Varsity's 2000 Explorer Sport

[Varsity]

Things have been great, yet quiet with the truck. Just finally getting over winter and its bipolar mood swings here. Not much has been done to the Explorer, as I am saving money and researching the 1354M swap. I think I'm ready to do it, just not having great luck finding the transfer case

Two weeks ago, I went to the 4 Wheel and Off-Road Jamboree in Lima, Ohio and had a blast there. It rained all day Saturday but made for tons of mud and fun. I saw alot of trucks there and although only one other lifted Explorer, I did get some ideas for my truck. I also bought a hitch-mounted clevis and some 4" LED pods. Seeing as this LED trend seems to be growing, it only seems natural to join in. I don't know when I'll get em in, but hopefully its soon.

I also changed out my reverse lights to LED. I didn't know what to expect, but they turned out awesome. They're so bright, but so neat looking.

Recent pics. First couple are from Ohio and the last one is the lights.

 

[Varsity]

10 Pages!? Wow sure doesn't feel like there's been that much to share. Anyways, over the July 4th weekend, I installed and wired up the LED pods I bought from the show over a month ago. Wiring was straight forward and easy, but mounting them was a totally different story. I happen to be one of the few who actually like the '99-01 front bumper and I saw a lot of empty space in there. Now, being a fan of LEDs, I wanted to use up some of that space but finding a good spot wasn't easy. Took a little creativity and some metal braces, but they mounted up. Doesn't look too bad. I might get some more to add to the top of the bumper eventually, but for now, I'm digging it.

 

[GRNMACHINE]

Nice!!! May have to look into those. Stock fogs of 95-97 are downright sad.

 

[Varsity]

Now, I'm not that much of a hardcore wheeler or anything, but convinced myself to try and make some sway bar quick connects (or disconnects). Browsing around the forum shows tons of different ways to do it and different names for it. I finally found one that seemed simple and effective enough with the least amount of work, hehe. I used this write-up: http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=38237&highlight=disconnects

Why not just take off the sway bar you may be asking. Well, most of my driving is on road, and I enjoy having the added security and safety of sway bars. It's not that I doubt my own ability, it's that I definitely doubt others and would prefer not to mess with the handling of the truck. Are they as necessary as everyone says? I don't know but these seem pretty cool anyways and could help me next time I try and have some fun. They cost me almost nothing but a few hours of my time. Well worth it and I hope to put them to use by the end of the summer.

 

[Varsity]

Yesterday I got the chance to go somewhere that I've wanted to for awhile, Badlands Off-Road Park. It's only ~2 hours away so it's a lot close than I thought so why not? I'm planning on going there when the rest of ExplorerForum does so I figured I'd try and get my feet wet before then. I mainly stuck to the orange trail, although I managed to visit some rougher terrain on my search for said trail.

I'd really like to meet whoever designed the "stock" trail. I wanted to start out there to get a feel for the park but I can say it's anything but stock. It starts out really tame until you get to a large dunes area, then the trail gets super narrow and tight and then you run into some mud puddles and deep ruts and pointy rocks. I know my explanation is pathetic, but there's no way a stock vehicle could handle it without some major trail damage. I may be 2WD, but at least I had enough ground clearance and tougher tires and little concern for trail scars. There was a stocker Toyota that followed me for the first part of the trail but he immediately turned around when things got nasty. But overall it was a great day killer and a ton of fun

 

[Sogsnakebite]

Nice truck man

 

[Varsity]

Nice truck man

Thank you!

 

[Sogsnakebite]

Still miss my old Sport love that body

 

[RKH58]

That's a sweet looking Sport Varsity. Whenever I see it on here I kick mine.

 

[Varsity]

Still miss my old Sport love that body

That's a sweet looking Sport Varsity. Whenever I see it on here I kick mine.

Thanks for the kind words guys, it means a lot to me.

Sogsnakebite, I know what you mean. I'm a big fan of the squarer Sports, but if I were to ever find a nice '02-03 Sport, I would probably jump on that. The pics make my truck look a lot better than it does in person. 15 years in the Rust Belt are taking its toll on the truck and daily driving only adds to it. It's too bad that Explorers in nice shape are hard to find. I managed to see a '02 in the junkyard one time with not a speck of rust on it, even under the trim, and the interior wasn't so bad either. That was painful...

rkh58, she's been treating me well aside from the odd issue here and there. My truck would definitely not be where it is today without the incredible knowledge and personal experiences of this forum.

 

[Sogsnakebite]

Oh I hear ya man , I do love my 03 Sport but my 98 took ,e to heck and back

 

[Varsity]

Over Labor Day weekend, the junkyards around here had their 1/2 off sale so of course off I went Unfortunately, I didn't find anything I came for, especially no 1354 t/c I did however find a Sport with the OEM skidplates, so I grabbed the one for the gas tank for $15. I don't know what these things are made of, but this one was in fantastic shape, although the rest of the truck has seen much better days. Only a couple of rust spots near the raised indentations, they must've bottomed out before. So once I got home, I sodablasted, primed, and bedlined the skidplate and got all new hardware and clips for it.

Overall, it looks super cool and should offer SOME sort of protection. This truck is mostly a DD, but I do try to take any chance I get to get the tires dirty and maybe this skidplate will help. Who knows. If I look under it later and see chips or scratches, I'll know its doing something

 

[Sogsnakebite]

Nice find, never understood why the skid pans were optional has saved my truck many times

 

[Varsity]

Nice find, never understood why the skid pans were optional has saved my truck many times

True. There were tons of Sports there, 4WD and 2WD, and most didn't have 'em. Maybe it was only on certain packages, since most people probably wouldn't need them anyways. Hehe. I didn't grab the other one, the one I'm assuming is for the transfer case, because there's really nothing to protect on mine. But in the future...

 

[Sogsnakebite]

I have a spare one of those was going to try and widen the transfer case protection

 

[GRNMACHINE]

Varsity, nice find, truck is looking great! Which yard did you go to that has a few sports?

 

[Varsity]

Varsity, nice find, truck is looking great! Which yard did you go to that has a few sports?

LKQ pull your part in Blue Island. Largest yard I've been to so far, always plenty of Explorers especially 2nd gens. That's my go-to yard now.

 

[Varsity]

Got a little bored and curious today. Ive seen the "swiss cheese" mod for the airbox going around for as long as I can remember, including the silencer removal. So, I decided to give it a try today. Didn't drill many holes, nor did I make them too big. I did NOT do this expecting any power increase, just to see if the sound is nice. Can always modify/change back later. Gotta say it is pretty sweet, even if its only noticeable around 2500+RPM. I'll just leave it like this until I find a reason to go back.

 

[Mike65]

Varsity, nice looking Sport.

 

[Varsity]

Varsity, nice looking Sport.

Thanks Mike!