FatCity F150 Pre-runner Expo build

[FatCity]

Long time lurker and finally registered. Thought I'd post up build.
Note: Originally written Sept. 2010

It was a long time coming...
We spend a lot of time in baja and with our budget we're always running in whatever stock crap box we have in the driveway.

I was “this close” to buying a new Ford Raptor F-150, I loved the warranty, but just couldn't get past the $60,000 plus price tag and inherent $700 monthly payment.

I told my wife I was going to buy a used F-150 for 10k and shovel 10G's into it. It was an easy sell, because we were standing next to the $60,000 Raptor in awe of the sticker price and next to the huge ********** I had for it...

Things I had to have:
Something big enough to tow the race jeep if I had to.
A/C that blows ice cubes.
Automagic trans.
4 full size doors (which the Raptor doesnt offer)*edit: "at the time"*
Leather (didn't get that one&#8230
And 4 wheel drive for solo no fear Mexican adventures...


Two months later I scored a stock “03” F-150 with the 5.4L motor that has 80K on it and the larger 9.75 rear axle for 6,900.
Better yet, it had the fiber glass that I needed already on it, tube bumpers and had 37” BFG projects. Full poser, but perfect for what I needed…

 

[FatCity]

Step one: Gotta look cool... Bbbbrrrrraaaapppp!....

The rear tube bumper was your standard issue pre-runner style thing with too many bends in it and a receiver was pretty much a joke.
Step one was build a no nonsense bumper set up with a receiver.

We sleeved the 1/4” plate with 1-1/4 tubing for a clevis mount and then plated over it with 3/16” to thicken the area up.

Like I said, the tube bumper that came with it contoured to the bed and looked like a spaghetti noodle to me. I wanted it short and sweet with a step.

 

[FatCity]

Being on a budget, I need to save money so I’ve been pounding the different desert racing classifieds.
I found lots of 2.5” triple by-passes that were the right length for around a thousand, but I was holding out for the suer cool guy 3” triples. Who doesn’t love big shocks and big tires and all that junk? After searching for a month and a half I scored a pair of brand new, never been out of the bag 3” triples for $1,500.

We started with figuring out where the tubes would land on the frame and then made 4 tube frame mounts.

I cant say we’ve ever built a bed cage for an F-150, so to my surprise, there was no way in hell we were going to be able use all 17” of rear travel without bringing the shock above the bed rail. I was pretty bummed, because I really didn’t want it to have “that” look. I wanted it clean and sleeper’ish.

We screwed around with a couple different ideas, but in the end we didn’t have material long enough to do the job. It was going to have to be sent out. We jumped on the lap top, drew what we needed and shipped it off to be water jetted out of ¼” plate with an identical .095 plate to be welded on the outside of each main plate, like all the cool kids.

In the end, it should look pretty clean and give us a good spot to land the cage when the time comes.

 

[FatCity]

Originally we were going to tig it, but our tig is in Ryan's garage 20 minutes from my place and in the interest of time we just mig'd it. In hind sight, I should have taken the time to do it, because it was a ***** to weld the .090 to the .250… Screw it. I'm on a schedule. Big trip coming up fast.

Cross tubes in to hold everything together. We made it flange to make removal and installation a lot easier. And also to allow my motorcycle to still be capable of fitting if it had to. I made them high enough to slide the full size 37” spare underneath.

 

[FatCity]

Step 4: Nothing beats camping in Baja...

My wife and I have a big vacation planned for early next year.
Tent camping our way down the Baja peninsula. That’s going to require a lot of usable storage and the bed cage with a 37” spare typically make the beds on pre-runners near useless.

I hopped on the phone to my good buddies at Poly Performance and talked them into selling me just the bottom portion of their Jeep racks. I wanted square corners instead of the bent tube that they use on the top. That way everything can fit snug and tight and I can use every square inch of the rack. Not a clean, but fits my purpose...

They have 3 sizes and 2 of them where perfect for my set up.

Cant beat it. Saved me a day or two of drilling and dimpling.

Viola!
Plenty of storage…
I also built a smaller one that will fit the 60qt. Engle 12v/120v fridge freezer. Ice isn’t that easy to find down in Baja.

(Nothing beats 114* one minute and pouring rain, hail and gail force wind the next. Mix that with working in the driveway and bare metal... Sweet!

 

[StumpXJ]

Glad to see ya over here.. always enjoyed your builds on NAXJA!

~ Stump

 

[FatCity]

I started working on the lower rear shock mounts.

I want to put my air bumps outboard of the frame. I made the lower mount push forward about an inchpast the spring plate to leave the bump area open.
We went ahead an just modified the stock plate.

Stocker:

 

[FatCity]

Got the Deaver's on. Pulled the shock mounts out for welding and painting. Plated the frame area and got it all back together.

Boxed the inside of the mounts.

I himmed and hawed over plating the frame where the hoops bolt to. I'm on a tight schedule, but I'd hate to see it give a problem later on, so I bit the bullet and did it.

 

[FatCity]

Rear done...check.

Added some tie down points for the spare and misc. cargo.

 

[DesertJK]

Very nice. Makes me want to sell my Jeep JK and build a F150 or Dodge 1500 instead.

 

[FatCity]

H&M stuff for the front.
300M axles, 930 CV's, Chromoly arms and spindles, Huge spherical brgs and rod ends ect.
NO MORE BALL JOINTS!

 

[FatCity]

Got the frame cleaned off.

Made the upper brackets and mocked everything up on both sides, but I needed shocks in order to cycle it before I weld it up, which I finaly got...

 

[FatCity]

Scored a smokin deal on an E-locker for the front, so I figured why not? You never know what stupid situation you can get into...

 

[FatCity]

Amrs mounted bracket weled up and braced.

 

[FatCity]

Stock CV mis-alignment vs. the new 930 stuff.