another thing is that in my situation when looking at L vs SS I found the SS at almost $7,000 cheaper(both L and SS brand new). But that has to do with different dealerships

 

well i have a ss and i have a few mods to mine but nothing crazy, i have cam headers, shift kit, servos, k&n fipk, and custom tuning, all cost around $1600 total and i am running mid 13s. with $500 nx kit using 150 shot i ran 12.3 with out shift kit and servos. which i have beat many lightings runing on just engine. just think when its raning and you stomp on it and it goes with the l you will be sitting there. but you have to go with what you want

 

I've had quite a few friends with L's. They are awsome trucks stock. BUT when you do just a couple of mods to them they start breaking. They are extremely powerful, but not near as reliable as the SS.

I had a friend at Mustang Motorsports in Orange Park,FL, and if it wasnt for him fixing all the broke, blown engine lightnings he wouldnt have much business. The motors stock are pretty weak from what he said. Go to some of the lightning forums and see what it takes for them to run mid 12's.

 

The 01-02's are the main culprit with weaker rods than 99,00,03-04. Although some have got lucky and ran 11s with the stock bottom end. When I had mine there were I think around 40 people in Houston that blew up their trucks with the first Diablo chips b/c they were too aggressive and caused detonation. Alot of kids think they can just slap on a huge lower pulley and go race as well, which I think would account for a good percentage of "block ventilation" cases

but mid 12s can be had with just a 6lb lower, good tune, filter, and traction....

 

It doesn't take much money to put your SS into the 13s on motor and still keep all the benefits of the big truck. Start with a mild torque converter, a cam, and good tuning. You'll love the results.

 

Also, here is another perspective. There is always someone faster, a lightning is a fast truck but there are plenty of vehicles out there faster and on and on. The SS may be lacking just a tad in the gettup and go category but like others said a few mods and your in the 13's. Will a modded lightning take you?? YUP. Does it matter? NOPE. Because you will have 4 people in your 13 second truck with a grill and a cooler full of burgers and beer on the way to the beach while the guy in the lightning has a beach towel and his dog KEEP THE SS!!!!!

 

I love the way everyone skates around the warrantee issue. does no one value a 3 year 36,000 mile bumper to bumper warrantee? yes you can throw a stall converter (void tranny warrantee) and a cam and tuning(void engine warrantee) but then if anything breaks it is on you. You can make a ss go 13 but without a warrantee. the L will do it right off the showroom floor. And if anything breaks in the first 3 years or 36,000 ford picks up the bill as long as you don't swap pulleys. I like that. At this point in my life I appreciate a vehicle that I don't have to work on. even better with it being a SVT vehicle you automatically get a rental car if you have to take it in for anything. I would think with this guy being a college student he really can't afford to be buying new trannys and new engines if he breaks anything. Buy the lightning and drive it for 3 years worry free. by then maybe you will be out of school and can afford to break stuff more. I guarantee the L will give most cars and almost all trucks on the road a run for their money. As mentioned earlier this truck was ENGINEERED to run 13's. you can't say that about the SS. It can do it but was not DESIGNED to do it.

Jimbo.......I would buy the L throw a catback, intake, programmer on it and start handing asses to people......with a 3 year 36,000 warrantee to boot

 

i agree with smooth sierra. worry free miles means a lot to some folks.

btw, the people that are breaking the L motors - it is ALL in their shitty tunes. there are a lot of junk tunes out there, esp the generic off the shelf diablos. i cant believe they sell those. they are super lean from Diablo to begin with. the motors are FAR from weak. esp considering the amount of tq and load that is put on the motors from 5K lbs raceweight.

as for towing and big payloads, like a few have said, i dont see the SS owners pulling 5'ers or hauling 1000 lbs of mulch lol. as for the 4 doors and seating...now we are talking about F150 Harley truck time here is a pick of an L get'n er dun!

 

it's a tough call. i like the SS myself, but i'm more of a 2wd regular cab guy. one thing to keep in mind is the big loss the ss will have when you get rid of it. the resale on them is awfull. personally i'd go for a regular cab chevy. we recently had one on the showroom floor with 3.73's locking differential, corsa cat back, carriage works grille, k&n fipk, 20" ss wheels, 5.3, towing package, and a few other important items brand new for around 21k after rebates and other items. have the dealer add a radix to the price of the truck and you are in almost the same boat as the lightning except with a chevy. (not that i don't like lightnings).

 

I think you'll find the 4L65 in the SS is pretty strong, especially if you are only looking for 13s. The rear end of the SS is NOT an issue whatsoever since the transfercase distributes power to both the rear and front axles. My transmission hasn't given my any problems and I run 13s on motor and 12s on spray. I did add a shift kit to firm it up.