Im selling my talon hopefully this week and withing a year or so i'll be getting a truck. I've always wanted my dream truck which is a GMC syclone, to me the baddest fucking truck ever made but with a used 15yr old truck and a lightning being in the same price range i think i'll jump on the ford band waggon. Personally i just want a 500whp vehicle, i really wanted to know if the 03+ cobra and the lightning posses the same powerplant? if so, like the cobra that motor will take damn near anything you throw at it properly tuned to around 700whp?( i know the tranny might be a different story ). I would just like to know how every enjoys their trucks and if ya'll got any gripes you would like to share.

 

I don't have much info on these trucks, seeing how I know little about them. but from reading, I think your talking about the 2nd gen Lightnings.

My neighbor has one, with a pully swap, and he loves it.
And another one of my friends has one, and he has basic bolt-on's and he ran 12.7s on his first run. (basically tuner,exhaust,Nitto555rs, pully, intake, and some other things I'm forgetting) I'm not sure about on a stock Eaton, but maybe a ported one, or def. a Kenny Bell you could get 500whp. But my friend didn't put anywhere close that in Hp. IIRC he's 420's-430s...

I don't know the name of the forum, but Goat or someone else could tell you that. You can basically read/or tell someone what you have, and they'll tell you what it'll run. It's bench racing at it's finest.

Good luck with your choice.

 

A Lightning is powered by a supercharged and intercooled 5.4 2V V8. (380hp, ?)

A Cobra is powered by a supercharged and intercooled 4.6 4V V8. (390hp, 390tq)

 

I believe that there is a Tidewater Lightning Owners club that The Goat is in. I'm sure that one of them will chime in to help you out. Good luck with getting one though, they're bad ass trucks for sure.

 

Absolutely correct. The 99 and '00 L only had 360 hp. 2001 to 2004 had the 380 hp.

 

tidewaterlightning.com

There are two for sale there as a matter of fact. And if youre willing to drive you can find just about whatever year or color you are looking for.

 

SyTy > Lightning.



But you're right, it's not at all cost effective. I will still own one of those trucks in my life (SyTy).

 

You can make 500whp on the stock block with a kenne bell and supporting boltons. Having a good safe tune will be important to keep it together.

A cobra is a 4V 4.6l that comes stock with forged internals. A lightning is a 2V 5.4l that does not. That is the reason the cobra can handle alot of power right out of the box. If money is not a concern for you, I would drop a built motor and a big turbo on the lightning. People are seeing some amazing results with the turbo. Just a couple months ago, someone made 730whp on a stock motor lightning with a turbo. Imagine the power with a built motor with some turbo cams and ported heads. If you have any questions feel free to ask.

 

SyTys are nice but they arent really a truck. They have no payload or towing capacity. The aftermarket is good for them. Just depends what you are looking for.

 

THe aftermarket is....decent, I'd say. The 4.3L motor is far from supported by too many mods, and the truck's drivetrain is unique to it. I would THINK a L would be more supported than the old as SyTys...but I don't know for sure since I own niether.