the most fun I've had was just cruising fire roads with friends in their jeeps, but I never really thought that life was for me.

Skip to a year ago, I was getting my *** kicked by a sinus infection and came across an XO playlist on YouTube and watched through all of their videos at the time. To me, this solidified a concept I had for a while, equipping a moderately capable truck to be able to deal with some trails that required off road capabilities, without drastically hurting on-road capabilities. Basically an offroad camper.

I was saving up to get a daily driver to accompany my '15 mustang GT which was becomingly increasingly uncomfortable to daily drive with every modification (sound familiar?) and this concept seemed perfect, I would get a truck that could do everything the Mustang couldn't.

With that in mind I started shopping. I'm a big guy and unfortunately I just don't fit in a lot of the Toyotas that guys seem to favor for touring/overlanding. It became pretty apparent that I was going to need to go full-size when I just couldn't find anything midsize that I would be comfortable in for a long trip.

At that point the F150 was a pretty obvious choice for me. It had great payload due to the recent aluminum body change, a great 5.0 V8 that I knew and trusted from the 70K miles in my mustang without missing a beat, a proven 6 speed auto tranny that guys run 1000HP through in mustangs without a problem, and I really liked the look of the sport (no chrome) models.

The challenge then became actually finding the truck I wanted. Most of these come with EcoBoost motors now days, and the VAST majority are SuperCrew Cabs (4 big doors), however I knew that I wanted to sleep in the bed of the truck, and being 6'4" I needed the 6.5" bed. So that meant I was looking for a 5.0, SuperCab with the sport package and FX4 offroad package along with specifically a well-optioned XLT trim (I just didn't have the cash for a lariat).

After some considerable looking I was able to find the almost exact truck I wanted. The only things I didn't like were the factory installed navigation (not needed in my mind, but I've come to appreciate having the second view and the breadcrumbs feature is nice). And the drop-in bedliner, but whatever, what it did have was what I wanted: 5 liter, 4x4, locking rear differential, right trim level, right box size.

From that point I started bankrupting myself on upgrades but here she is on day one. I just had to find some dirt, any dirt!!
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First upgrade was some armor, I knew I was not going to run a big lift kit or huge tires so protection for my nice new engine, trans and transfer case was going to be key. I ended up selecting the RCI kit in 1/4" aluminum and have been very impressed with them so far. Really feels good knowing that I have some serious protection down there. I have since put some nice gouges in them!
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I then needed a topper. After doing a bunch of research I selected the Leer 100XR topper since it was easy to unlatch from the inside and was easy to lock while being inside the shell. I also think it really fits the body lines of the truck. There were a couple of minor leaks around the rear window that I've since resolved with weatherstripping from Home Depot.
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That done I needed some better wheels and tires - installing Raptor factory wheels and tires was in my plan all along, OEM quality with BFG K02s that will fit perfectly with a 2" level. I was lucky to find a good deal on the optional Forged wheels which really fit the look of this truck. I LOVE my wheel and tire setup. The KO2s are 315/70R17s and just barely clear the brakes. I also installed a Fox 2.0 Leveling kit and rear shocks at this time. The ride sucked for the first couple of thousand miles, but has broken in nicely now.
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I also Installed a CB antenna mount from Right Channel Radios at this time.
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I knew I wanted to upgrade lighting for the trail as well and finally selected the Rigid Industries fog and driving light kit which replaces the factory fog lights. These things are VERY impressive and do a fantastic job of practical lighting. I have the fog lights pointed as far to the side as I can (about 45 degrees) and the driving lights pointed directly forward. This setup is fantastic, it means I can see around tight trail switchbacks at night and does not have the in-your-face look of a light-bar. I love these lights!
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I then focused on completing the sleeping and bed organization setup. I was careful to select an organizational method that still allowed me to sit up straight in the topper, my goal was for this to be more comfortable than tent camping. I did a lot of reading and ended up building a floating shelf that sits near the cab. At night I just move my totes on top of the shelf and slide my feet under it. This gives me maximum vertical height for sitting up in the topper and full length for sleeping. I cannot stress how effective this system is.

The bed I selected was a random $80 memory foam 'full' mattress from Amazon, and boy is it nice compared to sleeping on a thermarest! The recovery boards will eventually get mounted to a roof-rack, but for now this will work. I haven't had to use them for a recovery yet, but I plan to bag them in a tarp if I need to and then need to throw them back in the bed.
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With that done I went out on a trip with the guys from Peach State Overland and Cheap State Overland. We spend a couple of days traversing the Talledega National Forest. It was a great trip and the truck performed just as I had envisioned. I really recommend this setup to anyone who wants to adventure with one other person. It is compact, fast to set-up, fast to take down and very capable.
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That's it for now! I'll be updating this thread in the future, but the next problems to solve are a winch mount and a roof rack to relocate the recovery boards, store fuel cans, and relocate some recovery tools and spare tire.

I really love the truck so far and have already put over 10K miles on it in only about 6 months of ownership.
 

NotBlake

New member
Here's some other random pictures of the truck:

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My buddy driving through Texas on our way from GA to CA:
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Playing in the snow (rare in GA):
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I think that's it for now! More to come in the future!
 

Riley

Observer
Great looking rig! Since it's well on the way to being broken in, mind if I ask about mileage with the Coyote?
 
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NotBlake

New member
Great looking rig! Since it's well on the way to being broken mind if I ask about mileage with the Coyote?

Thanks!

I have two Coyotes at this point with a combined 80K miles. 10K on the F150 and 70K on the Mustang. They are a great motor, albeit a better sports car motor than truck motor. A lot of power up top. Still it's just a motor that I really trust at this point, and you can't complain about 385HP 385TQ.
 

MattF350

Observer
Very nice truck...and nice tires. Got BFG KO2 LT275/70R18 on my F350

Nice topper too.

ALso, nice setup! Looks like a good one.
 

NotBlake

New member
Did you have to regear the truck in order to run 34” tires?

Nope, they come with 32"s these days. My truck with 3.55s so they're effectively 3.31s which is a factory available ratio for these trucks. It definitely lost a little bit of pep though. Still totally livable.
 

driller

old soul wanderer
nice looking truck. exactly what i am thinking of doing. What kind of mpg are you getting with the 5.0 ?
 

jmnielsen

Tinkerer
Good looking truck, I really like those raptor rims! I have a '13 EB Screw with 6.5' bed that I recently acquired and will be building. Really wanted the 5.0, but the ecoboost is turning out to be a good motor.
 

NotBlake

New member
nice looking truck. exactly what i am thinking of doing. What kind of mpg are you getting with the 5.0 ?

About 14-15 city or highway. If I baby it on the freeway and set the cruise at 65 it will get 19-20. The newer 10 speed cars will do better, but I wanted the proven 6 speed.
 

NotBlake

New member
Good looking truck, I really like those raptor rims! I have a '13 EB Screw with 6.5' bed that I recently acquired and will be building. Really wanted the 5.0, but the ecoboost is turning out to be a good motor.

Ecoboost is probably better suited to truck use, I just really like and trust the 5.0 based on my experience with it in the mustang. I have run that motor so so hard and it just doesn't give a damn.
 

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