Jzop 98 xlt registry | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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Jzop 98 xlt registry

ok so I have been an elite explorer I think for 2 months now give or take, and I have been meaning to make a registry but haven't had time. So without further adieu here is my ride that has been named by a couple of my town members "THE BEAST". Now after I list all my mods or lack there of I bet most of you will be wondering why it was named the beast. Well lately I have been driving around asking people there opinions on what I should do here and there on the truck, and whether or not they can help. This includes mechanics, carpenters welders, all friends that I have known most of my life. and since every time I see these people I have a different story on what I plan to do they decided to start calling it "THE BEAST". Anyway on a different note I think I am one of the youngest elite explorers on the site. Only being 18 and still a senior in high school I fell in love with off roading the day my dad and i took our 1944 WWII Willies army jeep on the trails to see what she could do. When all my buddies were getting there new lexus or BMW I went looking for a truck and found my 98 XLT in white to match... well every truck my family has ever owned in terms of color.
That's enough blabbering about my life. I guess I should move onto the never ending project that is my explorer. Bought from a cop a couple towns over for 2K, she is everything and more that I could have expected. except for the transfer case and transmission being shot when I got her. After about 2.5k later and a little patience she became road worthy again and ready to go to the trails.
I will list what mods I have currently done so far followed by some I would like to do this summer followed by A LOT of pictures.

P.S.
Go easy on me because im not that savy when it comes to car parts. Lately I have been inhaling tons of knowledge on my truck, whether it be installing new shocks to ripping out my rear end. All learned solely from this website after hours and hours of research and some great messages from the members here. I hope to gain as much knowledge as possible and one day take a trip out to truck haven because so far i haven't found anyone fun in terms of wheelin in NJ or the east coast for that matter.

Ok lets begin

INTERIOR~
-New driver side reclining seat lever
-New center console armrest cover
-Blue glow gauges with costume rocker switch
-Pioneer DEH-P6000UB head unit
-4 new Pioneer TS-D802P 2 way door speakers
-2 8" subs in a costume box (came with truck-exact specs soon)
-New ford floor mats and ford steering cover
-Costume wooden tool box built from 1/2" ply and 2/4's painted black

EXTERIOR~
-Rancho RS9000XL shocks
-SOA
-New leaf pack
-Sloped 3" PA 883 BL
-Front and rear bumpers painted black with krylon plastic paint
-Powder coated front diff cover, U-Bolts and shock mounts (courtesy of Jon AKA TURDLE)
-Left and right running boards removed/side painted with truck bed lining after some aluminum body tape
-AutoZone shackles

ENGINE~
-So far there haven't been any engine modifications but I plan to put in a new air intake probably by K&N. Not sure what else I would like to do there but im sure I will find something.

IN THE WORKS~
Nothing at the moment need $$$$$

GOING ON IN THE GARAGE NOW...
-Warrior 153 Shackles (3 week back ordered WTF...)


FOR THE FUTURE~
-So i finished my SOA and sloped body lift and put 35" Pro Comp Xterrains on to make the beast look mean. I guess the next step is the roof rack, spare full size tire, flowmaster 40 muffler, wheel spacers and some fender trimming. After I pay some bills and get a could solid weeks of work done im sure all that will be possible on a weekend but for now she looks pretty mean.

-Roof rack and spare tire mount
-Brush guard with 4 grill and 4 roof mounted PIAAs
-10,000lb tow hooks front and rear
-Flowmaster 40 exhaust with passenger side exit pipe
-Dana 44 front axle and what ever comes with that (still researching that one because I hate my front end)

well this is what she looks like


Some silly flex shots on a curb after new Rancho shocks, removal of running boards and spray painted diff rear diff cover. Oldest photo i have.
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My attempt at a little wheelin so i can compare to whats to come.
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WORK BEING DONE NOW
Draining rear diff, painting bumpers and grinding/welding new spring perches for SOA conversion followed by some old and new parts.
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Old bumpers
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New bumpers
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Old leaf springs, U-Bolts, shock mounts and fog light mounts
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New U-Bolts, shock mounts and front and rear diff covers (POWDER COATED COURTESY OF TURDLE)
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Hopefully there will be much more to come but I would just like to thank everyone on the explorer forum for being such a big help in educating me about my truck. None of this would have been possible if all you guys weren't here to help
THANK YOU
 



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OK so yesterday I received only one new leaf spring from the man in brown and was a little surprised/angry to see it by its self. So I called up the company that I purchased the set from and they said I had only ordered one when I could have sworn i ordered 2. Anyway I re-ordered a second one after making sure I wasn't being charged or 3 springs and they said it should arrive by noon today. Hopefully after work I will be able to finish putting the rear end back in SOA form and then jack up the body one side at a time for the new sloped body bushings, followed by bumpers and a nice wash. Alot to do after pouring 14 yards of concrete but I think I can do it. And my warrior 153s are still back ordered 3 weeks so I will be using my AZ shackles for now.
 






nice x u got there keep up good work
 






UPDATE>>>>> finished the COA conversion in the back and triple checked all the nuts and bolts to make sure everything was tight. Also just about finished the 3" sloped BL but towards the end a couple parts like one of the old bolts for the steering shaft seemed to have disappeared. Ill probably find it tomorrow when I finish up all the little nick nacks like putting the carpet back, fixing the front bumper which has a horrible (worse then before) slant to it and connecting a couple ground strips and what not. Unfortunately she will have to take a trip tomorrow morning to the mechanic to get a couple things checked which include brake lines (because some were along my SOA I must have pinched a brake line resulting in NO BRAKES when I tested it out) and a little sputtering in the engine almost like its gonna stall. Not a big deal but its something I don't have time to diagnose. Anyway the only pics I can put up for now is a couple of the SOA finished and my new toys that are being shipped as im posting this. ENJOY

After SOA and before 3" sloped BL
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And the new shoes....<^><^><^><^>
Decided to go with ProComp Xterrain instead of the BFG KM2s because of price and... well all the BFGs are basically sold out being one of the newest most popular mud tire on the market so im told
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Still waiting on the tires and rims but i wanted to test out my flexing abilities today and compare them to some pictures after my new tires have been put on so this is what i got.

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and when i saw this other puny explorer i couldn't help but park next to it lol
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do you have a side shot of your rig? I would like to see what the rake is like.

Tomorrow before I bring it to the shop I will take a side shot. It doesn't have as much of a rake as it did because earlier tonight i took it to my friends garage and torqued up my torsion bars a little more just to be safe.
 






ok so today I got my new tires and wheels balanced and put on my truck and.. ill just let the pictures speak for themselves.

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I have a little wheel rub on the front tires against the frame and front body fender but after some 1.25" wheel spacers and a little fender trimming all that will be a thing of the past. Hopefully that will get done this weekend.
 












:thumbsup: lookin' real good.............. :thumbsup:
 












That looks great! A little too raked for my taste but it looks good!


Thanks 99ex22. I wish i could get it a little more even but im really pretty scared to find out how it rides with the torsion bars cranked up more then they are right now. I am waiting on a set of warrior 153 shackles that are currently back ordered. the shackles i have on now are about 2.5" shackles and they were all i had at the time of the SOA. So hopefully when the warriors come in (only 1.25" lift) they will lower the back a little bit.
 






oh snap--
diffy cover bolt

hahaha waitin on that bolt to come so I can pop it in and paint them all black for some nice contrast
 






So I usually post very similar pictures in terms off off roading because.. well they are all at the same place doing the same thing. Just like to see how high I can jack her up and then take a couple walks around to look for binding lines, check break lines and ABS and see if anything is twisting the wrong way. So far she is looking pretty good.


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looks like ya' got the AZ "adjustable" shackles on it now............. why not use the different holes to lower the rear, to get rid of some of that rake?
 






looks like ya' got the AZ "adjustable" shackles on it now............. why not use the different holes to lower the rear, to get rid of some of that rake?


I was going to do that after I got my new tires on but wanted to keep it on the middle hole just to make sure there wouldn't be any clearance issues in the rear. I had planned to move them down a hole to the lowest one right after I got the tires balanced and mounted but I got a call from tellico 4X4 today and they said that my warrior 153s were being shipped and should arrive on Tuesday. So im just gonna wait. It seems like a waste of money but the AZ shackles only cost like 17 bucks and im going to keep them in my tool box in case something ever goes wrong. For now im just gonna wait till the warriors get here and when they do, swap them in.
 






And since iv been going a little picture crazy here are a couple pictures of my matching ford mats, glow gauges, pioneer head unit and costume built rear tool box.

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definitely can't go wrong with the WARriors............ just picked up a set from a member on the forum. These things are SUPER beefy, you gotz a great lookin' X there. Lovin' the interior :thumbsup:
 






ok so I finally got some pics of my truck doing something close to 4 wheelin enjoy

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This is what happens when you go boggin and people throw trash in the dam mud holes.
1" puncture right through the tread of my new tire. since i haven't gotten my full size spare yet, had to call the AAA guy. took 3 plugs to stop the leaking. Getting patched from the inside tomorrow for an indefinite fix : (

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Beside the fact that the day was cut short, she performed great. had mud and water up to the door and she didn't get bogged down or stuck once. lookin forward to going to a better CLEANER spot on Thursday.
 






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