4rd4life's 99 xlt

Hi guys,
Well as of this month ive been a member for 2yrs, so i found it only fitting to join the elite side which is something Ive wanted to do for a while since im on this forum everyday for hours, and ive learned quite a bit. so i wanted to give back a little. About me well my name is joe and work as a mechanic in nj, and like most of you I'm the outdoorsy type.

I got this truck for practically nothing, since the trans had no reverse. so i get it rebuilt and works great.
Specs are
99 ex 4.0 ohv xlt
4wd
130k miles

since you all just want to get to the pics here's a few of my explorer

when i first got it

tt shackles and 31" grabber at2s

i built the roof rack

and this was me stuck :

thanks again and anyone has anything to ask please do so.

 

[obie]

Hi joe! I like that first pic. Always love seeing an Ex covered in mud

 

[4rd4life]

hahah thanks man me too. love what youve been doing with yours also. doing that would take so much patience for me lol best of luck its coming out great!

 

[4rd4life]

Well been a while since ive updated this, but today i swapped out my rear gears and added a locker. I opted to go with 4.10 gears because 1) i bought the front diff about a year and a half ago and 2) i dont really have any intention of tires bigger then a 32 for now. I still have to drop the front differential, but im waiting on main and rod bearings before i do that since i need the diff out of the way to get the oil pan off anyway. should be some time this week though. Then hopefully i wont have to fix anything for a while and can actually drive it. I didnt take a lot of pictures because i was trying to go home since its been so hot around here lately but ill post what i have. Everything went together without complication so that is always a good thing

This is the front differential i will be swapping out for mine got it cleaned up, new seals and reassembled.

Spartan locker

and a pile of parts lol

I took my drive shaft out just so nothing accidentally happens. but i can already tell how much the gears help, and from what i can tell the locker does well for just having RWD right now so im looking foreword to it being complete.

 

[4rd4life]

Well wed i finished putting my truck back together. I replaced the oil pump, oil pan gasket, main and rod bearings and put the matching 4.10 front diff in. took a few nights to do because i was waiting for the oil pump to come in. I had a slight noise on start up that sounded like a bottom end bearing so i just got everything. Taking the mains out with the crank in was fun but i took apart an old feeler gauge set and used one of shims that had a little flex to it and just tapped the bearing around with a small hammer. worked really good! So all seems well so far, and im happy. here are a few pics also.

Truck on the lift with the brakes, axles and diff out.

old main bearings. the first pic is the one worn the most

Heres what the new mains look like for comparison

and the rod bearings were the cause of the noise really

 

[Sams01XplrSprt]

nice x

 

[4rd4life]

just an update. about 2 weeks after my last post my engine started knocking again so i sat for a while. about 3 weeks ago got a junk yard motor for itand changed all the freeze out plugs, seals, gaskets, including head gaskets, oil pump. about the only thing i didnt change were the lifters. its been running just fine so far, so i hope it stays that way for a while.

 

[4rd4life]

ooh and the locker i put in works awesome btw. itll be interesting in the snow i think. does anyone know about their road manners in the snow? i need the brown wire mod too. 4x4 kicks on all the time