99 mods questions!

[dwarfbulldog]

i have a 99 mountaineer,5.0l v8 and im interested in doing some mods. i was wondering if i just cut my exhaust before the secondary cats will it trip on my check engine light? if so how would i fix this? and also, where can i get a brush guard for a reasonable price? im in high school, just joined the airforce and have a job working on a wheat straw farm for 8 an hour so i dont have much of a income at the moment. i want to do the 3 inch body, but will it look stupid with stock tires? and i also have around 227k miles on her, will it make her die faster?
and one more thing. i know this is getting really long, but you guys are the best at this stuff. i want to put led strip lights on the underside of my mirrors, but cant figure out how i would do so. there are lights there already, buy ive taken it apart and still cant think of a way that dosent look like crap honestly. any help is appreciated guys!

 

[FIND]

i was wondering if i just cut my exhaust before the secondary cats will it trip on my check engine light?

yes

if so how would i fix this?

You need what is called a mil eliminator. It simulates the signal that the downstream O2 sensors send to the ECU. It will not affect how the engine runs, since they just are for checking catalyst efficiency.

and also, where can i get a brush guard for a reasonable price?

ebay, summit racing, lots of places. Depends on the budget you have and the quality you want. If you just want one for looks, they are on e-bay for a couple hundred bucks. If you want a functional one, Westins are getting harder to find, as are the other quality brands, but they are around 400-450

im in high school, just joined the airforce and have a job working on a wheat straw farm for 8 an hour so i dont have much of a income at the moment.

Congrats on joining

i want to do the 3 inch body, but will it look stupid with stock tires?

Well, this question is entirely subjective, but yes. Also, why are you looking at doing a body lift? Do you just want the appearance of a lifted truck, or do you want some type of functionality?

and i also have around 227k miles on her, will it make her die faster?

not really, but you may want to consider devoting some of your limited funds to maintenance and future repairs.

i want to put led strip lights on the underside of my mirrors, but cant figure out how i would do so. there are lights there already, buy ive taken it apart and still cant think of a way that dosent look like crap honestly. any help is appreciated guys!

It is already equipped with puddle lamps? Are you looking for more light output or whiter light? Instead of using strips, search on here for "Puddle Lamp LED" and you can find numerous options for brighter, whiter puddle lamps. You can also use e-bay plug and play LEDs. Stuff like led panels work good for this kind of thing, but measure carefully before you buy. The best way to go is to make your own. It isn't that hard to do, and even beginners can make decent stuff if they take their time and aren't scared to try it out. If you need help with that kind of project, there are several of us on here who have done that kind of thing, and you can look in the performance lighting section.

However, another option you may wish to consider is to mount those strips to the bottom of your truck's body near the door, and still wire them to come on with the courtesy lamps. The door blocks a bit of the light the puddle lamps make, making the puddle lamps much less useful than they could be when you are stepping out of the vehicle.


Lastly, the Grammar Nazi in me would never forgive me if I did not point out that, since internet forums are a medium of written communication, it is proper etiquette to capitalize the first word of sentences and pronouns properly. Writing properly makes you appear more intelligent, and makes it easier to read what you have written. Furthermore, it is good practice for IRL communication.

 

[dwarfbulldog]

Thanks for the grammar lessons Mr.Nazi but anyways, I saw that the Mil eliminators are just a capacitor and a resistor. Do you, or anyone else for that matter know how to just make one?

I want the lift to just to feel a little higher off the ground, and to clear some bigger tires when I find some.

For the lighting, I just want some more light to stand out more from the other Explorers in my area.

I also was wondering does anyone know of any good places to go riding in northern Alabama, and southern Tennessee? I live in Huntsville, Alabama.

Thanks!

 

[FIND]

Yeah, there are instructions all over the internet and they are stupid easy to make. You can get everything you need at radio shack to make them for about 5 bucks including project board to put it on. You will also probably want to seal them up, but liquid electrical tape works good for that.

If you want to get a little higher off the ground, you should start in the suspension. Search on here for torsion twist for a free lift in the front up to 2 inches, and there are a few methods for lifting on the back. I don't like using shackles for lifts personally, but to each their own.

For lighting, a nice bright LED array in the puddle lamps looks clean and sharp. Go with whatever color you want, I use white because I am more interested in functionality than appearance. I would take a pic to show you, but my phone sucks for taking pics at night, and I haven't seen my camera since my 2 year old tried taking pictures with it the other day. My lights stand out even in the light of the street light in front of my house, so I am generally pleased with them. You may want to check out sites like HIDplanet.com or candlepower forums for more information on lighting. I wouldn't recommend jumping straight into something like high powered LEDs, but simple led arrays using things like superflux LEDs, resistors and radio shack project board are real simple to do for beginners. You could also go to any number of sites to get plug and play arrays, but like I said, you need to measure carefully or you will find yourself with something that won't fit.

 

[dwarfbulldog]

Alright man. Thanks for everything, but one more question. Doesn't a TT make your ride feel horrible?

 

[Turdle]

Cutting off the rear cats will not cause a check engine light. But it is illegal.

 

[Sedition]

I have done a 2" TT to my truck. It feels like your riding higher and stiffens the ride a little. In my opinion the TT gives more "truck like operation". I needed that to prevent nose diving into the sand when running down the steep side of dunes. It's free to do and if you dont like it you can always wind them back down. If your going to do a TT then I recommend installing "add a leaf" in the rear to even it up. Add a leaf can be found everywhere online for under a 100 bucks delivered.

 

[FIND]

My truck has almost a 2 inch lift using a TT and add a leaf. Doesn't ride much different from stock and feels a bit better than a body lift on the road. Certainly works better off road.

Cutting off the rear cats will not cause a check engine light. But it is illegal.

IDK I've got a friend with a 5.0 and the rear cats cut off, and he randomly got catalyst inefficiency until I made him a MIL eliminator... But then again, his front cats could be not working as well as they should.

 

[Turdle]

Cutting off the rear cats will not cause a check engine light. But it is illegal.