Captain Morgan, '95 D44 Sas

“Captain Morgan”
1995 Explorer Sport


Engine:
4.0 OHV

Transmission:
M5oD manual transmission

Cooling:
Summit Racing aluminum 2.5” radiator, driver drop outlet
Summit Racing aluminum power steering cooler
Summit Racing flex hose & 90* elbow

Drivetrain:
Manual 1354 Borg Warner
Steel Tube front driveshaft
Extended, reinforced rear driveshaft

Front Axle:
‘84 Jeep Grand Wagoneer Widetrac Dana 44 low pinion
OX locker & Cover
5.13 Yukon Ring & Pinion
All Spicer U-joints, bearings & races
Kevlar braided stainless 32” long brakelines
Stock Waggy shafts (until I break one!)
Warn manual locking hubs

Rear Axle:
Explorer 8.8 31 spline
Dutchman hardened shafts, 6x5.5 pattern, screw-in studs
Aussie Locker
5.13 Yukon Ring & Pinion
Currie 6x5.5 rotors
All Ford bearings & races
Trailmaster 2” tapered rear lift blocks
Superlift spring-over perches
RuffStuff 1/4" steel 8.8 metal cover

Suspension:
Explorer ProComp MX6 nitro front shocks
Regular Monroe stock height (go figure!) rear shocks
JC Whitney stock Waggy 7 leaf front packs
Rear leaf packs out of XLT v8 w/ tow package

Tires:
35x13.5r16 Mickey Baja Claws
37x12.5r15 Goodyear Wrangler Mtr's Couldn't flex. Gone
36x12.5r15 Super Swamper TSL Bias Ply Best for mud! Gone
315x70r17 Mickey Baja MTZ radials Original setup. Gone

Rims:
16x8 Black painted aluminum triangle holes
15x10 Black round-holed aluminum something or anothers Gone
17x10 Black steel Rock Crawler round holes Gone

Body Mods:
Originally Willow Green
Premium Sport flares
Maaco semi-gloss dark Charcoal paint. black vinyl racing stripes
Black herculiner on lower doors and rock sliders
Shaved 4" from each side of bumper for tire clearance
Removed roof rack and rails

Body Armor:
DraperBuilt rock sliders
Steel rear bumper w/ swing out carrier, from sn0border88's late Emily Rose (Had to remove tire carrier section in 2011,
the swing rod bent and the trailer bearings built into the bumper seized)

Sound System:
Pioneer DEH-X7800BHS head unit
4 6x8 Kenwood 3 way 220w speakers
Pair Kenwood 1" front door tweets w/ bass blockers (installed in panels by rearview mirror control)
Pair Pioneer 1" rear tweets w/ bass blockers (installed above flip out ashtrays)
10” Kicker VR Comp dual voice coil
Kenwood 729S Amplifier
Cobra 19 CB in center console, w/ external speaker (removed 2019, no one uses CB's for wheeling anymore)

Lights:
2 Hella 500's on front bumper
Dual driving fogs. White fog/blue smurf lights
Anamorphic Equalizer
LED strips around inside of rear hatch glass w/ dedicated rear switch
Billet Automotive custom RGB LED switch panel
Sylvania amber blue 3157 turn bulbs
Euro Diamond headlights & corners
OPT7 LED headlight bulb upgrade
Black Altezza tail lights w/ LED brake & reverse bulbs, amber blue turn signals

Miscellaneous modifications:
Doofy looking Skull knob for T-case shifter (thanks Rook )
Fire Extinguisher & LED Maglite hard mounted to D-Pillars
Sport Trac rear power outlet installed in right rear panel behind rear seats
02-05 Explorer IRS breather tube neck for front axle breather tube
Shaved 8.8 Center pin
Shaved inside fin off of Dana 44 housing to clear OX shift fork
Royal Purple full synthetic Mercon III trans fluid
Interior light kill switch (95's interior lights do not turn off via dimmer)
Boxed & reinforced trans cross member to pass over front driveshaft
Custom front sway bar
2wd explorer radio bezel
‘95 F350 Front shock towers
Removed stock air filter fender duct
1.5" Steel front driverside leaf block (to make him sit level again)
Leather power seats and rear bench seat from Blackjack
2019: Installed Blackjack's passenger door & Skunk's driver door in tribute. He is now FrankenMorgan.




Started out looking like this:

Did a little bit of this:

And a little bit of that:

To get this:

Had some fun breaking him in:

And then realized a little too late that I have a serious center of gravity issue:

But clean it all up and throw some paint on and things will look a lot better

...And then when your nice matte finish dark charcoal grey paint fades to powdered donut finish,
(Yes that's me, posing with my truck)

......have your truck painted again!

And put stripes on it, for Pete's sake

Over a decade later and still kicking despite everything we've been through:

Full write up can be found here: How to waste a ton of $$. Much thanks to Rookie, Wolf, Micah, 95Exploderboy and IZwack for the design/build, and Skunk for the inspiration


EDIT: Morgan wouldn't be the beast that he is today were it not for the two horribly abused first gens who came before him and taught me what it means to have a wheelable Explorer (lots of patience, time and money!). Here's to Shelby and Tank May they rest in pieces wherever they are!

 

[Spas]

AWR! I'm going cross-eyed checking out all these different damn shock options

I really REALLY like the Bilstein 5150's except for that damn piggyback reservoir/shock tower issue and the fact that they're old school gas-charged:

Here's why they won't work without some modifying:

But the ProComp ES9000's are an attractive price (buy 3 get one free right now) AND they're nitro charged instead of gas!

I've decided to use the budget on two high quality front shocks instead of all four for now, since the rear shocks aren't quite shot yet. They just suck : Does anyone have any experience with the two brands I mentioned and/or want to suggest a different one? HALP!

 

[Spas]

And then there are these beauties:

TopGunzCustoms wants $182 for a pair of MX6 adjustable non-reservoir shocks with medium dampening (I refuse to pick 'soft'). They're also nitro charged but I'm not sure what the difference between mx6 and es9000 is...

 

[IZwack]

You could always build another shock hoop to accommodate for the piggy back. But I'd go for the ProComps, they are so cheap. And nitrogen is also a gas when used in shocks (so still "gas" charged)

 

[IZwack]

And then there are these beauties:

TopGunzCustoms wants $182 for a pair of MX6 adjustable non-reservoir shocks with medium dampening (I refuse to pick 'soft'). They're also nitro charged but I'm not sure what the difference between mx6 and es9000 is...

Yarp, for $42 less than that price, you can get Fox shocks that are rebuildable and tunable to your likings: http://www.polyperformance.com/shop/Fox-2.0-Non-Coilover-5-8-Shaft-p-639.html

 

[Spas]

I think the rebuildable Fox shocks are $140 EACH, Iz They're pretty freakin' suhweeeet though..!!


I had a blonde moment on the gas/nitro thing, I'm glad you guys are here to straighten me out, lol.

 

[IZwack]

I think the rebuildable Fox shocks are $140 EACH, Iz They're pretty freakin' suhweeeet though..!!

Ohhh now I see -- you said 182 for a PAIR!!! Sorry totally missed that part

 

[Spas]

Oh, and I also need one of these.. if anyone's got a spare one lying around that they're not using

 

[sn0border88]

Id vote for the procomps, mine do very well when mounted the right way. And I have a metric ton more body roll/bounce than you do.

 

[breel]

Check First Over All shocks, I have their coil-overs on my ride, 14"s on the front and 16"s out back. A copy of the Kuster shocks of old. Mike Tieman is the owner, and worked with me personaly to get what I needed. As for the others beside Bilstein and Fox, they're all the same just branded and boxed for whoever.

 

[Spas]

Remember that problem I mentioned a few pages ago concerning my Mickeys and mud? Hopefully won't have that happen anymore now

The Mickeys & rims are going to be for sale here in the next week, asking $700 since they're in such great shape!

 

[GPRACING]

Spas,what size swampers are those??Thanks for the help on the rear end stuff.I ended up going the nissan H233B route

 

[Fusion213]

Looks great with the swampers. Are those SX's?

 

[Spas]

Looks great with the swampers. Are those SX's?

Yup! Bias Ply, even They're so ridiculously loud and lumpy... I LOVE THEM

Spas,what size swampers are those??Thanks for the help on the rear end stuff.I ended up going the nissan H233B route

Anytime, man. Good luck with that! Oh, and the swamperage measures 36x13.5 r15 on 10x15 black steel, round hole something-or-others. I'm thinking about doing the copper BB balancing instead of powder on these... somehow I don't see the powder being as effective as it was with my Mickeys

 

[Spas]

Forgot this little bit of awesomeness

So years and years ago a whole herd of Explorers met up, many for the first time, in Hazleton Pa, to go four wheeling at a recently opened park called Paragon. It was there that I met Chad, the previous owner of sn0border88's "Emily". She was a pretty itty bitty truck back then, with only a 3" body lift and 33's, but by God she had the most awesome, beefy, well-made bumper I had seen on an Explorer (at the time). If memory serves me correct, Chad had it built by his College's welding class. I freakin' loved it, and wanted one for Blackjack. Then we spent the day dragging my lowered truck over rocks and I remembered my $440/month payment


Fast forward 7 years to the demise of poor Emily. Guess what Morgan's getting as soon as I drill new holes (since he doesn't have a body lift)

 

[GPRACING]

I have 38.5X14.5X15 SXs that are worn out on mine right now.Just to move it around on.At first I didnt like them but now I know if I put anything smaller on it then it will look nuetered

 

[sn0border88]

Dont forget to unlock the hub when you get on the streets.

I made sure to pack lots of demons inside the hub body.

 

[Blee1099]

Dont forget to unlock the hub when you get on the streets.

I made sure to pack lots of demons inside the hub body.

Your evil Micah... I like it

 

[97ford50x]

How much for your old bumper spas

 

[Spas]

Dont forget to unlock the hub when you get on the streets.

I made sure to pack lots of demons inside the hub body.

So help me, if Morgan suddenly develops any electrical problems I SWEAR I will drive up there and beat you mercilessly :mattmoon:


97Ford50X, I gave it to a friend of mine who is in desperate need of rear tow points and some @$$ armor

 

[Blee1099]

So help me, if Morgan suddenly develops any electrical problems I SWEAR I will drive up there and beat you mercilessly :mattmoon:


97Ford50X, I gave it to a friend of mine who is in desperate need of rear tow points and some @$$ armor

lol.. Can we start doing some chants/prayers for electrical gremlins?

I think Jay still needs a chipmunk decal.. Hmm....