2003 Explorer Sport XLT

Hello all my name is Frank from Orange County California and I've been visiting this forum for a couple of years now and have gotten a really good help on this site. I'm recently unemployed so I've been on here a lot more now and have been fixing things and doing some cheap mods to keep my sane in the mean time. My car is a 2003 Explorer Sport XLT, 4.0 SOHC 2wd. I bought my explorer in 09 for about 8k with only 42000 miles from the dealer. I have been in 2 fender benders since i got it, one was my fault the other wasn't so theres a couple of scratches on it but nothing too ugly. I really haven't done much to the car just a couple of body mods but will be putting on Ranchos RS5000 on all corners. I am going for the offroad look and have take it to some trails and actually manages pretty good, but had to get some good lights since I drive the backroads a lot in riverside county and san bernadino, where lights on road are pretty non existent.

The mods I have done are:
Tinted front windows to match rear and put wind deflectors
Paint all cladding Black
Painted the wheels Black
Install Kenwood head unit and speakers
Change all the interior lights and puddle lamps to LED's
Hunter grille guard (headlight guards came off because driver side got really bent in accident no. 2)
Installed Rugged Rigid HID fog lights to grille guard
BFG All-Terrains 265/75/16
Added EXPLORER lettering to the hood
Customized the rear Ford emblem to black
Black headlights and turn signals, but back to stock turn signals after one light broke after accident no.2 (back to black now after fixing)

Add a leaf and hybrid 4 dr leaf pick, 1.5 shackles and tt.
1.5 wheel spacers all around
2nd gen rear tow hook
expedition front tow hook


Heres some pics of different stages of my explorer, never took a stock one but they all pretty much look the same I know my cars nothing special compared to what some guys have done here but I'm proud of it so far, let me know what you honestly think and what I could do to improve it.

Earliest pic I had of it

After installing Grille Guard and black Headlights and corners

After accident no.2
Painted the wheels black and took off headlight guards and black turn signals

After installing Rugged Ridge HID

Installed Rancho rs5000 on all corners

Mine and My Dad's bone stock 98 Explorer XLT

 

[frankcal]

No updates this time other than regular maintenance, which really was just an oil change. But I found some old pictures on an old phone I had and were some of the earlier ones I ever took of my sport before messing with it. I took these pics right after painting the cladding and bumpers black with blacked out head lights, everything else was stock at height and stock tire size with bfg all-terrains. Looks so strange to me now, like a completely different car to me. I'm happy I came across this site and was able to improve my sport.

 

[frankcal]

Got a pretty small update on the ex today. Went to the junkyard two weeks ago and got some goodies cheap. Went to a different jy than usual and was really impressed on the site. Parking lot was clean organized. Staff was very helpful upon arrival pointing me towards were the explorer were. When I arrived was surprised to see about 11 explorers just added scattered around a small area, two of which were 01 sports. Ended up getting a driver side turn signal that I used the lens cover to be able to repair my black housing one that I had previously botched in an attempt to repair. Also got a cup holder insert with the two stacked type, instead of my small flip one. Was able to get a rear bumper step pad, to replace mine that was dented in on one side. Got a rear tow hook off a 97 sport and painted that red. And best of all got a billit grill, it was chrome or something similar but was really faded so the cashier discounted it for me. Which worked out perfectly for me because I don't like chrome anyways and wanted to paint it black upon seeing it.

So with all these small goodies I kept myself entertained in my spare time, taking time to paint them so they would last. I still haven't done the rear bumper pad but that will be later, when the weather warms up a little bit, or I get the time to clear a space in the garage to do it and let it sit for a day or two undisturbed.

Heres the pics, not too much but I like difference.

Pics of the grill, can't really tell but I like the subtle difference. Also the blacked out headlights that I was able to put back on after about a year or so.

Side view that shows the tow hook, can't really tell too much but its there

I always take the opportunity to take pics next to a trac or sport to compare. Got these the other day at school in front of a banana trac showing the height and badassness difference

 

[03Sport]

Looks like some good finds, I like the grill and lettering on the hood for sure.

 

[frankcal]

Yeah I was pretty happy that day thinking of what I could do to it all on the way home. Thanks the lettering on the hood was the first mod I ever did, from there its progressed some.

 

[frankcal]

Got some more goodies at the junkyard a couple weeks ago but been too busy to update on here. First off got a drop in k&n filter for 2 bucks and bought a recharge kit for $13 which comes out to about the same of a regular filter. Pretty happy with that find. Also got some plastic trim inside the hood compartment that covers the gap between the headlights and core support which was pretty nifty because it has some nice tray areas for when working on the engine. Picked up some much needed brackets for my bumper cover and floor mats a replacement silver bezel with a little peeling but can come in handy later.
Last on the update is some repairing and modding I did. I finally converted all the interior lights and license plate lights to led. Converted everything possible because I got a good deal on ebay for 20 led bulbs. The lights on my gauges went out on the edges so I went ahead and swapped all of them out and everything else. Big improvement, a lot brighter then before. Pictures will come later since its not a big change.

 

[03Sport]

Got some more goodies at the junkyard a couple weeks ago but been too busy to update on here. First off got a drop in k&n filter for 2 bucks and bought a recharge kit for $13 which comes out to about the same of a regular filter. Pretty happy with that find. Also got some plastic trim inside the hood compartment that covers the gap between the headlights and core support which was pretty nifty because it has some nice tray areas for when working on the engine. Picked up some much needed brackets for my bumper cover and floor mats a replacement silver bezel with a little peeling but can come in handy later.
Last on the update is some repairing and modding I did. I finally converted all the interior lights and license plate lights to led. Converted everything possible because I got a good deal on ebay for 20 led bulbs. The lights on my gauges went out on the edges so I went ahead and swapped all of them out and everything else. Big improvement, a lot brighter then before. Pictures will come later since its not a big change.

My gauge lights went out the edges as well, what bulbs did you end up getting on ebay? Would be interested to see the difference in appearance.

 

[frankcal]

I got these bulbs on ebay a few of them were dead but I got a lot for the price so wasn't too bad. The lights have dimmed down some from when initially installed, which I actually like because for me they were really bright and I just wasn't used to it. But hopefully they last and don't get too dim or burn out quickly.



(http://www.ebay.com/itm/20-PCS-Super-White-T10-Wedge-5-SMD-5050-LED-Light-bulbs-W5W-2825-158-192-168-194-/251370483066?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item3a86d92d7a)

 

[jenren81]

looks great, i'm surprised i haven't stumbled across this thread before! our sports could be siblings i like the white letters out on the tires, i always debate doing that myself but end up doing the whites in. i think it looks cool i might have to do that next time. the explorer badging on the hood is cool too. i'm going to have to do my gauge lights too, they are starting to go.

 

[frankcal]

thanks I'm surprised I hadn't came across yours either since I always looked for sports from the begining to get ideas on it. Yeah I like the white out too to break up all the black but I'm kinda regretting it because its getting to be a hassle to keep em clean and want to repaint my wheels and am probably just gonna do black out instead. The gauge lights were pretty easy, tricky part for me was getting the cluster back in, struggled with it for like 20mins but pretty cool outcome

 

[jenren81]

thanks I'm surprised I hadn't came across yours either since I always looked for sports from the begining to get ideas on it. Yeah I like the white out too to break up all the black but I'm kinda regretting it because its getting to be a hassle to keep em clean and want to repaint my wheels and am probably just gonna do black out instead. The gauge lights were pretty easy, tricky part for me was getting the cluster back in, struggled with it for like 20mins but pretty cool outcome

i can imagine keeping the white clean is tough... especially since i basically don't wash my vehicle in the winter up here in the mountains, it gets dirty and nasty 10 minutes later. when i got it back from the dealership they had detailed it all for me, and the wheels and tires, looked like a new truck!

you should look into getting the wheels powdercoated if you have the time/cash, might be more durable than paint. Turdle had my old wheels and PC'd them, he did them this gunmetal color i think and they looked pretty cool. not sure if he still has them anymore, but i do think the stock wheels look nice painted. i really like the black on yours though, looks good.

 

[frankcal]

Don't have any of those issues over here in socal But I can imagine that would suck, mine only goes about a month not being washed for the longest stretch and still isn't that bad.

I really like the stock wheels to and saw turdles truck around the forum and they're really sweet. Makes me want to get that color on them too. But once these tires wear out ima go down to a 15 inch rim with better offspacing. Right now I'm running spacers to keep the tires from rubbing but would much rather just have the right wheels. But for now they will do, I do plan on repainting them soon though.

 

[frankcal]

I've been too cheap to become elite again, but will definitely pay my dues next check. I just couldn't wait to post these pics for an update.

The pictures suck but you can see the difference. I got a dixon bros front bumper put on and some stock wheels off a ranger

 

[Sport954x4]

Hello all my name is Frank from Orange County California and I've been visiting this forum for a couple of years now and have gotten a really good help on this site. I'm recently unemployed so I've been on here a lot more now and have been fixing things and doing some cheap mods to keep my sane in the mean time. My car is a 2003 Explorer Sport XLT, 4.0 SOHC 2wd. I bought my explorer in 09 for about 8k with only 42000 miles from the dealer. I have been in 2 fender benders since i got it, one was my fault the other wasn't so theres a couple of scratches on it but nothing too ugly. I really haven't done much to the car just a couple of body mods but will be putting on Ranchos RS5000 on all corners. I am going for the offroad look and have take it to some trails and actually manages pretty good, but had to get some good lights since I drive the backroads a lot in riverside county and san bernadino, where lights on road are pretty non existent.

The mods I have done are:
Tinted front windows to match rear and put wind deflectors
Paint all cladding Black
Painted the wheels Black
Install Kenwood head unit and speakers
Change all the interior lights and puddle lamps to LED's
Hunter grille guard (headlight guards came off because driver side got really bent in accident no. 2)
Installed Rugged Rigid HID fog lights to grille guard
BFG All-Terrains 265/75/16
Added EXPLORER lettering to the hood
Customized the rear Ford emblem to black
Black headlights and turn signals, but back to stock turn signals after one light broke after accident no.2 (back to black now after fixing)

Add a leaf and hybrid 4 dr leaf pick, 1.5 shackles and tt.
1.5 wheel spacers all around
2nd gen rear tow hook
expedition front tow hook


Heres some pics of different stages of my explorer, never took a stock one but they all pretty much look the same I know my cars nothing special compared to what some guys have done here but I'm proud of it so far, let me know what you honestly think and what I could do to improve it.

Earliest pic I had of it
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View attachment 272491

After installing Grille Guard and black Headlights and corners
View attachment 272492

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After accident no.2
Painted the wheels black and took off headlight guards and black turn signals

View attachment 272494

View attachment 272495



After installing Rugged Ridge HID

View attachment 272496

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Installed Rancho rs5000 on all corners

View attachment 272500

Mine and My Dad's bone stock 98 Explorer XLT
View attachment 272501

View attachment 272502

Wow! Awesome job! Man the wheels make a huge difference, what did you use to paint them? I'm wanting to do the same but am trying to decide on whether I should use paint or the rubberized costing.