SEVEN40iL's '98 Sport Mod Thread

[SEVEN40iL]

Hey guys, thought I would put together a thread for all the mods I have done, and plan on doing to my 1998 Ford Explorer Sport.

Big thanks goes out to this awesome forum, and a few local members who have been VERY helpful in helping me understand these rigs and educating me on what are the best options for me.

Anyway, on to the pictures!

As I picked her up, $700 off of Craigslist!

Got her registered

Started checking over coolants...

...and bone dry...

Then found another sweet deal on Craigslist, 31"x10.5x15 Goodyear Wranglers on OEM Ranger wheels

Got them mounted! Would love to add 2" spacers to the rear to fill the wheel wells a bit better...

and started playing in the snow!

Ordered some Rancho RS5000

Ordered Monroe Sensa-Tracs

Now I am working on getting some Warrior 153 shackles and some XLT leaf springs, and I think I am ready to rock for the winter!

 

[Sogsnakebite]

getting there bro

 

[XLT]

Nice truck! Looks very similar to mine!

 

[Fiero Thomas]

great price. way to go.

 

[SEVEN40iL]

Thanks fellas!

Slowly buy surely, getting there!

 

[DjDom]

Thanks fellas!

Slowly buy surely, getting there!

Aha, if I ever see you around T.O. , I'll be sure to give you a honk.
And, great deal!

 

[derek_redneck91]

Looks good. I'll tell you this right now. Get that plastic trim OFF of the vehicle. You are gonna have to do some body work to fill in the holes for the plastic mounts, and on the back piece by the bumper theres a large indent and hole under the plastic that you will have to fill in. That plastic traps water and salt and crap like you wouldn believe. I have a 99 sport and just this september I did about 50 hours of body work to it. The passenger side rocker was completely gone as well as the dog leg, and the quick job some mechanic did was starting to go on the drivers side. Unfortunately my phone died while I had pictures of the before body work or I'd show you how bad the rust can get without showing you any hints of it being there.

But here's what it looks like after it's all done. I think it looks better without the plastic. Doesn't make the wheel wells look dumb and the tires tiny.

 

[SEVEN40iL]

Will keep ^ that in mind. As for now, I kinda like the fender flares. Not that scared of rust, because I already have tons of it

Aha, if I ever see you around T.O. , I'll be sure to give you a honk.
And, great deal!

Awesome!

 

[delexploder]

Nice truck love your choices so far keep up the progress

 

[SEVEN40iL]

Nice truck love your choices so far keep up the progress

Thanks!

Well the choices have come thanks to this awesome forum and great guidance from Sogsnakebite!

 

[derek_redneck91]

Will keep ^ that in mind. As for now, I kinda like the fender flares. Not that scared of rust, because I already have tons of it

Haha yeah. My tailgate has NO bottom because it all rotted out

 

[SEVEN40iL]

Some more mods to add to the list!

2" spacers for the rear, really fills out those Sport fender flares!

 

[SEVEN40iL]

Another edition!

Warrior 153 shackles, thanks to pzy3339 for the hook up! Appreciate it!

 

[01STrunner]

Lookin good Excited to see it with the shackles.

 

[SEVEN40iL]

Thanks!

I am excited too!

Hopefully I can get my hands on some XLT leaf springs this week, if not I am going to go ahead and install all of the above suspension components on the stock Sport leaf springs.

I should still be getting at least 1.5-2" out of it.

 

[Sams01XplrSprt]

nice x keep up good work

 

[SEVEN40iL]

Thanks Sam!

 

[SEVEN40iL]

Another addition to the ongoing mods, leaf springs from an XLT!

All these suspension mods should be going in this weekend, thanks to Sogsnakebite!

 

[sport97]

If i were you I would throw some AAL in those packs while they are off. Thats what I did. I bought my springs unmounted so i had no idea how saggy they were. Not sure if you had a chance to see if they were saggy or not. I run 4 door leafs, AALs, and shackles on my sport. I think the ride is great with that combo. And I had TT up front to match it.

You will love the swap though. Between that and new shocks all around my car rides 100% different, in a better way. Way more controlled.

 

[sport97]

Also, your thoughts on the wheel spacers? Do they look good in person? Do you recommend them? I just got new tires so wider offset wheels is out of the question and I wish I could fill out those huge flares a bit.