No Collagen, All Billet

In all fairness to her husband, Ana Herrera must have known what she was doing. She had been “hating” on her husband JC’s truck for a while now, telling him that he was spending too much time on it, and saying things like, “It’d be nice if I had a truck.” Yeah, she knew. 

You don’t just go around saying that you’d love to own a Sonic Blue Ford Lightning. That’s just too specific to be a joke. Of course, JC played along and took it all in stride, but deep down he knew that Ana’s jokes were more like hints. As Ana tells it, “I never thought it would happen, until we came across [a Lightning] with some body damage in November of 2014. We jumped at the opportunity.” Early Christmas present—way to kill two birds with one stone.

From firsthand experience, we can tell you that it’s a lot easier on the conscience to cut up a truck that’s seen better days than to modify one that’s in pristine condition, and that’s exactly what happened with Ana’s new-to-her Lightning. Sure, things started out simply enough with the bodywork and fresh Sonic Blue paint job by Infinite Customz, but things were about to snowball.

The truck needed a new hood, so there was no harm in installing a new Cervini’s cowl hood, right? And since the wheels were scratched up, some new rollers made sense; so, Ana bought some 22×9 and 22×10 billets that fit perfectly. We’re still within reason here, right, guys?

Meanwhile, JC was still pounding away on his own project and had just taken delivery of a new set of wheels for his truck, but his were staggered 22x9s and 24x15s. The only problem was, JC’s truck was still a long way from being done, and Ana was now itching to see how 15-inch-wide wheels would look under her Lightning’s flareside bed. Well, there wasn’t nearly enough room for them as the truck sat, which was kind of a relief for JC. Unfortunately, Ana had already made up her mind that JC’s wheels would look perfect on her truck, and there was only one way that was going to happen: lots of cutting. Yeah, JC pretty much had to come to grips with the fact that his wheels would probably never make it on to his truck after all.

it’s a lot easier on the conscience to cut up a truck that’s seen better days than to modify one that’s in pristine condition,
and that’s exactly what happened with Ana’s new-to-her Lightning.”

He reluctantly called up his buddy, Ernan Albarran, to arrange some major surgery for Ana’s Lightning, which would include frame mods, such as a step notch for extra travel and a narrowed rearend. Instead of the usual airbag setup out back, Ernan installed a set of QA1 coil-overs with a simple 2-link to keep things in place. The front, however, does sport a set of Air Lift ’bags, and Belltech spindles for even more drop.

Of course, the important thing to bear in mind was that those massive 15-inch wheels now fit the chassis, but the bed was still putting up a fight. To resolve that issue, the bed floor was cut out and raised, then everything was smoothed and repainted. All of this work was completed just in time for Ana to roll the truck to a local show, but that only made her want to do even more.

Eventually, those 22/24 staggered wheels would give way to a new 24/26 combo from Billet Specialties, which of course would require even more fitment work, but at least JC finally got his wheels back. Even now, as this is being written, Ana’s truck is back under the knife for more modifications.

While just fitting the wheels had been a major focus of the build, plenty of other stuff was happening at the same time. For instance, the interior was completely overhauled by Arjona’s Upholstery with gray suede with diamond-pattern stitching and black carbon-fiber-style vinyl, and an Expedition center console was modified to fit between the seats. The rest of the interior also received the magic treatment with more suede and vinyl topped off with a Billet Specialties steering wheel.

There’s also a whole lot more that went into the truck that can’t be seen easily, such as the CNC work that was done by Joel Charles of JC Customs, and plenty of Super Chrome powdercoating underneath. However, Ana tells us that none of it would have been possible without the help and dedication of JC, and she’s proud of what her truck has become throughout the past couple of years, thanks to the rest of the folks who put in their valuable time. ST

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TRUCK SPECS

Owner

Ana Herrera
Pasadena, TX
2004 Ford Lightning 

Engine

• 5.4L SVT engine with Eaton Gen IV supercharger, plenum and C&L elbow
• 6-pound lower supercharger pulley
• Spectre air intake
• Magnaflow exhaust
• Powder-coated driveshaft
• Harley-Davidson Edition shifter
• Custom aluminum fuel cell

Chassis & Suspension 

• Work performed by Ernan Albarran
• Custom Super Chrome powder-coated upper and lower control arms
• Belltech drop spindles
• Front Air Lift Dominator 2500 airbags
• Dual VIAIR 444c compressors
• Rearend narrowed 14 inches with custom Moser axles and 3.73 gears
• Step notch
• Super Chrome powder-coated 2-link with wishbone
• Rear QA1 coil-overs

Wheels & Tires

• 24×9 and 26×12 reverse Billet Specialties BLVD 88 wheels
• 255/30ZR24 and 305/30ZR26 Lexani tires

Body & Paint 

• Work performed by Infinite Customz
• 3-inch Cervini’s cowl hood
• OEM grille with Harley mod
• Headlights retrofitted with Morimoto projectors, shrouds and halos
• Matching retrofitted fog lights
• Bed tubbed and smoothed, raised floor
• Custom SnugTop tonneau with molded Cervini’s spoiler
• Repainted Sonic Blue with DuPont paint

Interior & Stereo 

• Work performed by Arjona’s Upholstery
• Ford Expedition seat reupholstered with dark gray suede and black carbon-fiber-style vinyl
• Gray suede headliner
• Harley-Davidson Edition door handles
• Billet Specialties steering wheel
• Ford Expedition center console
• Pioneer double-DIN head unit
• Polk Audio amplifier
• Polk Audio speakers
• Optima Red Top battery

Special Thanks From the Owner: “Thanks to Alfredo Gonzalez from Arjona’s Upholstery, Elvin Mijia from Infinite Customz, Ernan Albaran, Joel Charles, Reflections Auto Detailing and JC Herrera.” 

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