excell

⬇ This isn't really about options, or dealer installed options. It's really about an OEM truck. I'm prodding at the hivemind on why OEMs never revisited the race truck. Seems like everything is getting a race version lately so why not trucks...

This is a really well thought out reply, I had not considered the impact of the fuel economy bullshit at the time. I still think there's a market for this that's less than 0, but maybe the consumer has just moved on to bro-dozer bullshit since there's no real reason to push the consumer on a race truck? Something I hadn't really thought about, Jeep does make the hellcat Grand Cherokee which 100% fits the bill of "race truck" IF it were actually a truck. If there's a market for these, surely there's a market for a similarly equipped truck? Because yea, I'm not a Marlboro man and I never go off road. BUT no, SUV's and such -- even luxobarges -- don't fit my needs. I routinely haul server and tech equipment for my clients, which a truck is great for. Nevermind loads of mulch, landscaping stuff, kid crap, and all the other things I haul around. I work my truck, I just work it on the street. I could buy an ideal spec F150 Super Crew with a 5.0, install a blower, lower it, add suspension stuff, and put on performance tires... but I sure would love an OEM-tuned package with a warranty. As it is, I wouldn't do any of this to my truck until the warranty is out, which will be 6 years from now. I'd much rather just buy an OEM package, like the Lightning, and drive away. Just the phase of life I'm at right now. I don't want to constantly be working on my daily driver. If something breaks, I want to drop it off at the dealer and let them deal with it. I want a 700HP street truck with a warranty.

Been thinking about this a lot lately. I ask the hivemind: Why haven't manufacturers, or even the aftermarket for that matter, put out a race truck like the Lightning or Ram SRT-10? "Performance" trucks have gone the way of the Raptor, Z-71, upcoming Ram RTX, etc. -- even aftermarket like Shelby trucks are supercharged lifted bro-dozers. I'd kill for a stock height or slightly lowered performance F150 Super Crew "Lightning" with bigger brakes and better road suspension and the Raptor EcoBoost or a supercharged Coyote, or a similarly set up Ram with the Hellcat, etc. Surely there has to be a market for road-mannered trucks with big fucking horsepower, right?

Looks really good! I've been debating picking up a small lift and a set of take off Raptor wheels for my Lariat. Can't convince myself to do it yet.

Ended up coming in right at 9.8:1. Heads are 61cc chambers.

You know. Why do you and I have a penchant for oddball shit? You're worse than I am, though. Good luck with it.

As long as I can still stomp you in a drag race.

Agree. If this Ram was the one to market when I bought in 2016, I would have had a vvvveeeerrrrrryyyyyyyyyy long look at it. It's a really nice truck.

Ah, interesting. I forgot that Ford did this bullshit on the Raptor. I hate on there as well. The previous gen you have pictured here looks ridiculous. I never understood the F150 guys who buy a "Raptor style" grill for their truck to get this look. Ugly. But maybe I'm the one who is just out of touch, since I see this shit on the F150 forums all the time.

I could have, yea.

To be fair, this is a bottom scraping XL work truck. The upmodels did not look nearly as bad. http://image.trucktrend.com/f/121933761+re0+ar0+st0/2008-ford-f-series-super-duty-black.jpg Though I don't think this is most aesthetically pleasing truck either, it's certainly better than this abomination GM is putting out.

What the fuck are they thinking

Thought I'd put one more/final update out there. The "that escalated quickly" update. So, I got it running OK earlier this fall. After some miles I drained the break in oil and was pretty surprised the amount of gold dust in it. I was pretty sure it was cam bearings given the age and mileage of the motor, and I kinda knew I was doing a risky swap based on mileage but wanted to go for it anyway. I decided rather than keep running it and contaminate my new stuff, and potentially destroy something and take out more new stuff, I'd go ahead and have the motor rebuilt. I had Rodeheavers about an hour south of Pittsburgh rebuild the motor into a 347 stroker with a Callies Compstar rotating assembly. They did an awesome job on the motor. I decided "once and for all" that I'd stay N/A seeing as the 347 should help push me into the high 300's which is pretty much all I want in a convertible. So Tim Rodeheaver, the owner, talked me into swapping the F303 cam for an Anderson N41, and the ported GT40 intake to a Trick Flow Track Heat. Got the engine in and had Rodeheavers tune it. Oh, I also had them throw in a set of FMS 3.73 gears while it was down there as well. Car made 350/362 on a Mustang dyno, which should be about 390/405 on a Dynojet. There's about 15 more in it if I swap to long tubes and an X pipe. Ran out of time to make that decision and I spent enough already, haha. My kids helped me get it all washed up yesterday and took it for a cruise. Look, it's a garage full of 80's Mustangs: So, that's that. Project is a wrap. Car has one of the nicest street tunes I've ever driven. It drives like it did stock. Tim knows his stuff, should anyone out this way need Mustang work.

Fuck, I think I would too. Might be the only thing to get me out of my F150.

Hot damn, man! Congratulations!

I gotta say, my F150 has a 5.5' bed and I really wish it had at least the 6'. Hard to find Lariat crew cabs in a 6+ though. I have a bed extender which makes it bearable. An extendable bed with full sides would be pretty cool if it wasn't heavy and bulky as shit. I hate my buddies Avalanche, part because of the lack of separation of dirty things but also because it would be useless with my kids. I'd have to take their seats out to use it which is a pain enough, but then obviously they couldn't come with me. Fuck all that noise.

Neat bit of history. Perhaps naming this thing COPO is a nod to a future strategy of allowing some GM models to be ordered electric in certain circumstances? I could see an electric Camaro as an orderable option for fleet sales, etc. but not something stocked on dealer lots...

Super cool concept, but that front end though. Yikes. Why did they soften all the lines so much? It looks like it's high.

Yea, ceramic. But it's a place here in Pittsburgh. You prolly don't want to drive for that.

Holy shit, where? I had my crew cab F150 done at a shop here and it was $229.

Sick. What is the $50 poo poo trans out of?

Looks like the Crew are staying.

:fa:

The airbag didn't deploy :burn:

Seriously. Sound isn't even bad, either. Still gonna get a sound bar for it...