A few general questions

[They float]

Well, obviously I'm looking to build a fairly serious sport truck, or I wouldn't be here. What I'm looking to do is build an "all go, little show" type rig. Not what you could really call a sleeper, but a good deal more low-profile than your typical show truck. I've got a good idea of what I'm getting into, as far as time and financial investment goes. Problem is, there doesn't seem to be a very big community for this sort of thing. It's very unorthodoxy is part of the appeal.

Well, enough babble, time to get down to business-

1) How low can I REALISTICALLY go on a daily driver? Dumb question, but I find it rather hard to tell. I want to be low, but not to the point where I'm bottoming out on speedbumps, and it alredy sits fairly low, for a truck. My original plan was to do this on a Jeep XJ, because of the lighter weight, but the performance aftermarket for suspensions is almost nonexistant, I want IFS, and let's face it, I just like Explorers better.

2)Weight reduction? I see some things that could very easily go, but I'd like to hear your thoughts on the subject.

3) Interior cages?

4)Parts availability? With the 5.0 I've got, I'm not too concerned about the motor, but what sort of options do I have, suspension wise? Is the range of products decent, or am I going to be very limited?

5)AWD tranny strength?

6)How well do they actually handle with a solid suspension setup? How tippy is it after lowering, swaybars, shocks,etc.? Anyone got any numbers? I'm not expecting a Ferrari, but I am hoping for a substantial improvement.

7)Rear window glass- is there any road-legal alternative to cut some of that high-set weight?

Well... that's about enough goofy newbie questions for now. A little about myself- I'm Dan, and I'm pretty new to this sort of thing. I've always been more into the "locked, lifted, loaded" type of truck, but about six months back, the street truck bug bit me, and hard. Since then, I've been more or less just plotting and scheming, hunting information on the net, and trying to develope a solid plan of action. It looks like this is a pretty solid forum with quite a bit of info and bright minds, and any advice you could give would be much appreciated.

 

[EliteConcept]

not sure about lots of your questions but i know that trying to cut the weight in an explorer is probably just a lost cause. espically if your talking about having an AWD one... expos are heavy beasts, thats a fact. My sport is 5200 lbs or so of american steel...and well its not a race car, so why cut the weight. I know what your saying though don't get me wrong. but unless your planning on seriously racing yours...then i would worry very little about the excess weight added by some of the features of the expo. Just my opinion on that. but welcoem to the site i'm sure these guys will get you all the info you need about your questions.

 

[They float]

Oh, I definately see your point. I'm not really concerned with "down low" weight, in fact I'd prefer to just leave that alone, with the exception of lighter rims, of course. I'm more concerned with "up high" weight. Windows were the first thing that came to mind- those buggers are HEAVY, and there's lots of glass back there. I considered trading the cargo area glass for plexi, but that's illegal for use on a street vehicle, with very good reason. Plexi has a bad habit of launching razor sharp daggers when shattered. Perhaps a differant compound...? Only speculation, I'm no glass guru. I thought about replacing the cargo area glass with light-gauge sheet metal, but that would be too ugly even for my tastes, and the cops would no doubt wonder if the "molester van" option was stock or an aftermarket item.

To sum it up, I'm not concerned with bling, really- it's going to end up looking like something Mad Max would drive around in anyway- but I'm VERY concerned with COG. I feel that it has quite a bit more potential that could only be realized with a lower COG.

Seriously, thanks for your input. Every perspective helps.

 

[expo5.0]

just build the motor big enough that weight doesn't matter.

it will handle fine, but its never gonna handle well enough that it would be worth the work and cost to do something as drastic as ditch the glass.

 

[They float]

Alright, so I'd be beyond the point of diminishing returns... Expo5.0, I'm looking at the Mountaineer on your site right now, is that daily driven? If so, any problems with bottoming out? That looks to be a pretty good ride hight.

 

[X24]

You won't bottom out with a sporty 2-3" drop unless you are hitting some serious grade changes. With the right shocks and suspension bumpers, you can limit the harshness of the suspension bottoming out that is inevitable with even a mild drop... unless of course you do custom suspension work. I would recommend a 2" drop, EE rear sway bar, upgraded front end links and bushings, and energy suspension swaybar bushings front and rear. Another thing that will really help with handling is a set of 17's or 18's. If you do all that and learn how to handle the road you will be able to take turns with the best of them. Just know that doing that WILL make the ride quality go down the drain.

 

[They float]

Excellant... I've peroused everything you spoke of, and it looks like a pretty solid package. Ride quality doesn't bother me, in fact, loose floaty cars make me carsick.

A few notes- from what I've gathered, it looks like the tranny can handle pretty substantial power, provided reasonable precautions are taken. I was going to plop an AW4(used in ZJ's and Supra's) in there, because I'm positive I've seen adapters for a 5.0/aw4 combo somewhere, but thankfully that probably won't be neccessary.

Is there ANYTHING Cobra R's don't look good on?


Thanks a lot for your help, guys. I knew where I wanted to go with the engine, it was the suspension that was troubling me. I know how to make it smash things, but making it handle well is a differant proposal.

 

[expo5.0]

Yeah, that mountaineer is as you might have figured out actually a 1996 explorer.

it has a 3" drop but is adjustable in the rear back up to stock height or a bit higher. with the helper bags full it is real floaty in the rear (which i like on the highway) but it handles great, and rides just fine imo.

also, i saw greatly improved handling when i switched to 255/55/18 up front and 285/50/18 in the rear. i have also run 275/55/17 all aroiund and 255/60/17 all around and the 18s particularly with the wider rear tires handles by far the best. imo when the front tires get up there size wise the handling isn't easy to predict because it has a tendency to really chase every crack in the road. also my wheels only weigh about 20 lbs a piece.

here is a current picture of her- (sorry about whoring her out everywhere)



oh yeah, also its been my daily driver for 5 years...

 

[They float]

I had my suspicions about that being an Explorer... the grill fooled me, though. My tastes tend to run more towards the mean, PO'd looking trucks, but even I've got to admit that that's pretty wicked.

Thanks for the tips.