Well David Meisner invited us to go with his club to Left Hand Canyon and since we haven't been there and have heard about it we decided to go.
When we met up at the gas station I should have known something was wrong since we were the second smallest vehicle there even with a 5.5" lift and 33"s.
The first part of the trail wasn't really bad, then we hit a couple good obsticles which we needed spotting to get thru.
After that it was to late to go back.
We thought we took the easier way, but ended up getting hung up on a BIG rock. Now it looks like we need to trade out the nurf bars for some rock sliders.
The spare tire rack also dented the rear hatch so now it looks like Matt's latch.
There was also one place you had to go between two trees and about the time we got between them the rearend slid down and we rubbed along the tree. I am hoping most of that will buff out.

Well they can't say we just go to soccer games and the grocery store with our "PURPLE" Explorer.
Here is the link to photopoint for pictures.

http://albums.photopoint.com/j/AlbumIndex?u=1166116&a=13294523&f=0

What, so little damage, and your whining about it? Just kidding!

Remember, Chicks Dig Dents. note - I've yet to really find a chick who does, but the saying sure does sound good. :)

As for the nerf bars - they did their job. Got ya all hung up, and bent way out of shape. When you build new ones, remember to make them strong - if you can't jack the truck up on them, they aren't strong enough. :)

OUCH!!!!
Well perry it is about time you got a few little booboos on that beast, j/k that sucks! But it looks like you had some fun! you should make those rock sliders then sell them to all of us!!!

[QUOTE]Originally posted by tdavis
What, so little damage, and your whining about it? Just kidding!

Remember, Chicks Dig Dents. note - I've yet to really find a chick who does, but the saying sure does sound good. :)

As for the nerf bars - they did their job. Got ya all hung up, and bent way out of shape. When you build new ones, remember to make them strong - if you can't jack the truck up on them, they aren't strong enough. :) [/QUOTE

]O.K. maybe it's just because it's the first one that makes it bad.
I like four wheeling, but I also like driving around town looking good.
So Tom, do you think building them off your pinch weld or frame would be better? I am thinking the pinch weld would be the way to go.

Perry-dad, you do know that I'm extremely disappointed in you. Stupid stupid stupid!! A few words of advice: Eat less, wheel more. If you'd spend less time behind the kitchen table and more behind the wheel, you wouldnt have so much damage. :D :D :D :D :D You know I couldnt resist :) But seriously, most of that should be easily repairable. Bring it up here and we can fab you some rock sliders ;)

Originally posted by 95ExplorerLtd
Perry-dad, you do know that I'm extremely disappointed in you. Stupid stupid stupid!! A few words of advice: Eat less, wheel more. If you'd spend less time behind the kitchen table and more behind the wheel, you wouldnt have so much damage. :D :D :D :D :D You know I couldnt resist :) But seriously, most of that should be easily repairable. Bring it up here and we can fab you some rock sliders ;)


Well Grant-son, it's like this. With the price of gas it takes a lot more money to four wheel.
As for the food, that's to much eating out, not setting behind the table at home. If I ate better food that would help. Maybe if I would exercise more that would help, but then that would take away from me playing on the computer and keeping in touch with all my family on this board. lol

I made some really cool rock sliders that attach to the body rail, or what you are calling the "pinch weld" (I don't know which one is the right term). I went to the local metal recycling place and picked up some 1X2X1/8" square tubing that goes just a little below the body rails because I did not want to lose any ground clearance. I cut and flared out the ends to match the body line front and rear and they look really good. Best of all, I can jack the whole side of my truck off the ground with them.

I drilled 19 holes down the side of the tubing that matched the holes in the body rails left over after removing my skirts, then tapped them with my 1/4X20 tap. Then I took 6' lengths of 1x1/8" bar stock and ran that on the inside of the rail to make it really strong and act as a washer. I got he idea from Road Kill who made some out of 1-1/2x3-1/2" stuff. Total cost for me was $18.50 for the metal and a case of beer for the use of my buddy and his tig welder.

Perry,
I would say that you did pretty good for your first time on the trail. Next time will be easier on your dad's body shop :rolleyes:

I think Joe, Brett and others might want to go up next time... You should lead a run up there soon! Let me know when...

:D
David

I talked to a company here in the springs that makes rock sliders. They charge about $200-350 depending on exactly what you want and how big the tubes are. They build them to bolt or weld to the frame rails and they told me that if I want to make some, I need to keep them at least an inch below the body instead of using the pinch weld. That way if you come down hard on a rock, ther sliders will have room to flex without smacking the rocker panels. Aparently, if the slider is too close and you slip of a rock and wack it good, the rocker panel can smash up into the door and either damage it, or keep it from opening. I'm real concerned about clearance too, since I've decided not to lift BamBam. I've been thinking for a while about alternatives. One is to use small tubing or even thick plate steel and put it underneith the body instead of sticking it out past the pinch. I'm still not sure though.

Just my 2 cents.

P.S. You could save yourself a couple of inches if you got rid of the tupperware (useless plastic skirts). I'm eventually going to have mine Rhino lined along the rockers to cover up the holes that the tupperware attaches to. The holes just in front of the back wheel wells are the weak spot on Ex's when it comes to rust.

dont use the pinch weld. the explorer has an inflexible body and if you hit it with enough concentrated force, you may snap a body mount....use the frame.....

Sorry to see that... I thought those Nerf bars were supposed to be pretty tough

I would really like to see some pics of the pinch weld slider, if it can be used as a hi-jack point it would be strong enough to take a wack or at least if you high center over a hump let you drag off without killing your ex. Road Kill and BKenneny have you both done this? I would like some info on how to do it and if everything is still holding up to the abuse.
Thanks Blake D
:bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce:

Pics not working. :rolleyes: :bounce:

Blake D,

The sliders I made for my truck have worked great for me. I'm not a recreational rock crawler, but when I do run into rock trails, I'm not as worried about rocker panel damage as I used to be. Having dented both sides from coming down on surprises at the top of hills or over boulders, these have saved my body from damage many times.

Used the pinch rail to mount them ( much to the distress of many here!), by drilling the pinch rail and tapping the steel square tubing, about every 10" inches.

I agree that if you plan on doing black diamond trails a lot, then you might want something more robust as protection, but I swear on my bars.

I used 3" x 2" steel tubing, about 1/8" thick.:hammer:

You might want to weld end caps on as a nice detail, but I just put foam in the ends to keep out dirt.

Good luck!

sound great but I can't see the pics! I hope I can see the pics and be able to do the same thing What do you mean by tapping the steel square tubing? Little unfamiliar with this term.
Blake

Originally posted by Blake D
sound great but I can't see the pics! I hope I can see the pics and be able to do the same thing What do you mean by tapping the steel square tubing? Little unfamiliar with this term.
Blake


Tapping means you drill a hole, then (tapping) is putting the threads in for your bolts.

Ok you mean you don't use any nuts on the bolts, just drill the hole and tighten the bolts in to the hole? I didn't think you could get nuts inside the tubing. Sorry don't mean to sound stupid or anything, just trying to translate the words into pics in my mind. Sometimes hard to do! :D :confused:

see pics above