My '07 Limited V8 'Garage Thread'

[Partsman109]

I'm posting this here because I will be doing some mods over time to my new-to-me 2007 Explorer Limited V8 4x4.

First of all...a little info on the truck...

Production date...11/29/2006, Wednesday build
Exterior color...Alloy Gray
Interior color...Charcoal Black(leather)
Engine type...4.6L 3v V8
Transmission...6R60
Final drive...3.55
Wheels...18" x 7.5"(chrome)

Pics from the place where I bought it...

 

[Partsman109]

Interior pics from the place where I bought it...

 

[NickSantagataa]

Damn that's nice man

 

[Partsman109]

Thank you!...I can't wait to start making it 'mine'

 

[Partsman109]

I swapped out my dome light bulbs today with LEDs from superbrightleds.com

I have a sunroof in my Explorer so my overhead console is different/shorter. There are no screws to remove, it just pulls down out of the clips holding it up. It will sound like you're breaking it in half, but just pull straight down after you get your fingers in there and it will be hanging by the harnesses. Remove the 3 connectors and it's out...

...there are 4 little Torx head screws holding the bulb carrier to the console, you will have to separate the two so you can get at the bulbs...

...with the LEDs installed...

...I did have to spin the LED bulbs a couple times to get them facing in the ideal direction.


This is the 2nd row dome lamp with the LEDs installed...

...and the 3rd row/cargo area...

I'm happy with how it looks/lights up now...much whiter light!

 

[Partsman109]

I swapped the puddle light bulbs today too! Those are pretty straight forward, just pop the light down with a small screwdriver and change the bulb.


This is with the regular bulbs installed...

This is with the LED bulbs installed...

You can also see in those 2 pics the difference the interior LED bulbs made!

 

[MotorCityFats13]

I didnt like the light output of the factory size bulbs in LED so I made 36smd panels work in all my dome lights but kept the tube style but in leds in the middle row map lights.... so much more light now... used some really bright cheap ebay multi smd 194's in my mirrors, front corners, reverse and plate lights...... my plate looks like someone is holding a cop spot light on it! lol

 

[Partsman109]

Haha...I don't want it crazy bright like that lol, just enough to know its not the factory bulbs anymore.

 

[SoCal2V]

Looks good dude - the truck snd the lighting. I did led's for the dome and map lamps in my ST and one of my Mustangs and love it too (the Mustang is fully led inside and out - cluster, hvac panel, brake and turn signals, everything except the head and fog lamps which will probably go hid soon). Been meaning to do the '08 Explorer as well but it's primarily my wife's dd so outside of maintenance stuff that truck tends to stay on my back burner as far as projects go.

Any reason you dropped the overhead console down instead of just simply removing the lens? The lamps seem like they should be easy enough to access through there.

 

[Explorer_Dan]

What size bulbs did you use for the overhead and the doors? Been planning to do this for a while

 

[Partsman109]

Looks good dude - the truck snd the lighting. I did led's for the dome and map lamps in my ST and one of my Mustangs and love it too (the Mustang is fully led inside and out - cluster, hvac panel, brake and turn signals, everything except the head and fog lamps which will probably go hid soon). Been meaning to do the '08 Explorer as well but it's primarily my wife's dd so outside of maintenance stuff that truck tends to stay on my back burner as far as projects go.

Any reason you dropped the overhead console down instead of just simply removing the lens? The lamps seem like they should be easy enough to access through there.

Thanks man, I appreciate it!

After I took the lens off, it looked like the old bulbs would come out easy enough, but getting the LEDs in and adjusted would have been more of a pain than dropping the console.

What size bulbs did you use for the overhead and the doors? Been planning to do this for a while

The dome light bulbs are #578 ...and the door puddle lights are #194 .

 

[Dag06XLT]

Nice looking truck, even with all the chrome that I normally do not like, but the Explorer does it right. I didn't know that the V8 could come with only a Class 2 hitch package.

 

[Partsman109]

Thanks very much!...I'm not usually a big fan of chrome either, my last vehicle was de-chromed so maybe that's why I'm not minding it so much. (right now anyway)

Yea, it has the Class II setup. I have never had the need to tow anything, so that hitch may go bye-bye at some point.

 

[Partsman109]

I finally had a few minutes to swap my license plate bulbs to LED today after work. I also changed the lamp assemblies as shown in my thread here

Anyway, they made a huge difference!

This pic was taken at 6:03pm EST with the regular bulbs in the old, cloudy housings...

This pic was taken at 6:07pm EST with the 'cool white' LEDs in the new, clear housings...

I only posted the times to show how much darker it was only 4 minutes later.

 

[Partsman109]

I spent the better half of today relocating my OBD II connector so I could put my ScanGaugeII in and be able to leave it plugged in...when it's plugged in the stock location, it blocks the parking brake release handle.

I didn't want to have to unplug it every time to pull the handle, so I moved it up a little and mounted it under the headlight switch. It also needs to be accessible for the Rhode Island state inspection we are required to do every 2 years.

The SGII plugs in from the outside of the dash now...

...and the SGII sits right in front of the cluster...

EDIT:
I also took the lens off my cluster today too, whoever cleaned my car before delivery somehow got spots of armor all (or whatever) under the lens in between the tach and speedo. That drove me nuts, I had to clean it.

 

[Partsman109]

After I got done messing around on the inside, I did my first hand wash of this Explorer since I bought it.
I have been hand washing a 2003 MINI Cooper S for the last 9 years...compared to that, this thing was like washing a Kenworth!

 

[NissanTy]

Nice looking Limited. I have an 08 AWD Limited I'm going to do little odds and ends to. I'm envious of your black interior, my tan interior gets too dirty.

 

[Partsman109]

Thank you!

I had 2 criteria when looking for one to buy...

1) had to have a V8
2) had to have black interior

My wife's 2009 XLT has the tan interior...and it is nice, but like you said it gets dirty fast (especially with 3 boys) ...and I wanted something different

 

[MotorCityFats13]

I de-badged mine over the weekend... been wanting to do this since I picked it up, so glad I did because it looks much cleaner with out those explorer badges I even removed the RSC emblem.... I figure it does not need to say explorer because If you do not know what it is then just look away.... the one of the liftgate was so weathered it just had to go!!!!!

 

[Partsman109]

Funny you mention the emblems because I was thinking about changing the 'EXPLORER' on the doors and tailgate with the 3rd Gen ones...I like them better because they are (connected) individual letters instead of a big chrome rectangle.