Jen's 03 Sport | Page 13 | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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Jen's 03 Sport

Hello all...

To celebrate the final payment of my beast, I thought I should finally make a registry for it, with pictures and all!!!

When I was in college, I really wanted a 2door SUV that was relatively new and looked cool as well... Obviously that led me to the Explorer, as Jeeps are cool and all, but not all that practical as my daily driver. Sooo, the search was on! I wanted a black one, the newest year I could get for the Sport, with the fewest miles, with leather and a sunroof! :D

Eventually my searches pulled up my exact specs, but in South Dakota. I lived in Iowa at the time, so no big deal. I bothered the people at the dealership with my excessive questions to make sure it was worth the drive there to look at it. And luckily, it was! Mom and I drove out to look at it, and I ended up buying it. My first (nice) purchased car. It had 16,x.. on the clock, was a certified pre-owned from some old man so it was pretty nice, other than that saggy rear end.

First thing I did was swap out the stereo, and figured out how to wire it to the factory sub thanks to the forum! Then, add a leafs were next. I had the next several years mapped out for it when the tires would wear out and I was outta college and could finally have some money!!! I took off the step bars and added a Yakima rack and drove it like that until I moved to CO. That's when the magic started to happen, ;).

I knew I wanted to lift it from the day I bought it. When I started my big kid job out here in CO, I was able to buy new wheels, tires, shackles, and body lift to get it started! Thanks to the awesome boys from this forum (hokie, nssj2, sparkyXplorer) they got it on for me. I was of no use as I had just had shoulder surgery, but they made sure to get my on the right track :thumbsup:

Awesome! Now I'm good to go. Cranked up the torsion bars a lil, time to hit the trails!!! Got my feet wet in Ouray with the group. And by feet wet, I mean I almost peed myself on Black Bear pass, haha

Since then, I've upgraded my exhaust to 2.5 pipes from the cats back, Flowmaster 50 muffler (kinda quiet :rolleyes:) and a MAC intake. Changed out the plugs and wires at the same time, put on Motorcraft plugs and JBA cables...I also added a Yakima load warrior basket that is pretty quick to take off that holds my snowboard racks and my spare.

Mods to come ---- upgrading gears to 4.56, adding an Aussie locker (or something of that sort depending on my $$), removed gray plastic body panels to paint black, thus discovering rust on my doors GRRRRRR, need rock sliders, skid plates, and on and on.
 

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recent pic just for laughs... my coworker is paranoid about her new car, I had to park on this snowbank right next to her one day just to freak her out.
 

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Good for u Jen. Can't wait to see the bumper

I'm pretty excited about it... will be nice to lose my ugly low hitch and have a place outside of the truck to mount the spare... it's just a matter of time until I will need it, and depending on what I'm doing the spare isn't always in the back!
 






Sounds like you had fun working on you rig. Yea, gear oil is one hard smell to get rid if. Use some sand or kitty litter to absorbs it up, then degreaser and then the only real way is to air it out, helps using a box fan to blow air through the garage.
 






Sounds like you had fun working on you rig. Yea, gear oil is one hard smell to get rid if. Use some sand or kitty litter to absorbs it up, then degreaser and then the only real way is to air it out, helps using a box fan to blow air through the garage.

i don't mind working on it at all... my garage is pretty small though so it can be a challenge! it's fun to learn new stuff.

i totally used kitty litter, it worked great... used a piece of 2x4 to grind it into the stains, worked like a charm. when it warms up maybe i will clean the floor too.

it didn't help that i placed the side of my head on the ground in a puddle of the stuff... took awhile to get out of my hair :D
 












Gear oil stench:

Drop some orange peels on the spot, I don't know, it just works.
 






Wrenching, getting dirty, & likes to wheel?

That's A girl after my own Heart right there. :)

Keep at it Jen, I'm proud of you and all you do on your own. :thumbsup:
awww thanks you are too sweet :) it's fun to learn how to do stuff for myself, and saves me tons of money! i'll always be an iowa farm girl when it comes down to it, even though i'm in the mountains now!

Gear oil stench:

Drop some orange peels on the spot, I don't know, it just works.

hey, it works in the garbage disposal too... i'll give that a try too whenever i get around to cleaning in there!
 












Did you Josh, the guy that did your gears is also an Iowa boy?

Can't wait to see the new bumper.
I sure did! We talked about that too... Lots of good ol iowa folk here in colorado!
 






Hello fellow EF brethren:

I mentioned awhile back about my springs being basically flat now since I've had the warrior shackles on for like 7 years, and my driver side sags bad when the gas tank is full. I went camping last weekend and when it's loaded up it squats down quite a bit and rides pretty crappy. I'm getting the RLC bumper/spare set up mailed to me soon and I'm afraid it's going to be really noticeable then.

So I've been searching around for solutions... midnightrebel suggested using ST springs, my research shows they are a bit stiffer/stronger, but they are pretty spendy new at around 250-300 per side. I don't really want junkyard ones since they could be worn out too. I've seen people using the Superlift 4" springs, they seem to be quite a bit cheaper (if they are in stock!) and if I ditch the warrior shackles and get shorter ones or stock ones, will I be at or close to what my add-a-leaf and shackles gave me? Also take into account I will now have my steel bumper and spare hanging off the back too.

Just throwing around ideas in my head, but perhaps you all have some better ideas. I can't remember who did it, but somebody posted on here about getting the superlift kit and only doing the rear so far, and it almost looks level with the torsion twist.... I just don't want the rear end sky high compared to my front. I don't mind a little rake...mainly just need some more support for when I tow my little trailer around/have it loaded up.

:thumbsup:
 






What I did was find a leaf pack out of an older 4 door with a tow package then added a Superlift long add a leaf have had a healthy arch for two years now,in fact using the same leafs on my 03
 






Now that's after a Canadian winter haven't cleaned and repainted but I regularly tow a heavy trailer and have 500 lbs of tools in the back,I believe in total it was just over $200


F12C3078-6138-45E0-8612-5E9D88EC092C_zpsvfsslnjv.jpg
 






Since we all like to see pics, here is the Great Sand Dunes Nat'l Park in Southern CO. Super cool place, I recommend checking it out!
 

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What I did was find a leaf pack out of an older 4 door with a tow package then added a Superlift long add a leaf have had a healthy arch for two years now,in fact using the same leafs on my 03

wow yours look way better than mine! that sounds like a great option too, and probably cheaper. thanks for in the input! i'll look into that too.
 






I didn't want to go used either Jenn but the price Canadian was shocking so looked at a few Explorers in a local pick and pull found what I needed with a good arch, bought the long add a leaf and the rest is history
 






What shocks are you running Snogsnakebite? Those make a big difference too on the Sports.
 






I'm running the Monroe load adjusts on the rear
 






WoW Jen, CO is incredibly beautiful!!! re: springs, I believe it was Paraphroe who has so far used only the Superlift rear springs. Been following his posts since the Superlift kit has been on my wish list for over a decade... I went with ARB Dakar springs and left the Warriors on. Since I only have the torsion twist in the front I still have a slight rake. I believe the springs were about $168 each.
 






Jen, call Denver Spring and Suspension. They are just north of downtown. They might be able to figure something out for you.

I've bought leaf pack bushing from them. I'm probably going to go that route if when I swap my Chevy 1500 springs to the other side doesn't fix my lean. Apparently Chevy's suffer from a driver side lean as well and I'm guessing when the springs were installed on mine, the springs got installed on the same side.
 



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I'm not sure if your still running the sport mono leaf or not. If so, the simple 4 door leaf pack swap will make a world of diff. You can add the 2 pc add-a-leaf kit for the 2" lift, ditch the lift shackles, and be done with it. About $200.

OR... You can build a set of lift packs using all Ford parts, for cheap. If your feeling bold, and can find a helper for a day, there is another option.

What I did...
First off, I can't stand lift shackles, and got rid of them as soon as I could. They ruined pack after pack, by inverting (geometry changes) the main spring prematurely. They had to go!

I built my own lift packs using 2.5" F-150 leaf springs, and keeping the Ex main leaf. That set up alone gave me a solid 2" lift, and I used stock shackles.

I eventually needed more lift, and added a couple springs made from a local spring shop for an additional 2" of lift (4" total). These did settle after a while, after loading the rig repeatedly, and flexing them on the trails. Been years now, and they still hold the lift fine.

Click me for info & pics
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2718595&postcount=956

Just an idea for you is all. :)
 






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