Compared to the front suspension, the rear end was a cakewalk. One call to Deaver Spring and we had a set of its new '04 F-150 leaf packs. We ditched the factory Ford blocks and got a 4-inch lift that ended up being perfect for 37-inch tires. From our testing we found the Deaver Springs are soft enough to handle bumps and jumps, but without a hint of wheelhop in the sand. | 
Of course it doesn't hurt that the rear suspension is damped by 21/2-inch-diameter Bilstein 9100-series quadruple-bypass race shocks with remote reservoirs. Overkill? Heck, yeah! But we needed some serious hardware out back to keep up with the front suspension. JD Fabrication mounted the shocks on this simple bed cage, which bolts to the F-150's frame and still leaves room for the spare tire. | 
The only modification we needed to make to the flawless FX4-level interior was a Garmin GPS unit. The new full-function Street Pilot 2610 ensures that we'll never get lost no matter where we go, thanks to the audio and visual navigation instructions from the 3.3x1.7-inch, 256-color LCD touch screen. There is even a CompactFlash data card for storing base maps and routes for our yearly trips to Baja, Moab, and Ultimate Adventure. Best of all, the Street Pilot plugs into a 12-volt outlet and is easy to set up and use even for people who'll never read the instructions. |
Our final addition was a set of the Australian-made Lightforce 240 HID lights. The lightweight polycarbonate housings harness an incredibly intense and focused beam of light that illuminates the terrain better than any halogen light on the market. They'll make your high beams look like parking lights! And their integrated ballasts make them the easiest HID lights on the market to mount and wire. We run the clear light shields on our F-150, but yellow, blue, and amber shields are also available. | | |
Trailer Queen
During the course of our Race 150 buildup, the truck hasn't always been what we'd consider driveable. Whether we needed it in San Marcos for suspension work, Santa Rosa for paint, or Las Vegas to show off at SEMA, Mike Goodfellow of Goody's Transport was always there to hook us up. We programmed Goodfellow's number into our cell phone in case of an emergency because he wheels too and can safely transport off-road vehicles at reasonable rates anywhere in the country.
Sources
Bilstein Corp. of America800/537-1085 www.bilsteinshocks.com
Crown Industrial760/599-0090 www.crownperformance.com
Deaver Spring714/542-3703 www.desertcommunication.net/deaverspring.html
Ford800/392-3673 www.ford.com
Garmin800/800-1020 www.garmin.com
Glassworks Unlimited714/379-9134 www.glassworksunlimited.com
Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.330/796-2121 www.goodyeartires.com
Goody's Transport 707/321-5854
JD Fabrication760/471-8532 www.jdfabrication.com
KC Customs707/585-8233 www.kccustoms.com
Les Schwab Tires 707/585-3111 www.lesschwab.com (Rohnert Park, CA, facility)