F-150 fng build

[mtlangst]

I used to wheel in Alaska with a cj7 but only have a 2011 f-150 screw with 5.5 bed 5.0l 4x4 now. We have used a popup camper alot the past couple years but i want to get into an overland build to be able to go on trails/camp further out and on trails. etc... I am in the midwest. currently all I have are bf goodrich ko2 baha tires on it, nothing else.

i am sure this has been asked before. But where would i start first? I have a ground tent evetually i will want a RTT in the bed on a rack which i think my fathet in law can help me build. Should i get a winch? I was wanting to do the ozark trail first week of december but scratched that because i would be by myself and didnt want to get stuck. So the rough country bumper with a 12,000 smittybuilt winch first?

 

[TylerA23]

No suggestions other than the normal "go explore, and figure out what you need from there" thought. Which I definitely agree with. I recently got a 2014 F-150 5.0 4x4, and went down the rabbit hole of looking at all the "must have" upgrades. Reality set in and I realized I couldn't afford any/all of these things, So I'm back to "upgrade as needed". If money wasn't an issue I know what I'd have done by now, and plan to do one step at a time.
-Fox. 2.0 coilovers/shocks all the way around.
-Rough Country Hidden Winch and winch (like you inquired about in another thread)
-Spray in bed liner (original owner didn't have any Bed liner) **this will likely be done before anything as I use my bed quite a bit**
-275/75/18 - Falken Wildpeaks
-Upgrade recovery ropes/straps/shackles
-etc....

Looking forward to what you end up doing since our trucks are practically the same

 

[ExplorerTom]

Agree. You need experience first. Not a bumper.

 

[Grassland]

It's like $900 for Bilstein 6112 front and 5160 rear shocks. I'd do that and some larger tires maybe 34s if u have 3.73 gears and full skid plates, along with any preventative maintenance and rust mitigation.

 

[mtlangst]

All i have done so far is the hidden winch and a badlands apex 12,000 winch. Which i already had to use in the Quachita NF in Arkansas getting high centered. I would like to get some height and drag my belly all over. I ripped my front license plate off on the same trip also.

 

[mtlangst]

The hidden winch does look nice and it works.

 

[Jupiter58]

The only reason to lift a vehicle other than mall awe is to fit bigger tires. Tires raise your ground clearance. A lift does not. It may affect break over angles but not ground clearance. Decide what size tires you will run and don’t lift an inch over that.
Upgrading the suspension is usually better for quality of ride but do t get caught up in the lift for looks idea.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Deleted member 9101]

I'd spend my money on maintenance and fuel.... Not mods.

 

[skrypj]

Agreed with some of the others. An F150 has some decent clearance stock except for the running boards. Either keep your running boards and risk smashing them or just pull them. And if you have a factory locker you are doing well.

Remove one of the swaybar end links and see how it does. One of the biggest hurrdles with my F150 is how stiff the front bar is, it causes the truck to rock side to side really bad offroad. Ive yet to find a set of swaybar disconnects, there was a guy with a decent design on Facebook but he couldn’t get them fabbed up.

 

[dbhost]

I can not speak with any authority on the '09-14 models however they are based on, and quite similar to the '04-'08 which I have and am very familiar with...

Watch the capacities of the available winch mounts. At least for the '04 -'08 F150, the winch mounts I could find for them were rated for a max 9,000 lb winch.

A leveling kit will help get the nose out of the weeds, HOWEVER you will reduce your ball joint life span. If you are willing and capable of doing it, upgrade to Moog problem solvers so you can actually service them.

You are going to run into a front end weight problem adding a winch. To correct this I used the Moog Heavy Duty payload package coils on my Rancho Quicklift coilover shocks.

Depending on your running boards, the above comment can be right, BUT not really. Generally speaking the frame of the truck will be lower than the running boards unless you have particularly low ones. Get out there and measure!

The BFGoodrich All Terrain TA is a great tire. My biggest truck regret is swapping ATs for MTs. I am using Hercules Trail Digger MTs and they wear like a cheap eraser...

There are a LOT of reasons, serviceability, so level only, no big lift, and I would limit tire size to 33x12.50 max. The 285/70R17 was a great size.

If you didn't carry over recovery gear from the CJ-7, set up a recovery bag. Snatch strap, tree strap, logging chain, D rings, snatch blocks, traction boards etc...

 

[skrypj]

I can not speak with any authority on the '09-14 models however they are based on, and quite similar to the '04-'08 which I have and am very familiar with...

Watch the capacities of the available winch mounts. At least for the '04 -'08 F150, the winch mounts I could find for them were rated for a max 9,000 lb winch.

A leveling kit will help get the nose out of the weeds, HOWEVER you will reduce your ball joint life span. If you are willing and capable of doing it, upgrade to Moog problem solvers so you can actually service them.

You are going to run into a front end weight problem adding a winch. To correct this I used the Moog Heavy Duty payload package coils on my Rancho Quicklift coilover shocks.

Depending on your running boards, the above comment can be right, BUT not really. Generally speaking the frame of the truck will be lower than the running boards unless you have particularly low ones. Get out there and measure!

The BFGoodrich All Terrain TA is a great tire. My biggest truck regret is swapping ATs for MTs. I am using Hercules Trail Digger MTs and they wear like a cheap eraser...

There are a LOT of reasons, serviceability, so level only, no big lift, and I would limit tire size to 33x12.50 max. The 285/70R17 was a great size.

If you didn't carry over recovery gear from the CJ-7, set up a recovery bag. Snatch strap, tree strap, logging chain, D rings, snatch blocks, traction boards etc...

I have not had problems hitting my frame but my running boards were so twisted and bent i pulled then off.

 

[jbaucom]

You have good tires, and you have a winch. Do you have a recovery kit to go with the winch? Recovery strap, tree saver strap, snatch block, log chain, maybe a winch line extension, winch line damper, a couple soft shackles, and a couple appropriately rated bow shackles. If you don't have skid plates, I'd add those; RCI makes a nice set, but FX4 skid plates should be available at the junkyard for cheap if RCI is out of the budget. How's your spare tire? A lot of people neglect it until they need it - make sure it's in good condition and appropriate for your conditions. A plug kit and 12V inflator can save you changing a tire on the trail if you have a puncture.

 

[dbhost]

You have good tires, and you have a winch. Do you have a recovery kit to go with the winch? Recovery strap, tree saver strap, snatch block, log chain, maybe a winch line extension, winch line damper, a couple soft shackles, and a couple appropriately rated bow shackles. If you don't have skid plates, I'd add those; RCI makes a nice set, but FX4 skid plates should be available at the junkyard for cheap if RCI is out of the budget. How's your spare tire? A lot of people neglect it until they need it - make sure it's in good condition and appropriate for your conditions. A plug kit and 12V inflator can save you changing a tire on the trail if you have a puncture.

It is not often this happens, but you mentioned something I have thought of, but never knew existed. Do tell more about the winch extension line. There are a LOT of times, especially on a beach situation where I need more cable than I have. I typically have been using snatch straps and shackles to get added length that that is far less than ideal....

Oh one thing to consider, as I mentioned, with my truck, the added wieght of the winch bumper, lights, winch etc... tended to pull the nose down, pre load the springs, Seriously consider if your winch has steel cable, for weight, and safety concerns, give serious consideration to upgrading to a synthetic winch line and hawse fairlead instead of a steel cable and roller fairlead. I don't know the numbers, but I do know that steel winch cable is plenty heavy, and synthetic is nice and light, you will lose a couple of pounds with the different types of fairlead as well...

Oh, FWIW, looking into the synth vs. steel cable issue, according to Quadratec the weight difference is about 20lbs. I am pretty sure a replacement front bumper with integrated winch mount vs the stock bumper PLUS winch mount brush guard like my setup would save probably 100lbs.

The winch I have is the Engo E9000. A discontinued model, but from the spec sheets I can find the variant with steel cable and roller fairlead weighs 85lbs, and the variant with the synthetic cable and Hawse Fairlead is 61lbs. So a total of 24lbs weight difference.

 

[jbaucom]

It is not often this happens, but you mentioned something I have thought of, but never knew existed. Do tell more about the winch extension line. There are a LOT of times, especially on a beach situation where I need more cable than I have. I typically have been using snatch straps and shackles to get added length that that is far less than ideal....

Oh one thing to consider, as I mentioned, with my truck, the added wieght of the winch bumper, lights, winch etc... tended to pull the nose down, pre load the springs, Seriously consider if your winch has steel cable, for weight, and safety concerns, give serious consideration to upgrading to a synthetic winch line and hawse fairlead instead of a steel cable and roller fairlead. I don't know the numbers, but I do know that steel winch cable is plenty heavy, and synthetic is nice and light, you will lose a couple of pounds with the different types of fairlead as well...

Winch line extensions are available in wire rope or synthetic rope versions. It's just a winch line with eyes on each end, so that it can be connected by hook and/or shackle between your anchor and winch line. They're available in different lengths and diameters to match your winch. For example: https://www.c4rsonline.com/store/p14/Winch_Line_Extensions.html. They're available from most rigging and off-road recovery vendors, such as MasterPull, Warn, Bubba Rope, etc.

Edited to add: There are 32 lbs difference between a Smittybilt X2O 12000 lb winch with wire rope and an X2O Comp 12000 lb winch with synthetic rope. The winch with wire rope weighs 1/3 more; that's not insignificant hanging in front of the front axle.

 

[dbhost]

Winch line extensions are available in wire rope or synthetic rope versions. It's just a winch line with eyes on each end, so that it can be connected by hook and/or shackle between your anchor and winch line. They're available in different lengths and diameters to match your winch. For example: https://www.c4rsonline.com/store/p14/Winch_Line_Extensions.html. They're available from most rigging and off-road recovery vendors, such as MasterPull, Warn, Bubba Rope, etc.

Edited to add: There are 32 lbs difference between a Smittybilt X2O 12000 lb winch with wire rope and an X2O Comp 12000 lb winch with synthetic rope. The winch with wire rope weighs 1/3 more; that's not insignificant hanging in front of the front axle.

No, it's not. I found that out the hard way...

I am searching around for a proper aftermarket winch bumper and losing the factory bumper and aftermarket winch mount / brush guard. I am thinking a bumper with a winch mount and D ring mounts. Plus fog / off road light mounts.

I know the 9K lb winch is seriously underclassed for a full size truck. Especially with camping gear. In no small part the reason for Snatch Blocks. Mechanical advantage, but to take advantage of snatch blocks, I need longer rope / line than the winch can hold...

When I added the winch, the max capacity mounts that were a direct bolt on to these trucks is the 9K, so I went as big as I could. The newer aftermarket bumpers can handle 12K winches... THat would be a better fit...