I've been a EF member long enough that I think it's time i put up a registry for my truck. This forum's been a huge help in turning my Ex into what it is today, and I doubt I would even own it if I had never chanced upon EF.
The War Wagon's (DubDub's) story:
1993 Explorer XLT
A4LD, Electronic 4WD, 207k
I traded my old '98 Firebird during the summer of '09 to my dad for his stock 1993 Explorer XLT, because I wanted a vehicle I didn't have to keep clean all the time...AND I had found Explorer Forum a few months prior and I was hellbent on acquiring my pops' truck so I could do all kinds of silly things to it such as a SAS and 40" tires and all kinds of cool technical jargon I didn't understand (And still sorta don't
)
The old:
The good ol' days. but hey this ain't about the Blue Demon...
The New:
Taken post-maiden voyage (stuck in 2wd, I might add)
I was a happy kid to own a big lunkhead suv like this after driving such a small 2-door sports car. And I was ready to get this thing in the air.
Before I knew it, I had applied bedliner to odd places like my grille and the sides of my doors, acquired a brushguard and some lighting, slapped my spare tire on the roof and bolted a 109" whip to my rear bumper. I was going crazy with my truck, which my dad had come to call "the War Wagon." I prefer DubDub: (War Wagon= WW= "doubleyooo doubleyooo= DubDub...get it?!)
And best of all I loved wheeling with it wherever I could. Still stuck in 2wd...hadn't found out how to fix my electronic 1354 yet.
Next came a set of lift shackles for the rear to give DubDub a good 2" boost back there since the springs had sagged a bit. By this point in time I had realized that I was not afraid to cut sheet metal and cut out some rocker rust and the chrome panels behind the rear wheel well in case I needed clearance for my new 31's. Turns out I didn't need it back there, but the front was a different story...
The outside lugs on my new 31x10.5 TSL's would reach out and grab the inner fender inside my front wheel wells pretty often so I knew I had to do some trimming up there eventually. I also went ahead and bought myself some 15x8 soft 8's for my new meats. DubDub was a happy truck!
Over the next few months things came and went such as more lights, a roof rack, winter, and the outside edges of my bumpers. Even stuck in 2 wheel peel (that's right, still hadn't cracked open my tcase), the TSL's helped me get around in the snow more than a few times.
Once spring hit, I knew it was time to work on my truck some more. I ended up getting myself some 2" skyjacker coils, taking my doors off a few times, and doing some much-needed fender trimming.
By this time, my 31's were starting to get pretty worn down so I needed new tires. And I thought to myself "Now, while I'm at it, why don't I try and get some 33s in them thar wheel wells?" (A smart man would've attempted to fix his transfercase, but nooo I wanted bigger tires) Ideas about drop bracket lifts and body lifts came and went in my mind but in the end I just resorted to defacing my front fenders even more.
And WALA! I ended up with 33x12.5 MTRs on 2" of lift, and generously trimmed front fenders. no rubbing at all on the street, and only the rears rub off road when i flex the 8.8 too far (The ttb don't flex all that far though anyway). I was po (poor) and had to save $$$ for school in the fall so I only regeared the rear axle. With my old 31s I had my stock 3.73 gears but I wanted a bit more power with the 33s so I went with 4.88s. I'm glad I went that low because I love the way this thing can turn the tires now.
So basically up until this point I've built a pretty cool mallcrawler which I like to beat on and get dirty sometimes.
Summer came and went and school didn't work out so I'm stuck with a great new job now and the money will be flowing out my pockets and into new parts for my Ex. My plans/priorities/dreams are as follows:
I'd like to get a drop bracket lift (I'm leaning towards a 6" skyjacker) and SOA the rear so I can stuff some 35s, maaaaybe 36's or 37's under my truck and wheel the snot out of it. I'm generally easy and careful with my truck whenever I do take it offroad so I feel like with the right internals and the lack of a locker, I could make the d35 stand up to such big tires. I might go with a 2" bodylift/coil spacers and lift leaf pack if I decide to go the 37" route. Time will tell.
In the end (if that ever comes?), I want my truck to (at least) sit something like this:
D35
-Aussie locked
-4.88
-Pushed forward 1 inch
-4/6" skyjacker drop brackets
-Skyjacker RA's
-Fullsize coils
-F250 shock towers
-James Duff coil buckets
-Passenger beam window, clearanced
-Warn Jeep hubs
-Spicer 5760X Ujoints
8.8
-Locked
-4.88
-SOA
-Disk brake swap
-Super 88 kit
-Relocated shock mounts
-Solid diff cover
Misc-
Sliders
RLC front/rear bumpers
Smittybuilt xrc8
35"-37" meats
Wayyyy down the line, after this suspension is finished:
Chop top
Yellow paint job with bedlined lower doors (like it is now)
Exocage with boatsides
Hopefully I can get start working on this thing again and start wheeling it a lot more than I have been! Any and all comments, advice and criticisms are welcome!
The War Wagon's (DubDub's) story:
1993 Explorer XLT
A4LD, Electronic 4WD, 207k
I traded my old '98 Firebird during the summer of '09 to my dad for his stock 1993 Explorer XLT, because I wanted a vehicle I didn't have to keep clean all the time...AND I had found Explorer Forum a few months prior and I was hellbent on acquiring my pops' truck so I could do all kinds of silly things to it such as a SAS and 40" tires and all kinds of cool technical jargon I didn't understand (And still sorta don't
)The old:
The good ol' days. but hey this ain't about the Blue Demon...
The New:
Taken post-maiden voyage (stuck in 2wd, I might add)
I was a happy kid to own a big lunkhead suv like this after driving such a small 2-door sports car. And I was ready to get this thing in the air.
Before I knew it, I had applied bedliner to odd places like my grille and the sides of my doors, acquired a brushguard and some lighting, slapped my spare tire on the roof and bolted a 109" whip to my rear bumper. I was going crazy with my truck, which my dad had come to call "the War Wagon." I prefer DubDub
: (War Wagon= WW= "doubleyooo doubleyooo= DubDub...get it?!)And best of all I loved wheeling with it wherever I could. Still stuck in 2wd...hadn't found out how to fix my electronic 1354 yet.
Next came a set of lift shackles for the rear to give DubDub a good 2" boost back there since the springs had sagged a bit. By this point in time I had realized that I was not afraid to cut sheet metal and cut out some rocker rust and the chrome panels behind the rear wheel well in case I needed clearance for my new 31's. Turns out I didn't need it back there, but the front was a different story...
The outside lugs on my new 31x10.5 TSL's would reach out and grab the inner fender inside my front wheel wells pretty often so I knew I had to do some trimming up there eventually. I also went ahead and bought myself some 15x8 soft 8's for my new meats. DubDub was a happy truck!
Over the next few months things came and went such as more lights, a roof rack, winter, and the outside edges of my bumpers. Even stuck in 2 wheel peel (that's right, still hadn't cracked open my tcase
), the TSL's helped me get around in the snow more than a few times.
Once spring hit, I knew it was time to work on my truck some more. I ended up getting myself some 2" skyjacker coils, taking my doors off a few times, and doing some much-needed fender trimming.
By this time, my 31's were starting to get pretty worn down so I needed new tires. And I thought to myself "Now, while I'm at it, why don't I try and get some 33s in them thar wheel wells?" (A smart man would've attempted to fix his transfercase, but nooo I wanted bigger tires) Ideas about drop bracket lifts and body lifts came and went in my mind but in the end I just resorted to defacing my front fenders even more.
And WALA! I ended up with 33x12.5 MTRs on 2" of lift, and generously trimmed front fenders. no rubbing at all on the street, and only the rears rub off road when i flex the 8.8 too far (The ttb don't flex all that far though anyway). I was po (poor) and had to save $$$ for school in the fall so I only regeared the rear axle. With my old 31s I had my stock 3.73 gears but I wanted a bit more power with the 33s so I went with 4.88s. I'm glad I went that low because I love the way this thing can turn the tires now.
So basically up until this point I've built a pretty cool mallcrawler which I like to beat on and get dirty sometimes.
Summer came and went and school didn't work out so I'm stuck with a great new job now and the money will be flowing out my pockets and into new parts for my Ex. My plans/priorities/dreams are as follows:
I'd like to get a drop bracket lift (I'm leaning towards a 6" skyjacker) and SOA the rear so I can stuff some 35s, maaaaybe 36's or 37's under my truck and wheel the snot out of it. I'm generally easy and careful with my truck whenever I do take it offroad so I feel like with the right internals and the lack of a locker, I could make the d35 stand up to such big tires. I might go with a 2" bodylift/coil spacers and lift leaf pack if I decide to go the 37" route. Time will tell.
In the end (if that ever comes?), I want my truck to (at least) sit something like this:
D35
-Aussie locked
-4.88
-Pushed forward 1 inch
-4/6" skyjacker drop brackets
-Skyjacker RA's
-Fullsize coils
-F250 shock towers
-James Duff coil buckets
-Passenger beam window, clearanced
-Warn Jeep hubs
-Spicer 5760X Ujoints
8.8
-Locked
-4.88
-SOA
-Disk brake swap
-Super 88 kit
-Relocated shock mounts
-Solid diff cover
Misc-
Sliders
RLC front/rear bumpers
Smittybuilt xrc8
35"-37" meats
Wayyyy down the line, after this suspension is finished:
Chop top
Yellow paint job with bedlined lower doors (like it is now)
Exocage with boatsides
Hopefully I can get start working on this thing again and start wheeling it a lot more than I have been! Any and all comments, advice and criticisms are welcome!
