CBones
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Hey everyone,
So I've been loving/lurking Lightning's for years and I loved the idea of an EV F150. My brother and I chatted all the time about the positives of how great this truck was and last summer (Aug 2024) he pulled the trigger on an Avalanche '23 Lariat ER. Needless to say the jealousy took over, and it wasn't long before I also had one...
Picked up my demo '23 Lariat ER in Nov '24 (had about 10k kms on it), got a great deal, and have loved it ever since.
Living in Canada I knew I would need some winter tires on it, and I'm conventionally not a long distance traveler with my daily driver, so the truck was a perfect option to have a bit of fun. I could charge it at work (as a write off), and not need to go long distances. So somthing agressive but not go too crazy was on the table. I ended up with what I think is a pretty reasonable, but still awesome setup.
I need to shout out @AZT9 @SlipperyFish and @Whammy Bar as I sent them all messages about their setups, and they were all damn helpful. I was really hoping to fit 17" rims with a plus offset on the truck, but my mechanic said there was no way in heck they were comfortable with fitting 17s on with all the salt and rocks we deal with in the winter here. I have to also shout out www.methodracewheels.com as they let me RMA 2! sets of 17" wheels that ended up not fitting on the truck - even though they clearly say they do not fit...... Thank you.
In the end I was left with a setup that I love and I think looks awesome. The rims even have a bit of an EV flair, imo. Here's my setup:
Method MR707 bead grip 18x9" +18 offset Matte Black (30.79lb)
Toyo Open Country AT3 275/70R18 E rating (52lb)
No lift, stock suspension, no rubbing - they are the same diameter as the stock 20s with about 7/8" more poke. I might go with the Eibach springs in the future for a bit of a front lift, with bigger tires, but for the next 50k I think this truck looks pretty great. Surprisingly this combo only comes in 1-2 lb heavier than the stock tire/rim combo - even with the E rated tire. I wanted to get the toyo oc at3 EV version but they weren't available in Canada yet. They definitely ride better than the stock 20" tires because of the added sidewall, and of course the mileage is worse because of the poke and tread. But don't ask me to quantify it, I've only had the truck in a Canadian winter thus far.
I recently took a trip from Hamilton, ON to Jay, VT on this setup (~800km) for March break and on the way there I averaged about 2.1 km/KwH at ~-5 degrees Celsius and 2.8 km/KwH home at ~ +10degrees Celsius - driving both ways at 118-128km/h. This truck definitely likes warm weather.
For those who are interested: I bought the A2Z Tesla adapter and the Tesla 250/350 (V3/V4) chargers are amazing. Our road trip experience was so seamless, I (AND MY WIFE AND 8 AND 10 YEAR OLD) barely noticed the difference from gas. Stop - plug in - charge starts immediately via ford pass - then go to bathroom, get food, and the truck is charged (15/23/30percent to 80 percent) in 20-30 mins. All you have to do is plan your route and line it up with Tesla chargers.
On the topic of Canadian winters, I found the stock running boards to be terrible as soon as they had any cold liquid on them.... rain, slush, snow, ice.... It was hard to get out with the weird plastic lip, and my family and I often found ourselves slipping on them. I found an ad for some F250! (yes they fit the 150 - its the same cab) tremor take offs. I love the grippy steel of those running boards, and they're way wider than the lightning boards and they feel a lot better. I love the idea of the retractable running boards, IMO I think the retractables look the best, but they are tough to maintain in snowy climates - in terms of maintenance and jamming long term, so I avoided them (cost was also a factor - I snagged the tremor runners for $400 CDN and installed them myself).
I love the side lighting that came with the stock running boards, so I did a bit of research and found these beauty lights: https://www.f150leds.com/collections/2021-f150/products/2021-running-board-area-premium-lights . I picked up these LED strips from these guys and spliced them to (thanks f150 pro boys) F150 speaker adapters (which is what the lights link up to underneath). Installing the tremor running boards and light strips was like a 3 hour job for a total non mechanic like myself, and I think it looks great.
Other mods include:
Stubby Radio antenna
FitCamX dash cam
All in all - 6 months after buying it and almost 10k kms in a cold Canadian winter, I couldn't be happier with this truck. It's easily the best vehicle I've ever owned. I also need to say that it feels like there is nothing else that's even close to this truck for the price. It's just such a great vehicle. I know I'm singing to the choir here, we all love these babies!
Thanks for checking out my ride.
So I've been loving/lurking Lightning's for years and I loved the idea of an EV F150. My brother and I chatted all the time about the positives of how great this truck was and last summer (Aug 2024) he pulled the trigger on an Avalanche '23 Lariat ER. Needless to say the jealousy took over, and it wasn't long before I also had one...
Picked up my demo '23 Lariat ER in Nov '24 (had about 10k kms on it), got a great deal, and have loved it ever since.
Living in Canada I knew I would need some winter tires on it, and I'm conventionally not a long distance traveler with my daily driver, so the truck was a perfect option to have a bit of fun. I could charge it at work (as a write off), and not need to go long distances. So somthing agressive but not go too crazy was on the table. I ended up with what I think is a pretty reasonable, but still awesome setup.
I need to shout out @AZT9 @SlipperyFish and @Whammy Bar as I sent them all messages about their setups, and they were all damn helpful. I was really hoping to fit 17" rims with a plus offset on the truck, but my mechanic said there was no way in heck they were comfortable with fitting 17s on with all the salt and rocks we deal with in the winter here. I have to also shout out www.methodracewheels.com as they let me RMA 2! sets of 17" wheels that ended up not fitting on the truck - even though they clearly say they do not fit...... Thank you.
In the end I was left with a setup that I love and I think looks awesome. The rims even have a bit of an EV flair, imo. Here's my setup:
Method MR707 bead grip 18x9" +18 offset Matte Black (30.79lb)
Toyo Open Country AT3 275/70R18 E rating (52lb)
No lift, stock suspension, no rubbing - they are the same diameter as the stock 20s with about 7/8" more poke. I might go with the Eibach springs in the future for a bit of a front lift, with bigger tires, but for the next 50k I think this truck looks pretty great. Surprisingly this combo only comes in 1-2 lb heavier than the stock tire/rim combo - even with the E rated tire. I wanted to get the toyo oc at3 EV version but they weren't available in Canada yet. They definitely ride better than the stock 20" tires because of the added sidewall, and of course the mileage is worse because of the poke and tread. But don't ask me to quantify it, I've only had the truck in a Canadian winter thus far.
I recently took a trip from Hamilton, ON to Jay, VT on this setup (~800km) for March break and on the way there I averaged about 2.1 km/KwH at ~-5 degrees Celsius and 2.8 km/KwH home at ~ +10degrees Celsius - driving both ways at 118-128km/h. This truck definitely likes warm weather.
For those who are interested: I bought the A2Z Tesla adapter and the Tesla 250/350 (V3/V4) chargers are amazing. Our road trip experience was so seamless, I (AND MY WIFE AND 8 AND 10 YEAR OLD) barely noticed the difference from gas. Stop - plug in - charge starts immediately via ford pass - then go to bathroom, get food, and the truck is charged (15/23/30percent to 80 percent) in 20-30 mins. All you have to do is plan your route and line it up with Tesla chargers.
On the topic of Canadian winters, I found the stock running boards to be terrible as soon as they had any cold liquid on them.... rain, slush, snow, ice.... It was hard to get out with the weird plastic lip, and my family and I often found ourselves slipping on them. I found an ad for some F250! (yes they fit the 150 - its the same cab) tremor take offs. I love the grippy steel of those running boards, and they're way wider than the lightning boards and they feel a lot better. I love the idea of the retractable running boards, IMO I think the retractables look the best, but they are tough to maintain in snowy climates - in terms of maintenance and jamming long term, so I avoided them (cost was also a factor - I snagged the tremor runners for $400 CDN and installed them myself).
I love the side lighting that came with the stock running boards, so I did a bit of research and found these beauty lights: https://www.f150leds.com/collections/2021-f150/products/2021-running-board-area-premium-lights . I picked up these LED strips from these guys and spliced them to (thanks f150 pro boys) F150 speaker adapters (which is what the lights link up to underneath). Installing the tremor running boards and light strips was like a 3 hour job for a total non mechanic like myself, and I think it looks great.
Other mods include:
Stubby Radio antenna
FitCamX dash cam
All in all - 6 months after buying it and almost 10k kms in a cold Canadian winter, I couldn't be happier with this truck. It's easily the best vehicle I've ever owned. I also need to say that it feels like there is nothing else that's even close to this truck for the price. It's just such a great vehicle. I know I'm singing to the choir here, we all love these babies!
Thanks for checking out my ride.
Sponsored
Lariat ER
