Hunting for a Lightning: mileage and what should i stay away from?

jaehow23

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I read the FAQ section and I couldn't find the exact answers I was looking for so,

As the title says, I'm in the market for a lightning and i have been told that i should stay away from 1999-2002 models because of the head thread issues. My budget is around $11k, I've seen plenty of 99-02 in that range and only a couple 03-04 in that range.

my 2nd concern is, at what mileage should i move on to another truck? with my price point i'm seeing anything from 80,000-180,000. I don't want anything with 180k but let's say 110-120k? would this truck still have a lot of life left?

thanks
 

walt460

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I have heard of a lot of spark plug thread issues on 2nd Gen trucks. Even on non-boosted 5.4L engines. My 2001 has 156K miles now and is due for new spark plugs (changed them at 82K the first time). I am worried that I will see thread damage this time. Not sure how to avoid.
 

DSG2003Mach1

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Biggest thing will be trying to judge what kinda life it had, lots of beat ass trucks. Only for sure way would be to do a compression test. 99/00 just make sure the inter cooler tsb was done but it seems rare to find one that wasnt

The threads on the plugs should be fine, they only get damaged when a plug loosens up and goes flying. Snug up your plugs when ya change em, change em once a year and you should be fine.
 

WhiTriCobra

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Hard to say. I would look at how many owners it had and do a leak down check. I've seen some with low miles but tracked every weekend. Look up on the driver side of the block to see if it has a reman ford tag on it. Might have been beaten on, popped and got a new motor.
hell I sold my 13 L with 80K miles. Most were from hwy usage (03 Cobra was garage queen) but I never just beat on it and took it to the track 3 times in the 4 years I owned it. She drove great and looked brand new. Definitely miss it.
 

Matter

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mackdombles, I am interested in your L and was going to send a pm about it, but the start conversation tab doesn't seem to be where it usually is. Maybe it is just me, can you send me a pm?
Thanks
 

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