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Post number 3327 has been selected as best answered.

Whats In A Name?

It was hot humid august night. The winds have all but vanished. I was doing my best to keep the sweat out of my eyes. The A/C was dying in my 94 Explorer, lovingly named "Pugly", and there was no relief in sight. I decided it was time to stop throwing good money into bad. I was gonna do the unthinkable,.......I was going to commit the most heinous crime of them all! I was going to trade Pugly in for a newer model! Oh the heart break! The insanity of it all! I couldn't believe the thoughts were even going through my head.

I managed to get the old girl back home, to her resting place. She seemed at ease in her familiar surroundings. I had to come up with an explanation to let her know of my evil plan. So i just gave her that old wink and grin that she likes to see from me as we made it back home from another day of adventure in the treacherous Midwestern terrain. I did my best in hiding my cynical thoughts, as I walked around to her rear flank and gave her that little pat on her bumper, as I always have when we part for the night.

The next morning I gave her a real good bath, cleaned behind her mirrors, and brushed her grill. She still looked pretty good for her age. Oh sure she had the tell tale signs, gravity has got its firm grip on her, and I am not the best cosmetics guy in the world. she didn't seem to mind too much, she still kept her nose up and drove with pride.

After looking at many vehicles I just could not find anything that had the same feel as my old girl. Then it happened! Was I seeing a mirage? Was I so desperate to find another rig that I was blinded by insanity? I found my replacement! I quickly made a sale with the owner, and brought it home.

When I pulled in the driveway, my heart sunk as I looked into the yard to see my 94 looking at me in disbelief. She was sunning herself in the grass looking all shiny and then, she just looked away from me. My heart was tearing in two. I parked the new rig, and walked up to her and gave her a soft spoken "Hello". No reply. I tried to tickle her mirrors, no response. The tension was so great, you could have cut it with a 32 count fine tooth hacksaw. I had to explain to her that she gave me great satisfaction for many years, and we made a terrific team together, but the time has come for her to just relax and enjoy her final days. She finally revved up, and understood, her days as my work horse has ended (so we thought).

I introduced her to her daily driver replacement. The shiny new(er) next generation of her kind. The 95 Explorer XLT. She warmed right up to it. Before you know it they were swapping stories. Now I had to ask her for help. I needed a name for the new ride,
so I went to find her, and what did I see? Those two were grill to grill in the driveway. rubbing chrome! I had to get the water hose out and break them up! Sheesh, she was acting like a girl at the prom dance! I let the name thing drop for awhile.

The new(er) Ex needed to get its shots, and a physical. When I got the word on it's health, I about had a coronary. "What do you mean Doc"! I yelled. "Your kidding right"? I asked. The Doc just shook his head and gathered his tools. As he walked away, He said it had a 50/50 chance of survival. My stomach knotted up, my teeth ground, my heart raced, and I could feel the energy build up as I let it all out, "Why! Why! Why did this have to happen"! I screamed.

The prognostic exam from the doc was as such. It had a blown steering rack, the shocks were gone, the brakes were non existent, front sway bar was cracked in half, the 3rd brake light was out, none of the windows or the moon roof would work, the door locks were broke, the rear end LS clutch pack was burned up, the tires were all in need of replacement, the spare was a Firestone recall and flat, the engine had a nasty tick to it, the TPS was shot, the MAF was corroded, the battery had a dead cell in it, the hood shocks were not working, the rear hatch lock was jammed up and you couldn't open it with out a key in the lock, The carpet was stained to no repair, the rear window wiper didn't want to work, and we could not tell what year its engine swap came from. it was a mess, to say the least.

I went in the house to get my gun. I was gonna just put it out of its misery right there and then. I suddenly realized I was out of ammo, from shooting at the jeep that was in my field. I went to the computer to find a place to buy some cheap ammo, and I stumbled across this website, explorerforum.com that said it could heal any ford Explorer no matter what the problems were! I jumped for joy, I could not believe the things I was reading! I wore out the search button, asked a bunch of questions. I quickly broke out my pen and paper, feverishly writing down things as I was learning! I had found a cure for everything that was wrong with my new transport. It was a Godsend, an angel from the SUV heavens!

I sprung into action. I worked day and night, Pugly was right by my side the entire time, helping me in any way she could. I never seen this side of her, and was really amazed at how well she handled the pressure. She gently squeegeed the sweat out off my fore head with her soft wiper blades as I worked away. After an entire weekend of work, I collapsed. I needed some rest, and so did the 95. The sun crested over the hills, and awoke me to a new day. I shuffled my feet to the window facing the driveway, peeled the drapes gently back, and peered out at the 95. WOW!
It had a its color back, and was looking great! Now as the time went on, (and most of my paychecks), and the selling of almost everything I own, for funds to get the 95 to its former glory.

After some time to reflect on this name thing, I strolled up and whispered into Pugly's passenger side mirror, and she giggled with delight.

I climbed up onto the front bumper in my pajamas and robe half opened, with a cup of coffee in one hand and the daily newspaper in the other, I raised my arms with out stretched hands and proclaimed the new name of the 95.

BEHOLD...........THE BLACK HOLE!!!!!!!! (Then the neighbor yelled at me to close my robe)



The End................(or is it just the beginning?)


Actually, only some of this really happened. :D




View attachment 324381
 



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1st gen is not boxed in rear, and not boxed as much in front as 2nd Gen, But I think the frame itself is thicker, the 2nd Gens are boxed in front but only like 1/8.

1st gens are way easier to deal with steering for a SAS also. :)



I stand corrected! Thank you for that B2. ;)

I was not sure about the rear on the 1st gen. The front does have a plate inside the front that goes on an angle from top to bottom, making it ultra hard to bolt on tow hooks...lol, been there, done that.

The 2nd gen frame horns have them bumper brackets TACK welded on and really is a cheesy way of boxing them. I imagine the tack welds are for collision reasons, adding to the "Crumple effect".
 



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Its all here! Woot!


Arrived!
Redline goods shifter boot ............for full console
RCD shock tower spacers ....for upper coil over brackets...shiny like my precious..lol
Shifter rebuild kit
80mm Granatelli MAF
Limit straps..Black as night!
95 manual ECM
QA1 shocks...Blingo, Blango!
Eibach 750 lb coils...Classic silver!
Coil over brackets..Purdy!
Dixon Bros cross member ...Bingerific!

Waiting for me 180 miles from home:
M5-R1
New slave
Shifter
Pedals
Starter


I did find a mint condition console pocket to do the Redline goods boot mod.:thumbsup: The stock one has holes in it from switches that I replaced with the James Bond Mod.

Also found a new console lid and rebuilt mine. The plastic innards were all cracked. I already had the leather cover, so a simple swap of the 2 good parts to make one good lid was a piece of cake.:thumbsup:
 












Calm down a bit Gregg, they have to make the shift boot ya know--;)

You just ordered it a week ago. :D

I ain't mad at Redline by no means.

They shipped it out a couple days after I ordered it. I just had no idea it was coming from Europe is all. It has to clear customs being it is an animal product.:rolleyes:

My bad for not researching the location and the shipping turnaround.

In my defense, I didn't know about a couple of these things till last minute.
It's all good, just going to take a little longer.

I am mad at myself for not getting everything sooner. I just found out last weekend I needed the RCD spacers for the upper brackets. I didn't think it would take 10 days for shipping of the shifter kit either.
 












Is it here yet?? :)
 






Still waiting on the DB cross member. Should be here soon. They thought they had one stocked and would have taken 3 days to get to me, but they must have had to make another. If that's the case, they say up to 10 biz days before shipping.

BUT,The new black limit straps came in today! Looking for a set of clevis mounts for the LCA for them online. Person I got the straps from was out, and said it would be a ways out before he re-stocked.

Had to get the grade 8 hardware list finished today. Man that stuff adds up!..lol

Tomorrow going to press in the coil over shock bearings...woot! Baby steps...haha
 






Stardate:::050910

A couple things managed to get done this past week.

The chrome grill is now BLACK. Also got the head light guards powder coated wrinkle black & installed. Bug shield removed.

blackgrill.jpg


The entire rig got the Turdle Wax "Black Box" treatment. Comes with a stripper, black carnuba wax, and black detail spray. I used a 10" random orbital polisher with microfiber bonnets.

blackboxsystem.jpg



Got a set of "Beef" limit straps to install.:D

limitstraptopview.jpg

limitstrapsideview.jpg


The T-case billet shifter knob.
billettcaseshifterknob.jpg
 






Stardate:::050910...2

With the manual trans going in very soon, I had to work out a little issue with the console.

Rear air duct had to be removed for the shifter.

Out with the duct tube. I started cutting it up with a Dremel and speed cutter bit, so I didn't have to remove the console.

dremelonconsole.jpg


As you can see the wire mess from the James Bond Mod, it is a pita to work around. More on that mess later.

With the duct removed I found this relay attached to the side of it. I think it is for the rear controls.


relayinconsole.jpg


Now I had to block off the dash duct to stop the air flow. I used a commercial grade sponge, conformed real nice.

ductclosedwithsponge.jpg


Ok that is taken care of...phew, on to the next problem.....:rolleyes:
 






Mind if I ask where the limit straps are from and how long they are.
 






Stardate:::050910...3

With the duct removed it is time to tackle the mess of wires under the console from the ashtray switches.

7 switches=21 wires..:eek:

Here is my latest MOD:


1st off lets take a look at the offending mess

consolewiremess.jpg


Crazy right? I need to get ALL those wires out of there! After a little thinking,
I came up with this idea.
:cool:

With the console pocket, ashtray, and Kleenex box removed, I figured I could run a fuse block under here somewhere, ...hmmm.....But where?

How about right there ;) The stock coin holder in the console looked like the right place for it to me.

coinholder1.jpg


So out it came.

coinholder2removed.jpg


Then the coin holder removed. It is held on by a few small torque bits. Careful now...there are 3 good size springs and 3 plastic caps inside that will shoot out after the last screw is removed. I put it back together and set aside for later.

coinholder3removed.jpg


Now all that's left is the tray. I used the Dremel to cut a little notch on the bottom for the 4 ga wires. Drilled some holes, and bolted up a fuse block to the tray.

fuseblockinstalled1.jpg


Slid the whole thing back in from the Outside of the console.

fuseblockinstalled2.jpg

fuseblockinstalled3.jpg


Now it was time to install the coin holder. It simply slides back on going from under the lid, inside the console.

coinholderloose.jpg


Here it is installed.

fuseblockinstalled4.jpg

consolefinished.jpg


Just run the 4 ga wires up the sides of the console, through the firewall (using a grommet) positive to a keyed safety switch before the battery, ground to the chassis.


That's it, all done with installing the fuse block! Now to spend a lifetime hooking up all those wires to it :rolleyes:
 






Mind if I ask where the limit straps are from and how long they are.

Straps are 12". I am going to be using adjustable clevis mounts attached to the LCA & tabs on the frame. Those will give or take a couple inches on the straps.

I got them off a vendor on a different forum, ...sorry guys, I had too :p:
 






The truck is looking good man. I can't wait to see the cleaned up wiring. It just makes me think of all of us wiring up your lights that first SMORR trip, and what a huge mess it was.
 






The truck is looking good man. I can't wait to see the cleaned up wiring. It just makes me think of all of us wiring up your lights that first SMORR trip, and what a huge mess it was.

Yeah that was a real treat! ..lol

I have since re-wired the lights at least twice since then. This is not my favorite thing to do....:rolleyes:
 






That looks like fun, and see how much space that ducting took up. If those switches are controlling stuff under hood or far away, you could place the relays apart under the hood or another remote place. Ford started a wise habit in the 90's by avoiding running high powered wires in the dash etc. That increased the number of wires by a bunch, but most of the switches and controls are very low powered wires.

I placed an extra turn signal switch on my right door panel(top switch), and this time I made it a relay control, triggered by a ground. That was smart because any rain or water that gets to the switch, it only would complete a ground circuit and trigger a relay.

Wiring is an art, keep at it.
 

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So Don, when are you coming over to help with all the wiring? lol :p:

That duct did take a lot of space, for sure. It will be a ton easier to install the shifter with everything out of the way.

I have some general knowledge of wiring, but nothing extensive. Learning how to utilize relays is a major step for me. :thumbsup:
I was thinking the relays would be nice and hidden under the console. I have seen some installed behind the Dr seat, and elsewhere in the open. To me, that's just fugly.

These wires under the console are just for lights and the front CAD. If I was to have them all running at the same time (which I never do) they total 130 amps.
Anything more added, and I am going to need a bigger alternator. Which just might come to that. Who knows what kind of wild hair I will have down the road..:D
 






That kind of load would really be best in a cool space and closer to the loads. That relay box you saw in the LR is a common Ford part, there are similar boxes in the dash, under the air cleaner, and often along the fenders. The best part is they all take interchangeable Ford relays, there are two sizes, equally reliable. I mixed the parts from some spare wiring to make one for my extra circuits, I have a four relay combination in it with a flasher cut and epoxied into it. I mounted that under my master cylinder, with two zip ties. They all have covers to protect them some, if you use them make sure to place them so any water can get out and not be trapped in the relays.

An important feature you get with remote relays and switches is that the switch wires are very low power, and cause little trouble with burning wires, connections etc. The important wiring critical for amperage and great connections are all at the relays and to/from the battery and loads. That's safer for where you place the switches, and those connections can be very quick small wired crimps.

FYI, a 94+ Mustang has a nice main PDB(power distribution box) under the hood. They are easy to come by etc. You can put together lots of combinations.

Relays are somewhat simple. There are commonly four terminals, two trigger wires and two load wires, and usually either of either pair can be ground or power. The fifth terminal that some have is a normally closed point to the #30 main power terminal. It's usually used to turn off a circuit, feed power or complete a circuit without applying power, until it needs to be broken. That doesn't have to be used, it's just another choice.

Here's my first mail vehicle wiring, a 95 Crown Vic that I changed my mind about later. I like to use the factory stuff when I can. Look at the first picture, and guess which PDB is stock?
 

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Hmmm, I'm gonna say the one closest to the battery is stock.

Looks like you needed some relays for your add-ons. The 1st box has the big fuses, and the flashers are usually under the dash stock.
Oh, and I can see the main harness leading under the 1st box....lol

Right?

I was reading a post by 410fortune, he had used an additional stock PDB in his BII as well. Very good idea, cheap, and super efficient. I had purchased my fuse block from Techieman33 after he rolled it, and it has been in a box ever since I got it. So...might as well use it :)
 






I had one extra PDB from a Crown Vic, and bought a used Mustang part for $15, they are basically the same. I cut/drilled out the middle of one and used the relay section of the other to epoxy together that PDB, plus a flasher. I made that first car more complicated than my truck, but the wiring etc, works better in my truck. You learn as you go to build things more securely and simpler, cleaner. My 98 truck is just my SUV/toy, so the goal there will be to appear OEM as much as possible. I just bought a beat up Saleen rear bumper, more parts to add. Regards,
 



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Ok, I need to install the Relays under the hood for safety reasons. This pains me to do, but I think it is a necessity.

Don's advice using the smaller stock PDB for my relays has sunk in...lol

This is just a ton more work and I will still have a crap ton of wires to run in/out of the cab. But, in case of a electrical fire, I will at least feel better it is under the hood, not next to me.

Off to the JY for a PDB!!
 






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