Have found a little something interesting about the tranny in my lightning. With the overdrive turned off, I get a rapping/poping noise from the exhaust during a full throttle 1 to 2 upshift most of the time. With the overdrive on, I never get this noise. It does seem that there is a slight hesitation in the shift when it pops, that is not there when it doesn't pop. It has been said that 4 cyclinders are cut during the shift, I wonder if that is spark and injectors, or just spark. I thought that the poping may be unburnt gases lighting off in the exhaust. Otherwise, no problems so far, unless you consider the startup knocking, but then I guess Ford isn't calling that a "problem". I'd like to know if anybody else's out there does the same thing. I'm not sure if it is a bad thing, and quite frankly, it does sound pretty cool when it raps.

 

bill i did get off the temporaly delayed list and on some kind of build date status but still doesnt tell me much.the dealer keeps saying towards the end of july.he did finally get the vin number for his last one so he is getting all 4 of his.last one is his so hes pretty happy about it. a coke will be just fine.

 

bill, as of 1 pm today there will be a white lightning in my drive way on august 10.been comfired by the powers that be at ford .i guess somebody has to get number 4000 so may as well be me.

 

I'm still awaiting delivery of my 99.5 Red
Lighting. It was suppose to be here last week
but it has been stuck in Tulsa, Ok for about
a week now. I've been keeping tabs on the performance parameters on this truck from several sites and magazines. Popular Mechanic
did a road test on the lighting, it received
great times : 0-60 in 5.34 sec /1/4 in 13.62
@ 101.16 MPH. I rxed a e-mail from Popular Mechanics in the lighting that was tested had
4400 miles on it. So this should give everybody hope that this vehicle was released
very tight. Well hopefully I will have mine monday morning 7/12/99.

Also I would love to get my hands on that
a copy of the TNN Truck show that had the lighting. I will pay all cost if some one can
make it avail to me.

Bill,
I lived in Smyrna for 9 years, I use to work right off Windy Hill road, The Tower with the big Golf ball on it, Its a long range radar. I been to hobbytown several times, Nice Store.
Enjoy the Lightings,
Terry

 

Sorry to be stepping into the realm of the "Lightnings", but I just had to let you all know what my times have been with my ext. cab 5.4L (modifyed) f-150. Dunbarton has seen my other postings, right? Well I think, barring the weight difference, I'm getting close to you guys. My best yet at the track is 14.9 seconds @ 90.4 mph. See below for the adds. that I've done. Again sorry to be in here with you guys, I sure love the numbers you can pull and the look, hope to be there with you soon.

------------------
1999 F-150 XLT, Ext.Cab, 5.4L, 3:55 limited slip, 4x2, Bright Torch Red(all color matched-bumpers, mirrors) "Sport" pkg., Tonneau,285/50/17, 3" custom catback, Superchips, Airaid, Lowered 4" rear & 3" front, Herculiner bed lining(self install) AWESOME! Newest E/T at the drags 6/26/99: 14.9sec at 90.4 mph. For photos e-mail me at: whtstuff@aol.com OR my web page at Http://members.aol.com/whtstuff/myweb.html

 

Hey guys what kind of rear do they have and can you change the 355s for say 411.

 

the rear is out of the expedition and can be ordered with 4.11 so i asume you can get them at a ford dealership.

 

I think you guys will get a kick out of this lightning goin down the strip. Its time was 13.6 at 101 mph.





------------------
Fast46Triton


1999 Ford F150 XLT Supercab, Shortbed, 4x2, 4 wheel disc brakes/4 wheel Anti-Lock Brakes, Cloth Seats, Amazon green, 16" All season tires, Soft Tonneau Cover, CD Player, 4.6 liter Triton V8, 3:55 ls, towing package, 4 speed auto, K&N Airfilter
Future Mods:
1)Superchip
2)Airbox Mod
3)Flowmaster Exhaust

Estimated Quarter Mile Time by the use of a calculator and websites:
ET: 16.7 Trap Speed: 83-84mph

Fast46Triton

Speed kills. Drive a Silverado or Ram and live forever!

 

great pic fast46, those front plates on a lightning ought to be illegal, look like crap on those smooth ground effects.

 

BBQ,

That's why I instructed the dealer to not put the plate bracket on the front of mine. I spoke w/my neighbor (Houston PD officer) and he said most cops won't bother you unless you give them a reason to throw the book at you. Totaly not my style, too much respect for people who do a dangerous and very necessary job with little or no recognition and even less respect from the public at large.

[End editorial]

------------------
Chuck 'Wyldman' Shelton
Black 99.5 Lightning
Superchip is here!
Waiting for Level 10 shift kit.
G-Tech/Pro is here!

 

With regard to the Lightnings bogging on the 2-3 shift:

If you let it shift at 5250 RPM, you'll hit 2nd gear at 2970 RPM and hit 3rd at 3430, well into the torque band. It sure doesn't look like a gear ratio problem. It's just possible it's a processor problem. On some other processors, most notably the 5.0 "Cobra" EEC-IV, Ford pulled a bunch of timing and fuel out of the EFI control at high RPM to protect the T-5 for warranty purposes. If they're doing something similar with the Lightning, it may just take the EEC-V a split second or so to catch up and restore fuel and timing to the engine. Has anyone put their lightning on a dyno and scoped it to see if this is the case? As I understand it Hypertech only adjusts some of the engine controls, so they might not have completely caught this one. Has anyone with a Superchip noticed the 2-3 bog?

[This message has been edited by StrangeRanger (edited 08-08-1999).]

 

Hey Guys,
I had to look way back to find this post. I made my first trip to run at the track. I came home disappointed because I could not get that damn .10 off of my time slip.

The red brick ran 13.106 @ 102.795. The 60 ft. time was 1.825 and the 330 was 8.331.

I really don't know much about time slips and 60 ft. times, but I do know I wanted to get into the 12's really bad and never could! Damn.

The transgo shift kit was about all I have planned on adding until today, but I feel a real drive to break into that damn 12.

Any suggestions will be of great help. Really don't want to go to slicks as I take pride in what I claim will be available when you see me.

The truck has complete Bassani, chip, smaller pulley, K&N filter, power tube, 3.73 gears. I called about a Prom-M and was promised 12 hp more but for nearly $400 that sound high.
Thanks for your help,
Alvin

 

Well that picture sure makes me feel like a fool. I have a complete Bassani exhaust, chip, 3.73 gears, K&N filter, powertube, and undersized pulley ---- my best time is 13.1 @ 102.79. Tons of money for only .5 of a second.

How do they get such great times! Man I could have used them today to get that last .2 out of my run to break the 12's.

I guess Hotdogs are just that!
Alvin

 

Dont worry,It is because as you break into the 13s and 12s it is that much harder to make your truck faster.Our trucks are so strong from the factory,It is hard to make them that much better without ripping it all down.And even if you do we already have a bunch of forged parts in there so you are limited.If you think this is bad how about tring to make a 6-7 sec.car To take a truck from factory and add $500.00 worth of bolt ons and be running mid 13s is absolutly incredible.The problem is most of us are used to taking a 16 second truck and trying to make it go in the 14s.Look at all the money it takes to make the old lightning run13s or even better ,try making the 454ss get into the 13s without nitrous.You are spending serious money to knock off time on those trucks.

 

Ya, you are totally correct! I just got the smell of 12's and was still crying about missing that .2 at the track when I got home.

Where do I go next guys to drop my et.s? I am wanting to get some head work but my second kid is not quite old enough to take to Mexico and sell to pay for it.

Thanks for any help.
Alvin