OK now I'll explain the nicknames to the whole group. See, I used to have a 98 F-150, supercab. Beautifal machine. Had a nice long wheelbase, very wide, never got too tippy in it. I bought the Explorer, it was nice but stock. Put the lift, big tires on, etc. and then at many spots I felt the new off-camberness of the vehicle. I called it tippy even though I technically never did tip it... then I put some new lights on it, and Ray Lobato gave it the nickname "Matt 'Las Vegas' Adams and his Explorer 'Sunshine'". WEll I didn't like Sunshine, but Vegas, that had a certain ring to it. Think ab out it, tons of lights, great stereo, when the A/C fails it feels like the real vegas, I can say I lost all my money on Vegas, or I'm doing it Vegas style, or its always a gamble on vegas. :). So here's my newly updated "before... between... and now" pictures.

Completely stock... except for maybe a GPS in there and possibly some stereo equipment, I don't recall...
http://www.pcisys.net/~mattbert/explorer/explorer1.jpg

Mainly built up except for the new set of lights and a few "minor" additions here and there.
http://www.pcisys.net/~mattbert/explorer/lake1.jpg
http://www.pcisys.net/~mattbert/explorer/snow1.jpg

Finally with the new lights on, a few different pics of it all...
http://www.pcisys.net/~mattbert/PIAA/vegas1.jpg
http://www.pcisys.net/~mattbert/PIAA/vegas2.jpg
http://www.pcisys.net/~mattbert/PIAA/vegas3.jpg

For more details on the new lights, including pictures of switches, wiring, etc. go to http://bart.is-s.com/~explorers/madams/PIAA/piaas.html


[Edited by mattadams on 08-25-2000 at 07:02 PM]

Ok, now that the name has been offically released and I finally get to see all the lights, I have to say "Matt, WTF do you need with 12 PIAA's!!!!" Good thing thats not wired to your house, would blow a breaker. Needless to say, I pray no one ever cuts you off at night.

Matt: "That jerk, I'll fix him!"
Jerk: "Oh my god! It's the sun! Can't see! AHHHHHHH!!!"
<insert crash sounds here>

my co-workers were joking about that too. heres the clip...

Setting: Desert, middle of the night, near the local bar
Charachters: a bunch of drunkS sitting near some cactus, drunk off their asses, getting ready to sleep it off.
Enter: Matt Adams and "Vegas" with all lights flipped on.
Drunk #1: "Jesus, is that you Jesus? Good grief, I didn't think I drank THAT much!"
Drunk #2: "Take me home Jesus!!!"
Drunk #3: "ya darn fools, that ain't Jesus, that's the sun, that means its time to go home!"
Drunk #2: "aww dangit!"
Drunk #1: No way, that ain't the sun... if it is, its coming right for us!"
Drunks in unison: "Ahhh!!! It's the rapture!!! Quick hide the boose before god comes!"
Drunk #2: "no you derned fool, move it!"
Matt: Seeing the drunks plenty ahead of time, stops with plenty of distance, gets out of the vehicle, walks up to the drunks, they cower at his feet.
Drunks, in unison: "I never knew Jesus was 6'8" and had such big shoes!"

and on and on... :)

Wow! That is alot of lights! So, does that gas powered generator distract you any :) :) Hee Hee

Do you have any rear facing lights?

whoops, sorry, forgot to include those! I have one set of rear-facing lights, a set of PIAA 1500 XT's. Here's the pic...
http://bart.is-s.com/~explorers/madams/rearlights.jpg
The set of PIAA 80 XT's on the roof,f acing to eitehr side, can easily be re-aimed from almost straight forward to almost straight behind me (so far abotu the only benefit of the conferr roof rack) :).

Nice cat tail.

I see that yours leans to the left also.

If you guys haven't figured it out already.
Matt stole that nuclear generator off that Russian sub.
Matts truck is 'glowing' now!

hey you weren't supposed to tell that I'd stolen that! Ah great, now I'll have to paint the ol radioactive signs on the Explorer :). I can't remember if the explorer was leaning left or if I was... it usually doesn't lean that bad so I think I just had the camera tilted a bit.

<---looking forward to the night run :).
Matt it won't be a night run if you turn all those lights on. Ray :D

[Edited by Ray Lobato on 08-24-2000 at 11:16 PM]

Wow, talk about a rolling billboard for PIAA. Looks good Matt. Looks like you have changed tires or do you just put the good ones on for the trails? I see from the rear shots of your truck why you cannot get in your garage. I especially like the high-tech fastening device used to secure the rear license plate. And just out of curiousity, how many horsepower does that cat tail give you?..LOL.. Now you've made want to put my stuff back on.

Ok Matt, have you started working out the sponsership contract with PIAA yet?

Matt,
I can only see your Stock Photo, is there a problem with the rest of the Photo's???

there did seem to be a problem but I believe they are updated now...

Originally posted by Goober
Looks like you have changed tires or do you just put the good ones on for the trails?

Those are his both tires.... Suposedly he will get some M/T Baja Claws someday... :) Right Matt? :)

BTW those tires he has on now are BETTER then the old ones. The old ones were Dick Cepek Muds and those are short and skinny muds.

what brand is your rear air deflector and where did you get it and $$$ very nice casino i mean truck

yeah, one of these years I'll probably be putting on some baja claws :). That's been in the works for what now, a year? :). For info on accessories on the vehicle you can go to http://bart.is-s.com/~explorers/madams/. It is a Lund Windjammer, got it when I got everything else at Dick Cepek, now out of business... I think it was around $70 but I don't recall...

As long as Matt's Explorer is around, I think it would be wise to purchase stock in PIAA!! I was at galls.com one time, and I thought about how cool it would be to go four wheelin' with police strobe lights. Think about it, it would be pretty wild!

I can only see the stock pic too and can't get to the website. I can't wait to see the new pics.

ok now I'm signed on to AOL and I can't seem to view them either... I'll put them on the other server tonight and get the whole mess straightened out :).

ok try it now...

Needs a bath, and a replacement cover for the right side tail light.

Out of security reasons, I would black out the license plate.

good point... corrected.

Ahh now I see, Looks really cool!! I really like all the PIAA's. Sucks for the next guy who cuts you off at night.

flashing your 85 watt hi-beam brights means "I didn't appreciate that you have so rudely left your hi-beams on while driving right at me... sorry for the inconvenience!" I don't want to get in to what THIS says...
http://www.pcisys.net/~mattbert/explorer/allon.jpg
By the way, I have an enlarged version of this one for download if you want it as your background, LOL

Ow, my eyes!

Matt, since you seem to be the expert on lighting here, if you could only chose one pair of lights to use on the trail, what pair would they be???? Remember, only one

the 80 XT driving lights with the superwhite bulbs.

I was just talking to Barry about all your lights and we think that you should go for a ride out to the west coast of British Columbia or Washington and see if you can't knock a few of those lights off. :D :D :D :D :D :D

Vegas Looks Really good Matt. I Really Like the Lights PIAA needs to sponsor you...

BTW: The raduis Arms worked Great Thanks Again.

I th ought you all knew that PIAA DOES sponsor me... ANyways thanks for all the compliments. British Columbia? They drink beer there eh? LOL

Originally posted by mattadams
British Columbia? They drink beer there eh? LOL

No not at all. ;)

But seriously, British Columbia is probably the only place in the world where a guy was elected because he promised to lower the price of beer. :D :D

Damn Matt, ain't no one gonna miss you on the trail. I'd like to see a picture from inside the truck out the windshield to see how bright they are.

Stephen _ I don't have one fromt hrough the windshield, but this might do for now...
http://www.pcisys.net/~mattbert/explorer/litupgarage.jpg

Wow! And I thought my HID lights were bright.

yeah unfortanetly that pics a little out of focus, Im still trying to perfect taking pictures without movin the camera... And they're not all aimer perfectly yet... but yeah, that's somewhere between 2,500,000-3,000,000 candlepower all said... I think your HID's are probably around 450,000-500,000

Matt, Don't feel too bad, whenever I try to take a picture of something I wind up with a picture of my thumb or my right shoe.

Matt I gotta say very very nice. Id love that pick for a background if you could spare it??? thanks man. Looks great. Just wondering how did you get lucky enough to get a PIAA sponsership?

hey Jayr... no sweat man... I created a background with four seperate images that I can send you or you can pick one of the pics you like the best and I can make a background out of it (I still have the higher resolution versions so it wouldn't look too choppy). Whats your resolution set at? Let me know if you want the one that looks like the one below only bigger, or if you want one of the seperate pictures blown up big.
http://www.pcisys.net/~mattbert/explorer/allontn.jpg

Id like the one in the bottom right. I really am starting to like those lights, but man, you must have like 12 covers (PIAA covers) in the back of your truck. Question, there are 2 pairs of lights above the winch, what are the smaller pair(not the 520's) My resoulutin is 800 by 600 or so. Kinda small. Alright thanks, O yea and how did u get luckyenough to get a piaa sponsership?

above the winch, not the 520s... the big ones closer tot he center are 80 racing lights, the ones beneath those, farther out, smaller are 80 XT fog lights. Give me your e-mail address and I'll emil you that one, gotta tell me what resolution to make it though (640x480, 800x600, 1024x768, etc.)

HOLY CRAP!

Now, where did I put that sun tan lotion?

Hey, when you get a chance, email me some lights too!

[Edited by 2001ExpSport on 08-28-2000 at 09:12 PM]

2001... tell me what picture you want (or the combination of all four) and your e-mail address, and your resolution, and i'll get it out to you!

Cool Matt. Next time I see you around Littleton, I'll know what you look like. Just don't be alarmed when you see 'Barney' following you.

Hey, I decided to go to Car Toys for an Alpine head unit. They had ot done in 1 hour and 15 minutes. I did it on my lunch break. They were nice to work with...

Rob

that's allright f'in - it certainly wouldn't be the first time... I love driving around town - it gets a lot of attention. Even have had a few girls yell at my "nice truck!" or "nice explorer!" usually its guys though... but its cool, as long as you don't ride my ass, I get pissed with tailgators, I don't care if I know you or not, heh heh.

Originally posted by mattadams
as long as you don't ride my ass, I get pissed with tailgators, I don't care if I know you or not, heh heh.

Oh thats why you turned on your rear lights on me huh? LOL

naw, you weren't tailgating me... I was just showin em off a bit, those ones aren't exceptionally bright but they're not designed that way. They're designed to have a spread, which they have :).

Ya I know... Just being weird. I know how you get when people tailgate you.

http://smilecwm.tripod.com/monsieurboo/e.gif Ahh, that's better...oh nice lights by the way....and look there IS an explorer there....see, I knew it wasn't the sun!

hey I like that one :).