99ex22's Elite Registry!

Here Is my 1999 XLT. She's all original except for the modifications Ive made, got 163,000 miles on her and is in pretty damn good shape. It was a one owner before me, they took really good care of it, never been hit, and the only scratch on it is on the roof from a tree branch I hit on the trail. The previous owners always had it maintained at their local Ford dealer so all the parts on it are Motorcraft parts. I am constantly changing it and working on it.

Modifications:
Custom Leaf Packs
War153's
TT
1" Body Lift
15x8 Crager Soft 8's
33x12.5R15 Cooper A/T's
Cat Back Magnaflow with 2 1/2" Pipe
Midland CB Radio
Smoked tail light's and 3rd brake light
Sylvania Silverstar Bulbs
Hella Comet 500 driving lights
KYB Monomax shocks
Trico Neoform Wipers
A pretty sweet Ford antenna
Clear corner lenses
Krylon Fusion on plastics
Billet Grille
10K pound tow hooks
Class 3 Tow Master Hidden Hitch
Smittybilt tow hook reciever
20% tinted windows
Mountaineer Grille
240W 3 Way Pioneer speakers
Transfer case skid
Gas tank skid
1997 explorer bumper
Grab handles on pillars
Painted pass airbag, vents, glove box black
Throttle cable mod
Brown wire mod

Here is a stock picture. Right around the time the addiction started taking place...
(dead links)

Here she is after Warrior shackles and TT...
(dead links)
Then I got my Soft 8's...
(dead links)
Then I got my 31's....
(dead links)
Then the ugly 3" Body Lift....

Then I went spring over axle in the rear and sloped body lift for a while...then shortly went back to the previous set up....


And then just recently I cut the 3" pucks down to 1" because I couldnt look at all the gaps and crap hanging down anymore that the 3" body lift created....along with the mountaineer grille. So my current set up is 1" Body lift, 2" TT and Warrior Shackles. Out of everything ive tried this is my favorite. I think my next mod now that im a couple inches lower will be a 4" deep by 40" or so roof rack made by rola and slap 4 hella 500"s up on a light bar.


Let me know what you guys think! and give me idea's of what I should do next! Any questions, just ask! Thanks,

-Russ

 

[99ex22]

Well I got my front windows tinted yesterday with some top notch 20% 3M film that has a lifetime warranty. then today I ran over to the dealer and picked me up a emblem for a 2006 Explorer XLT....

 

[storlied]

Not bad at all.

I've thought about doing the front windows.. but I'm iffy about it because of the cops here. Does it get on your nerves at all?..

 

[99ex22]

No I love it. I have got the windows tinted on every car car ive owned. it's nice at night time (head lights) and in the summer time it's awesome. Also it just makes the truck more confortable to be in for some reason.

 

[99ex22]

well I got sick of listening to music through half blown out speakers and had some tax money laying around so I Purchased 4 Pioneer 240 watt 3 way 6x8's and installed them. the install was very easy since the owner before also installed Pioneers so all I had to do was unplug the old ones and plug the new ones in....it sounds a ton better now.
old vs new:

And here is a random picture after a bath....

 

[99ex22]

Yesterday I went out to the U pull it just to get a couple things for the interior but then I found a nice looking bumper on a 97 EB that I couldnt pass up. 37.00 and it's mine! I hit it with some krylon fusion and mounted my hella's on it. I still need to do some tweaking to get it straight when the weather clears up a little bit on thursday....

 

[99ex22]

Also I removed the warrior shackles now that I have the AAL so it sits more level.

 

[storlied]

Are you really fond of the steel bumper?
My thing is, I love the bumper you had.. I almost want to get one... but the steel one can take a bit more when it comes to protection. (afaik)

 

[99ex22]

well I just wanted it because it doesnt hang down as low as the other one. Im going to be selling my 99 one complete with the fog lights pretty soon here.

 

[Premier]

Also I removed the warrior shackles now that I have the AAL so it sits more level.

son of a *****

i just ordered some

 

[99ex22]

I couldnt wait any longer to straighten it out....

 

[Premier]

i know, but maybe i could have got yours.. that is if you wanted to sell them

 

[99ex22]

updated first post. got some skid plates at the j yard today...

 

[99ex22]

I made a skid plate today! Not sure on the thickness of it. Thin enough for a sawzall to cut through it. anyway it's better than nothing and only cost me 7 bucks....

 

[99ex22]

Took a trip up to browns camp yesterday, it was alot of fun no real damage done to the truck other than a cracked windshield which I think was from flexing it out all day on the trails and a couple scratches...nothing a nice waxin cant take care of....we stayed on the moderate trails most of the time but went down a difficult towards the end of the day...

Taking the sway bar off....

 

[99ex22]

I got my junkyard d4 8.8 in yesterday and works well. It's going to be coming out again next week for when I go SOA and sloped bl.

 

[storlied]

Oh man, SOA now?... Now you're getting serious with this thing. Btw.. what all did you have to do as far as maintainence goes on that JY axle? I'm thinking getting a JY axle might be cheaper and easier than having mine torn into..

 

[99ex22]

Oh man, SOA now?... Now you're getting serious with this thing. Btw.. what all did you have to do as far as maintainence goes on that JY axle? I'm thinking getting a JY axle might be cheaper and easier than having mine torn into..

Yeah that's why I got the jy axle....Mine needed a rebuild which is something im not comfortable doing myself and wasn't going to pay someone hundreds to do it for me. The axle only cost me 120.00 with a 30 day warranty.

I didn't do any maintenance to it all. I pulled the cover off of it before I started taking it out of the donor explorer and the gears were in good shape and the fluid was fairly clean. I had to buy synthetic fluid and friction modifier to fill it back up and that's it. It was a back breaking job to do mostly by myself but I managed to get my old one out and the new one in all in one day.

 

[storlied]

What's the most difficult part about swapping the axle?.. any issues with brakes/lines?

I'm really leaning on a JY axle.. I'm in the same exact situation you were in.. not comfortable doing it myself... not wanting to pay $500 for someone else to do it. And honestly... what are the odds of finding one of these axles with damaged gears?

 

[99ex22]

What's the most difficult part about swapping the axle?.. any issues with brakes/lines?

I'm really leaning on a JY axle.. I'm in the same exact situation you were in.. not comfortable doing it myself... not wanting to pay $500 for someone else to do it. And honestly... what are the odds of finding one of these axles with damaged gears?

Yeah it's definatly the way to go. Just look for the lowest mileage explorer and rip it out. Of course make sure it had the same gearing as yours. The toughest part of the hole job for me was getting the damn axle out of the donor vehicle because I was sitting in broken glass and gravel...so bring like a piece of plywood with you. Also it's kinda hard to get it in the right position when your getting ready to install it because of it's weight. I think these things weigh close to 200 pounds. No issues with brake lines or anything...just remove them from the clips of course before pulling it out. Also go to a shop or somewhere that has a impact gun and have them break the locktite on the bolts that hold the driveline into place....I had to do that and then drove it home and tore it apart.....bring alot of pb blaster to the jy and a friend or two.

 

[99ex22]

Im not sure what gearing you have but here are the axle codes you need to look for on the drivers door tag....D4 is a 3.73LS and If your really lucky you will find a D2 which is a 4.10LS...I wasnt that lucky.