1st time off roading today with my stock explorer. Few Qs | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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1st time off roading today with my stock explorer. Few Qs

davebar

Active Member
Joined
October 21, 2009
Messages
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City, State
Kirtland, Ohio
Year, Model & Trim Level
2001 Sport
Ok, took my son to our local off road park (Jeep Skool) in Ohio. Really cool family oriented off road place. So, anyway, it was my first time off road. Newbies had a intro trail ride to the park. So, I got in line with about 60 wranglers, about 10 cherokees, 1 Montero and my 01 Exp Sport. I was abit worried, cuz me and the Montero were the only stock SUVs and a couple of stock wranglers.

The intro trails was sand trails, lots of mud, some foot deep holes and few steap climbs. To my surprise, the truck kept up with no problems at all. I did clunk the rear bumper in a hole, but that was it....

So, now I am totally hooked. Time for upgrades....

I have read the posts on here about all the great stuff we can do to the truck. However, here is my Q?

I am running stock rims, which limits the width of the tire I can use. My concern is that if I lift the truck (TT and F150 Springs) and run the stock rim with "thin" tires, is it gonna fli over. It felt quit tipsy in a few spots, so I assume increasing the COG is gonna make it more top heavy.

Also, correct me if I am wrong, doesnt the lift make it stiffer which would make it also more prone to tipping?

Thanks,

Dave
 



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i am in ohio, where is this park you speak of?
 






for every inch you go up you want to go wide. If your thinking TT and f150 springs 32x11.5's would be perfect.
 






Park is in Garrettsville Ohio

The park is in Garrettsville Ohio. South of Cleveland and west of Youngstown. Its called Jeep Skool. You can search it online..Not sure if it is cool to post link on the Ford site...However, it is open to all trucks...

32x11.5s... So now I need to find some rims...

thanks for the info...

Dave
 






You have gotten Bitten jump right in I got bit about 4 months ago and have started charting the course of all the things that i need to do to enjoy my off roading experience even greater.

Here is the mental list that i have for my 00" EB

Front tow strap under cross member and zip tied to bumper. Check
Automatic tire deflators. Check
Air pump. Check
Pillowtrax. Check
Drilled Air box. Check
Specte air filter. Check
Syntethic blend oil. Check
New plugs
Transfer case skid plate from Ford dealer. Check
Gas tank Skid plate from Ford. On order
Custom skid from front cross to metal bumper. Quote for $300 not done yet thou.
Brown wire mod for 2 rwd. Thinking about this one.
Powertrax locker for rear. Planning for early summer
Body life 2"-3" towards end of summer.
33x12.5x16 probable BGF Mud or A/T
 






I wish we had something like that around here, but anywho, sounds like you guys had a blast, DEFF sounds fun, and pretty awesome you could keep up :D

I just have some minor off roading around here and even that makes me want to lift mine and put bigger tires on it and whatnot, but then reality hits of not being able to afford all that haha...

Cant wait to see what you do to it though!
 






yep, I got the bug now....

Had the bug for awhile, but have only been 4 wheeling online watching the other guys do it...
 






Glad to have you in the hobbie Dave it really is great and the community is fantastic i just joined in the last 4 months and i have owned a 4x4 since 2000
 






The park is in Garrettsville Ohio. South of Cleveland and west of Youngstown. Its called Jeep Skool. You can search it online..Not sure if it is cool to post link on the Ford site...However, it is open to all trucks...

32x11.5s... So now I need to find some rims...

thanks for the info...

Dave

You can run 11.5's on your stock 7" wide wheels. no need to buy wider ones.
 






here is a shot of mine from the back, 4 inch lift springs, 2 inch shackle lift and 33x11.5 tires, and so far it doesn't seem tippy to me,
 

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I'm in Ohio too...give me a shout the next time you head out to JeepSkool, I'd bet there is enough local interest to put a group run together out there...I've been wanting to take my 8 year old son with me to something like that, but I wasn't sure how "family oriented" it was. Sounds like you had a blast.

On my 97 4 door I'm running 32x11.5's with a 7" wide rim. But I'm not confident about the way they mount up on that wheel. You CAN run them, but I don't know how long I WANT to...I'm keeping my eye out for a cheap set of 8" wheels myself. With my TT and AAL, my X stiffened up considerably, but considering this is not a sports car, it still handles on the street very well. I haven't yet felt like I was going to roll, even keeping up with the flow of traffic in a cloverleaf on the highway.
 






They're fine. It actually holds the bead better that way. Most everyone on this board is running 12.5's on a 8" wheel.
 






I'm in Ohio too...give me a shout the next time you head out to JeepSkool, I'd bet there is enough local interest to put a group run together out there...I've been wanting to take my 8 year old son with me to something like that, but I wasn't sure how "family oriented" it was. Sounds like you had a blast.

On my 97 4 door I'm running 32x11.5's with a 7" wide rim. But I'm not confident about the way they mount up on that wheel. You CAN run them, but I don't know how long I WANT to...I'm keeping my eye out for a cheap set of 8" wheels myself. With my TT and AAL, my X stiffened up considerably, but considering this is not a sports car, it still handles on the street very well. I haven't yet felt like I was going to roll, even keeping up with the flow of traffic in a cloverleaf on the highway.

where you @ in Ohio? just wondering. Im near cleveland.

this jeep skool sounds pretty cool. hmmmm.
 






They're fine. It actually holds the bead better that way. Most everyone on this board is running 12.5's on a 8" wheel.

Now I'm questioning myself...I just re-read the sticky on max tire sizes and everything there is listed on an 8" wheel. Is that the stock width on our beloved trucks? I thought I had a 7" wheel, but I didn't actually measure it, and for that matter, I'm not sure if it's measured on the inside or outside of the bead lip. Hmmm...perhaps I do have an 8 and didn't know it?
At any rate, I suppose I'll likely keep running the wheels I have. I just assumed that I'd have problems breaking the bead, especially if I had to air down...
Obviously, I'm still learning:)
 






it's actually not that much further for me to drive to those trails then it is for me to drive to the ones in northern michigan...

I do want to find something near richmond/memphis/armada michigan though
 






you can put up to a 32 on a factory rim, a stock tire is about 28.5 inch, or 29,
in fact my 33x11.5 is on a factory 3rd gen wheel,
 






where you @ in Ohio? just wondering. Im near cleveland.

this jeep skool sounds pretty cool. hmmmm.

I'm just outside Wooster, about an hour south of Cleveland. Jeep Skool and Wellsville are the only places I know of around here to go legally. I've never been to either, but I want to go pretty badly...not sure if I want to try Wellsville just yet. Looks like it may be a little intense for my rig the way it sits now, at least til I get a winch. The JS site says they have a "no truck left behind" policy, campsites, and shooting range. Sounds like a little piece of heaven to me...
 






Here is the link to jeep skool.... http://www.jeepskool.com/
Hope its OK to post it...

I am in Kirtland, just south of Mentor. It cost $30 for the week end to run at jeepskool. They have tent camping, fishing and gun range. Check out the site for the details. As far as good for the family, I had no concerns. Everyone was great and they have a bunch of people on staff. The first hour is spent in a class to learn about the place and the rules. They have alot of rules, but they are all to make sure everyone has a good safe time...

Would be cool to get a group explorers on the trails. Show the Jeepers what an Exp can do.

Corkey, what did you run for a lift in the front? Did you just do the TT in front?
 









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Do you run on the dunes in MI? I found a cool Jeep rental club that runs by the dunes, but i think he went out of business. I wonder if those were public trails. The pics looked really cool and would be fun weekend trip.
 






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