My wife bought this truck off a Ford dealership’s lot in 2014 with 170K miles on her. It had a nice paint job, ran and drove nice. She drove it for about a year, then was ready to go back to a SUV, so I took ownership myself in 2015. I used this truck to haul my hand tools and light materials during a cabin remodel over the next 9 years. My jobsite was 140 miles round trip and at times I went once a week. We made cross country trips with our camp gear and hauled our canoes around the Ozarks. I had 278,000 miles on her when she spun a main bearing. At that point I decided to completely restore the truck’s mechanical systems, have the engine fully rebuilt, then sell the truck to someone that needed a platform for an offroad build that they could drive everyday if needed. I’ve personally put 2200 miles on the fresh rebuild in order to dial it in and make it a proven build. The last thing I did was change all of the fluids including the diffs, transmission filter and flushed the brake system. Someone gets to drive off into the sunset with a big ole smile. I purposefully held off on some decisions to allow the new owner to pick out things like new wheels and tires if they decide to max out the current lift, upgrade the running boards to rock sliders, or decide on what kind of muffler sound they want. This way they get a great truck they can drive worry free while they personalize the build and pick out the fun stuff.

Before the restoration here is a list of the parts I had bought over the 9 years. I spent about $2,250 on the truck over those 9 years for these items:
Radiator, starter, timing belt component kit, shocks, transmission mount, cv axles, exhaust manifold, lower control arms, tie rod ends, sway bar bushings, motor mounts, harmonic balancer, power steering return hose, Dayton leaf springs, Cardone distributor, door hinge pin kit, sway bar link, Z23 Evolution Sport drilled and slotted front rotors, power window switch (driver’s side), ball joints, center drag link, another set of shocks, front window. At about 240K I had the transmission rebuilt at a local shop. That was about $2800. The rebuilt transmission works perfectly and only has about 40K on it. This was an extensive rebuild. Work began in November of 2023.

PARTS INCLUDED:

Wai Global Distributor, fuel filler hose, Hitachi Map Sensor, Beck/Arnley fuel injection pressure regulator, intake plenum gasket, Beck/Arnley MAF Sensor, Hitachi Crankshaft position sensor, Positive, Crankcase Ventilation (PCV) valve, air cleaner intake hose, vinyl flooring from ACC, Bilstein Shocks, Dayton rear leaf springs, ubolts, heater core, 4 hole Beck/Arnley fuel injectors, Global Parts Distributor (GPD)  A/C Compressor, condenser, drier orings, expansion valve, NGK spark plugs, new plug wires, Beck/Arnley fuel filter, Beck/Arnley transmission mount, coolant hoses, thermostat, exhaust manifold, sway bar link, belts, 2 tensioner pullies, 3 radiator hoses, Moog lower control arm, Moog sway bar bushing, transmission pan and filter, Dayton rear springs, fuel pump, fuel sending unit, headliner, cold air intake “snorkel”, ac condenser fan, heater core hoses, fuel injector pig tail, crankshaft position sensor pig tail, all four aftermarket catalytic convertors, all four O2 sensors, in cabin air filter, alternator, lots of clips, engine splash guards, dome light, all four door contact switches, ARB Deluxe Bar front bumper, 12,000 lb ZXR Badlands winch with steel cable, refurbished ECU from Module Mechanics,

The truck had zero cancer rust. It has never lived in salt country, but they spray that pickle brine solution here in Arkansas. Over the years I always cleaned it quickly afterwards and kept it painted up. When I pulled the engine, I used POR-15 surface rust treatment over the frame components and the differentials. I cleaned all surfaces with a wire wheel, then etched the surfaces before hand brushing the POR-15 to seal and protect before flat blacking it all for additional solar protection. I also inspected and re-wrapped the wire harness with cloth tape.

Breakdown from my build page at First Gen Frontier Builds. 

INTERIOR:

Vinyl floor, scuff plate hardware, new overhead dome light, and new headliner

EXTERIOR:

ARE camper shell, bedliner, and Thule canoe rack

Drivetrain:

Fully rebuilt original block 3.3L VG33E V6 with new crank, automatic, HG46 is the H233B axle with 4.636:1 gearing (33 spline axles)with LSD. Comes with an R200 front axle, 4×4 with manual locking Warren hubs

SUSPENSION & TIRES:

ARMOR:

ARB Deluxe full-width front winch bumper w/ grille guard in black (ARB3438110)

PERFORMANCE:

Z23 Evolution Sport drilled and slotted front rotors, original rebuilt vg33e block with new crank, bored 0.20 over, rods std, mains std, all new 4 hole injectors, aftermarket cats, fuel pressure regulator, new sending unit and fuel pump, new alternator, new ac compressor, expansion valve, dryer, condenser, 4 new door contact switches, new TPS, new MAP, new intake rubber boot, new upper and lower ball joints, new lower control arms, new CAI snorkel, and refurbished ecu from Module Mechanics.

GEAR AND OTHER:

Badlands ZXR 12,000 lbs winch tucked in ARB bumper

The paint is in good shape, in that there isn’t any peeling, and I keep it waxed up. There are many scratches and pinstripes from tree limbs. The roof is pretty clean, but the hood has many small hail dents. Since I don’t have a place to keep the truck inside, and the paint is actually still good, I did not do any paint work.
It needs to have the exhaust work finalized. It functions, but for now I have a piece of flex pipe connecting the driver’s side CAT to the system. The muffler could be used or replaced. If I was keeping it, I would likely run dual exhaust or at least get a fresh muffler and a proper welded connection.

The running boards have been bent. My daughter got it high center and bent the factory running boards. The driver’s side was pushed into the rocker panel at the rear. A set of rock sliders might conceal it. It’s hard to see unless you are below it. I left the running boards on it for protection while the new owner decides which way to go.

The rear bumper functions but is dented and has some surface rust. The new owner might choose an off road tire carrier to get the spare out from underneath so I left it alone too.

The truck was sitting in the road and my neighbor slide on ice at a slow speed and pushed a dent in the drivers door. The door was replaced and repainted early in 2023. My daughter was taking off from a stoplight when a pickup ran the light and caught the original front bumper. It was a hit and run. The truck was never disabled. I was looking for an excuse for the ARB bumper, so I replaced it without needing to paint. I ran a body shop before, so I was able to straighten out the fender support on the passenger side.

I don’t know much about the history before I bought it. I think it came from Louisiana. I can confirm that the frame is really straight. I have had the crossmembers out before and they easily re-install. Also the new ARB bolted right up to the frame without any drama. She’s a real straight truck and the paint looks real good from about 10 feet away. I would drive this thing to Alaska, then turn around and drive it to South America.

My build page on First Gen Frontier Builds details the work performed. Additionally, I am posting driving videos on my Youtube page at https://www.youtube.com/@ingrainbydesign5814.