What did you do to your 5th Gen? | Page 99 | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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What did you do to your 5th Gen?

Front calipers have had a spot of surface rust on them since I got it. Took care of that today.
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That's a weird place for a plate. It also seems to be partially blocking the air intake on the cooling duct.

Peter
 






It doesn’t block it. I put it to the side so it’s also not in front of the radiator or intercooler.
Plus mounting your plate on the side of your bumper is all the rage these days, didn’tcha know?
 






It's actually the first one I've seen like that. Probably more prone to debris damage being that low.

Peter
 






I doubt there's a lot of Explorers with it there, but there are tons of Chargers and Challengers.
The reason being that nobody wants holes drilled in their bumper cover for the license plate bracket, so they attach brackets to the bottom of the bumper cover, and the Dodge cars have the sensor unit for adaptive cruise control and emergency braking positioned in the center of the lower grill so you have to mount the bracket to the side to keep the plate out of the way. Then it became trendy and everybody puts them off to the side even if they don't have adaptive cruise control. Possibly because it's also reminiscent of people that have their plates mounted on a bracket to their tow hook on their "race" cars, which would be attached to the frame rail on one side or the other.
The other reason I put it to the side is that the plate wouldn't be straight up and down in the center, it would be tilted slightly back facing up and the toll road cameras already get a clear enough picture of it without any extra help.
 






Today I finally fired up Forscan and got rid of the double horn honk when you get out with the keys and the engine running, and turned off the enhanced engine sounds. Yes, I'm bored lol.
 






I doubt there's a lot of Explorers with it there, but there are tons of Chargers and Challengers.
The reason being that nobody wants holes drilled in their bumper cover for the license plate bracket, so they attach brackets to the bottom of the bumper cover, and the Dodge cars have the sensor unit for adaptive cruise control and emergency braking positioned in the center of the lower grill so you have to mount the bracket to the side to keep the plate out of the way. Then it became trendy and everybody puts them off to the side even if they don't have adaptive cruise control. Possibly because it's also reminiscent of people that have their plates mounted on a bracket to their tow hook on their "race" cars, which would be attached to the frame rail on one side or the other.
The other reason I put it to the side is that the plate wouldn't be straight up and down in the center, it would be tilted slightly back facing up and the toll road cameras already get a clear enough picture of it without any extra help.


Moving the license plate has been around for a long time. Especially in the JDM car scene. Most cars just look better without one in the front. The crappy thing for our Explorers is the amount of rubbing that plastic bracket does. I took mine off and was going to relocate my front plate too but there is still a rectangle of paint rubbed off from that huge ugly frame LOL. I guess now I have the time to try and buff it out since I cant go anywhere yet...

I am actually surprised this page doesn't get updated more with everyone needing to be at home right now.
 






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I am actually surprised this page doesn't get updated more with everyone needing to be at home right now.
I'm surprised that there is not more overall activity on the Forum for the same reason. It appears to be the same or perhaps less than before.

Peter
 






I'm surprised that there is not more overall activity on the Forum for the same reason. It appears to be the same or perhaps less than before.

Peter

I mean, maybe the wishful thinking is that everyone is well and healthy, outside with their families. But I really expected a spike in usage on the forums LOL
 






2016 Limited update

Just for those who are interested:

I have installed Magnaflow catback exhaust (part# 19274), K&N intake (part# 77-2575KS), and a Livernois 91 octane high performance tune. This has changed my whole outlook on the performance of the 3.5 NA AWD grocery go getting tank! If you're looking for subtle gains in performance, as well as fuel economy, this is one way to go. She sounds like a beast at WOT in tunnels and under bridges! Now just to figure out if I will lower with springs or bags. Hope these part numbers and information are beneficial to someone. Thanks!

Thanks for sharing!

Glad to hear you've been enjoying the tune. Tuning the 3.5L N/A models has become very popular now that more and more owners have shared their experiences and guys have seen we can provide near the Sport power levels without having to install additional upgrades beyond the tune. I Was searching for another post and I saw this one so I just wanted to say thanks and glad to hear you love the results!
 






2016 Limited update

Just for those who are interested:

I have installed Magnaflow catback exhaust (part# 19274), K&N intake (part# 77-2575KS), and a Livernois 91 octane high performance tune. This has changed my whole outlook on the performance of the 3.5 NA AWD grocery go getting tank! If you're looking for subtle gains in performance, as well as fuel economy, this is one way to go. She sounds like a beast at WOT in tunnels and under bridges! Now just to figure out if I will lower with springs or bags. Hope these part numbers and information are beneficial to someone. Thanks!

Throw a ported upper and lower intake and a 73MM tbody on it now.

Made BIG gains for me. I ran a 6.63 0-60. A stock sport runs 6.4.


73mm BBK Throttle body. https://amzn.to/2SQ1900
P3 Performance ported upper and lower intake manifolds: http://shorturl.at/rxAEV
AEM Dry flow air filter: https://amzn.to/2ZMbsUq
Tuned with HP tuners: https://amzn.to/2QkBN8R
 






Throw a ported upper and lower intake and a 73MM tbody on it now.

Made BIG gains for me. I ran a 6.63 0-60. A stock sport runs 6.4.


73mm BBK Throttle body. https://amzn.to/2SQ1900
P3 Performance ported upper and lower intake manifolds: http://shorturl.at/rxAEV
AEM Dry flow air filter: https://amzn.to/2ZMbsUq
Tuned with HP tuners: https://amzn.to/2QkBN8R

That's an impressive improvement over the factory times for sure. Tuning alone really wakes these 3.5s up , just wish there was more available for them. That's not a bad next step after the usual bolt ons though. You have to love that feeling when your 3.5L N/A is running nearly Ecoboost Sport times. Thanks for sharing!
 






I almost forgot, those times were with 87 oct 10% ethanol also.
 






It was a busy weekend for me. I've made some suspension adjustments and replaced my existing stock with a completely new set of wheels and tires that I'll be testing one of these days. I have to clean up the exterior as well especially the scratches I found neat my fenders. I will replace the current headlights that I have but I have to wait for that until next week. I'm looking for a roof rack to add on my rig but I have to check references to see how it might turn out.
 






It was a busy weekend for me. I've made some suspension adjustments and replaced my existing stock with a completely new set of wheels and tires that I'll be testing one of these days. I have to clean up the exterior as well especially the scratches I found neat my fenders. I will replace the current headlights that I have but I have to wait for that until next week. I'm looking for a roof rack to add on my rig but I have to check references to see how it might turn out.

Pictures or it didnt happen! LOL jk
 






Ordered everything I need to install a hitch.
 






Carbon fiber vinyl wrapped the radio trim. Will be getting rid of all the boring light grey trim in the x. This was a first time wrapping trial run and I'm giving myself the green light to keep going haha
Tl9LiEK.jpg
 






MConant, that looks great. Was it hard to do? Where else will you do that?
 



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MConant, that looks great. Was it hard to do? Where else will you do that?
Appreciate it! It was not a good first piece to learn on haha a lot of contours but overall not hard at all. Cut it oversized and use a blow dryer to get it just right. We'll see how it holds up.
And I want to wrap all the light grey trim. You can see it at the bottom of the piece. Just looks cheap. If I get real comfortable, I'll wrap any fake chrome on bezels.
 






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