Toddious become's elite!

Well, i've been on this board for over a year now, and decided it's about time i become an elite member. when i first stumbled onto this page, i had just become owner of my 1996 Explorer Limited. since then, a lot has changed. I got the bug, and have been unable to stop modifying my explorer. A little about myself: I am 23 years old, and am finishing up my bachelors degree in two months. I am currently working for a company in Orlando designing, selling, and installing Home Theater systems.

About my truck:
STOCK:

I bought the truck stock with 97k miles on it. It is a "limited edition", so it has leather, 6cd changer, sunroof, blah blah blah. It has the 4.0 v6, 3.73 gears, and a limited slip rear end.

NOW:

It has gotten a 3" Body lift, 2" Torsion twist, custom leaf pack (from Dent Spring in Cincinnati). It also has the "air ride suspension" system, which has been modified to provide an extra 1" of lift. I am using Pro-Comp MT's, on 15x10 Rockcrawler rims. I have an SCT flasher with 2 programs (87/93) made by brian at SCT in orlando.

I have a Milemarker Electric 9,000 lb winch. 6 Pro-comp 55w lights (the two on the grille are triggered from the high beams, 4 on the roof are triggered by the fog light switch in the dash).

The light bar is drilled through the roof, and the roof rack attaches to the factory track bars. Both are custom built.

Custom side steps/sliders are welded to the frame, and are strong enough to use as jack points. The rocker panels have also been coated with herculiner.

And thats just about it!
All the metal work was done by Gabe Simpson (aka Buchvilleman) out of northern florida. He is a great guy, please see him if you need any work done. (thanks soo much gabe!).

Future Plans:
Regear, Intake and Exhaust, Lockers, eventually a SAS for a D44.

THANKS TO EVERYONE ON THIS BOARD WHO HAS HELPED GET MY TRUCK WHERE IT IS!!!

 

[Xplorer12686]

very nice looking truck. i like the tanish color and all black wheels

 

[Blee1099]

Good job. Couple of tips, install some camber adjusters and get an alignment done. Your front end from the pics show some serious camber issues. Second, you might wanna bolt the sliders on instead of welding them on. Consider it like tow points, Once a weld breaks, your screwed especially if your using it as a jacking point or if it breaks on a obstacle.

 

[toddious]

Good job. Couple of tips, install some camber adjusters and get an alignment done. Your front end from the pics show some serious camber issues. Second, you might wanna bolt the sliders on instead of welding them on. Consider it like tow points, Once a weld breaks, your screwed especially if your using it as a jacking point or if it breaks on a obstacle.

the front end is definately in need of an alignment. I recently went to firestone, and they would only do the "tow" for me. anyone know a place that will do alignments on lifted explorers? I thought about doing a screw on step bar, but we just decided welding was easier i guess. you make a good point about it breaking, thats why we tried to make it as strong as possible, and used 4 brackets per side.

 

[Blee1099]

You'll need to install camber adjusters about $18 a side at your local parts store. Easy to install.. Just make sure you tighten down the bolts to 80 to 115 ft lbs after the install.

 

[96limitedX]

its got a interesting look..

im glad it has come as far as it has. i remeber when you where just starting out. asking about the body lift and such...lol

 

[bmxking5]

Looks great Toddious! I really like the look of the truck. Definitely come a very long way!

 

[Crankcase]

Congrats!

 

[BUCHVILLEMAN]

i think all the fab work is soooo fab!

congrats todd thats the prettiest ex ive ever seen! its good to see a guy who can envision his goal and make a tedious plan and stick to it to get it all done. goes to show all the young guys (old guys too) that if you pinch your pennies, do your homework, and ask a pile of questions, invent and execute a plan of attack you can have a sweet ass explorer like todd.

forget the alignment and do the SAS

dont worry about your step bars. the welding shop welded 4 brackets from the bars to the frame - you would need to worry about the frame tearing before you will the weld breaking.

 

[Blee1099]

i think all the fab work is soooo fab!

congrats todd thats the prettiest ex ive ever seen! its good to see a guy who can envision his goal and make a tedious plan and stick to it to get it all done. goes to show all the young guys (old guys too) that if you pinch your pennies, do your homework, and ask a pile of questions, invent and execute a plan of attack you can have a sweet ass explorer like todd.

forget the alignment and do the SAS

dont worry about your step bars. the welding shop welded 4 brackets from the bars to the frame - you would need to worry about the frame tearing before you will the weld breaking.

I've never been too keen on the idea of welding sliders to the frame. The greatest weld bead can't be stronger than a set of 4 grade 8 bolts on the sliders. When me & JDraper did my set of sliders, we used 4 grade 8 bolts on each mount plus a gusset in the front mounts. I'm sure the sliders that Toddious has are stout however you have to consider how many pounds of pressure will be placed on them when you use them as a hi-lift jacking point or when you smack them on a obstacle. I think most offroad speciality shops and enthusiasts frown on the idea of welding the sliders to the frame.

 

[BUCHVILLEMAN]

i agree with your bolt-on approach. i too prefer bolting to welding. the welding shop probably just went with what was quicker for them.

though i would be willing to put faith in the machine shop welds. the point i make is that with 4 brackets professionally welded on to the frame it will be damned near impossible to break at the weld with the weight of the vehicle. a few things to think of - you will only be jackign from one side and due to the fact that there would be 2 wheels on the other side on the ground, so you cannot be jacking the entire load of the vehicle. letssay a rig like todd's weighs what - 5k+ close to 6k tops? a generous hi lift load of at most 4k distributed on 4 welds is only 1k per weld. depending on the stock weight - depending on the weld - it would hold. even a shock load of hitting a rock or stump or whatever. it will bend the frame or the step bar before anything.

my main point:
are the welds that fasten the brackets to the frame any less prone to break than the welds that hold the brackets to the slider? we cant have everything bolt on. we have to reply on welds sometimes. that winch bumper relies on welds and when it was on my truck i pulled out a tractor that was stuck in a chicken house, a hummer (h1) resting on its frame in sand, and besides myself numerous times nearly everyone in the flexplorer club. point is - those welds held up to over 9k on continuous pull at times...tractor stalled the winch so i used the pulley - that may have been more than 9k.

i say all that - but i do agree i would rather bolt accesories on

i make the argument because, i just think its one of those webwheeling internet myths that need to be broken - have you personally ever seen a slider bar welded to the frame break? seen pics? "i have a friend..." or "i once knew this guy..." arguments dont hold water. in my experience it has to be first hand experience or photographically documented to count.

i hope i dont sound rude - its not my intent. its hard not to sound rude when disagreeing with someone online. so thats why i put lots of these guys

sorry for the hijack, todd. just checked - yep your truck still rocks!

 

[FROADER]

Looks good Todd. Now go scratch up that nice limited paintjob!

 

[toddious]

Looks good Todd. Now go scratch up that nice limited paintjob!

i gave up on the paint job a long time ago. it's starting to get custom "forest pinstriping".

 

[bmxking5]

i gave up on the paint job a long time ago. it's starting to get custom "forest pinstriping".

I had mine repainted about this time last year. I have also started giving it that "custom" pinstriping. It really sets the truck off.

 

[j602]

Forest pinstriping - God's decals. I too have them.

Truck looks good.

 

[FROADER]

i gave up on the paint job a long time ago. it's starting to get custom "forest pinstriping".

Nice. We don't really have "forests" around here so we call it "desert pinstriping."

 

[TheFox88]

Nice looking truck man! Can't wait to see it sas'd.

 

[96limitedX]

I had mine repainted about this time last year. I have also started giving it that "custom" pinstriping. It really sets the truck off.

you guys are scaring me..

 

[Sams01XplrSprt]

nice x u got there toddious keep up the good work bro

 

[toddious]

thanks for all the compliments!

the good news/bad new:
i found out 2 days ago when i went in to get the camber adjusted my passenger side wheel bearing is bad. I was also informed that both of my lower balls joints are just about shot. since then, the wheel bearing has become so bad i will not drive on it anymore. so, my decision was this:

I am going to install a used wheel bearing on the passenger side, and limp around on this front end for another month and a half. Then, i am going to buy a dana 30, and do the SAS. The dana 30 will be a temporary solution, due to the matching bolt pattern, and width, and because I can get gabes used one.
I don't see any reason to put $700 dollars (or whatever it would cost) to replace all these parts for a front end that i plan on removing anyway. i see this as motivation. With my college graduation only 2 months away, i'll be treating myself to a nice graduation present it seems. todd.