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[Lindenmooch]

What about a Ford Lightning?  Always 2wd.  Fast.  Intimidating.  Would be a very nice truck, and nowadays they don't cost much more than a 4x4 Ford in similar condition.   But do they have the Twin I-beam front suspension??  Or did Ford put a harder, racier suspension on there to make the Lightning corner better?   hmm....  

Here's one I found on Ebay.  Not too shabby.  I always see em for sale somewhere....and usually taken care of, and never has the rust issues the rest of the Fords do.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1993-Ford-Lightning-SVT-V8-351-Limited-Production_W0QQitemZ280372315388QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUS_Cars_Trucks?hash=item41477e04fc&_trksid=p4506.c0.m245&_trkparms=65%3A7|39%3A1






And here's an Eddie Bauer Edition.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Ford-F-150-Pick-up-Truck-Eddie-Bauer-Series-1996_W0QQitemZ330344883576QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUS_Cars_Trucks?hash=item4cea16e578&_trksid=p4506.c0.m245&_trkparms=65%3A7|39%3A1

[chase]

Mooch, you read my mind. Get the Lightning! I've seen a few prerunner Lightnings.... and man, they were badass. Supercharged prerunner, what's not to like? A friend of mine has a brand new crate motor for a Lightning, with fresh new charger, etc. that I was trying to snag from him for my Ranger last year. I just took a look at the specs and they have a higher tow capacity than a standard F-150 of the same year (go figure, it's the same thing, just BEEFed) so you'd be good to go as a tow-vehicle.

[Lindenmooch]

Sweet!  but, what about the front suspension?  Same as the rest of the Ford trucks?  Or did they use like....some kind of Lotus inspired racing suspension to make the Lightning MORE like lightning..?

[chase]

A-Arms, here's a shot of them installing some lowering springs, you'd be doing the opposite, lol

[Lindenmooch]

haha...yes, yes i would.    looks like uppers and lowers, so it wouldnt be limited to struts, which is good.  so i could just stuff some tall coils in there, or coilovers...right?

[chase]

Actually, yeah I think they'd probably make a bolt in coilover replacement for those things somewhere. I'll take a look around, I've never really looked into modding a Lightning, just swapping the motor into a Ranger.

[Jon Jon]

well the body style in the picture would be I-beam, wouldn't it?

[Lindenmooch]

Yeah, on the regular Ford F-150's BEFORE 1997, like the one pictured.....are all I-beam.   Just not sure about the Lightning.

[chase]

Dang, I've been looking all over the net and cant figure out if it's I-beam or a-arms.. next time I'm at the shop I'll check the repair system to settle this. >.<

[Lindenmooch]

thanks chase.  it may not be much more than a curiosity now....but someday I hope to actually buy one of these trucks and this info will come in handy.