Brian1 91 XLT 4x4

[Fix4Dirt]

I like your style...

well, i dont have autocorrect and i type on mobile, so why would i write off-roading too long, and plus froadin sounds cooler if i got a custom plate probably wouldve either made it say fix4drt or froader, so ya stole one idea (granted ya had it before i even got a hint of idea) so guess fix4drt it is if i ever get one either that or ill sneak o'er and take ya plate

 

[BKennedy]

...or froader, so ya stole one idea (granted ya had it before i even got a hint of idea) so guess fix4drt it is if i ever get one either that or ill sneak o'er and take ya plate

He has had that plate since before you were born..

 

[CDW6212R]

He has had that plate since before you were born..

Me too, a plate I got in 1987 for my Ranchero, and it became my password for many things. Some times you get old, or forget, but some things you can't forget. Who writes down a ton of different passwords?

 

[Fix4Dirt]

He has had that plate since before you were born..

exactly so technically i stole his idea i guess!

one downside of being young: no more novel ideas that being said many good things about being young, although the back and knee pain is starting to set in already

 

[Brian1]

Just a small update, my Bosch AGM battery that is my auxiliary power mounted above my rear axle died and wouldn't hold a charge sometime in late summer to early fall. I had at least two trips where my fridge wouldn't run overnight because the voltage dropped too low but it would work as soon as my alternator was charging it. I went with a Duracell AGM from Batteries + this time because I got a good deal on it during the Black Friday-Cyber Monday weekend. The battery took forever to come in, finally got it a week before Christmas and I just installed it yesterday. It fit just like the Bosch did in my custom tray but I had to slightly oval the holes where the terminals poke out of the top cover of my bracket.

Back in October 2022 I finally made it to a unique part of NM that I have wanted to check out for years. It is a canyon where the Canadian River cuts through the red rock and used to be an orchard before a flood wiped out the whole operation in 1904. A few old buildings remain along with some great camping.

 

[Rick]

I'm pretty sure I have the Duracell AGM in our Ram. So far so good after 4 years or so. I also got mine from Batteries +. They replaced Diehard Platinums which lasted 7 years.

Love the night sky photo.

 

[Brian1]

Haven't been doing much with my Explorer this year but hoping for a great few months of exploring coming up. Some maintenance was in order and a general once-over of everything. Biggest issue I found was a loose wheel bearing on the passenger side. I took it apart to find the wheel bearings rusty and of course, loose. I took the rotor off and found it was below the minimum thickness by a lot so I went to my parts cabinet and pulled out an entire knuckle and brake assembly, it pays off to hoard Explorer parts Got the new races put in the used rotor and the rotor put on. Brake caliper was fully compressed and super tight going on but I went with it. I took it on a test drive and came back to an extremely hot hub. Decided to toss out the brake caliper as defective and put on another used part from my cabinet as I also hoard used calipers with the steel piston (phenolic plastic pistons are junk in my experience) Went for the same test loop and came back with much better hub temps so I called it good.

Tomorrow I am leaving to go to the most remote part of Utah I have ever been to. I will be carrying an additional 10 gallons of gas. I was originally planning on going to a different state to explore but had a friend call up and say he had an opening on his backcountry permit for Canyonlands Maze district so I'm looking forward to an epic trip!

 

[Brian1]

Awesome trip to Canyonlands Maze District, Lake Powell and Cedar Mesa area. Explorer did great the whole trip and this was probably the hardest I have 'wheeled it in years.

First up was Arch Canyon, it had a massive flood within the previous few months and was very challenging with lots of loose sand, steep embankments and it was very overgrown. I wound up with a ton of pinstriping in my paint from the overgrowth.

The next few days were spent in the Canyonlands Maze district. 30 miles of fast-ish roads and then 20 miles of 3mph rough trail with rocky ledges leading up to our campsite at Dollhouse at the end of the road. The scenery was spectacular in every direction.

One of the hard spots at Teapot Canyon, the photo makes it look flat but its about a 2-3ft tall ledge and you are right on the edge of a drop into the canyon.

Leaving the Dollhouse

We had to cut our trip short due to some mechanicals with a vehicle in our group and also had to go back out the way we came in since the vehicle wouldn't be able to negotiate the trail ahead. We stopped at a Lake Powell access point thinking about making camp within sight of the water but it was just too low. This would all be underwater if the lake was full (water would likely be a few more miles down the canyon above my roof)-

I havent crawled under the Explorer yet to check for any more damage. I did smash my exhaust tip, scratched one of my wheels pretty bad, put some scrapes into both bumpers and sliders, broke a cover on my light and it went flying off going down a dirt road, and bent up my t-case skid plus all the pinstripes in my paint. The Maze district was never really on my radar but I'm glad I went and I definitely want to go back and explore more of the area!

 

[Brian1]

Got it home and I couldn't stand all the scratches in my paint so I gave it a good wash and then used some cutting and polishing compound to all the sides and roof which got the majority of the scratches out and gave it a mirror finish it hasn't seen in years. I finished it up with a coat of wax which I also haven't done in a long time.

Just one example of the before with all the scratches-

After the cut and polish but before wax, picture from the same location.

And after finishing with the wax of the same panel taken out in the partial sun -

I'm pretty happy with the results, it didn't get all the scratches out but did a good job on about 85% of them. Its not perfect but good enough for a vehicle that gets used out in the dirt. It took me around 5 hours from the wash to finishing the wax on all of it. Now I need to clean the inside

 

[410Fortune]

That thing continues to be a beast!!!! Thanks for sharing

 

[Brian1]

Took a day trip about 2 weeks ago to a cool canyon about an hour south of me. I put together a ~4 minute video of the drive through the canyon.

 

[Brian1]

It has been 6 years since I have taken this Explorer to Moab and the last time was at an Easter Jeep Safari so I decided to take it to another EJS this year! I went on the Skyjacker 50th anniversary trail run up Kane Creek driving my friends F150 on 42s and then rode around Hells Revenge with another friend before leaving EJS around 3PM to start a route I have been driving by all these years and never took the time to explore until now. I did about an 80 mile loop around the canyon rim county where I explored some dirt roads, hiked around some viewpoints and then found a spot to camp. The next morning I packed up camp before the sun was up and went to one more point of interest before hitting the highway back home. Here are some photos from the trip -

First stop at an arch-

Miles to go before finding a camp -

Some wicked weather with the canyon rim backdrops-

So that's what Hurrah Pass trail looks like from above!

Stopped at the Hatch Point overlook

Needles Overlook, Lockhart Basin trail snakes its way through the valley floor. One of these days I will drive that trail!

I wanted to camp on a rim but it was just too cold and windy so I found a more sheltered place to camp for the night just as the sun was setting-

 

[gmanpaint]

Wow... Those are incredible overlooks. You really can't take a bad picture out there, but man, these are sick! Good on you for getting off the, off the, off the, off the beaten trail. Love it!

 

[Brian1]

Few weeks ago I took a day trip to find a waterfall I heard about. The mission was a success!

I continued through the 4x4 loop trail. It was enjoyable and had it all including climbs and descents on shelf roads, some mildly rock terrain and some washouts that really crossed up the suspension. Towards the end I hit a bump and heard a loud noise. My rear sway bar inverted, that has never happened before and I have done a lot rougher roads than this. Guess I really do need to lengthen my links 2"-3" I found a shady spot for lunch then took my impact and had the bar back in its proper orientation in just a few minutes for the highway drive home.

Here is a 5 minute video I put together of the loop and of course driving across the top of the waterfall.

 

[Rick]

Looks like a lot of fun. Nice trail.

Are you going to SEMA this year?

 

[Brian1]

Looks like a lot of fun. Nice trail.

Are you going to SEMA this year?

Probably not going to make it this year.

 

[Fix4Dirt]

Few weeks ago I took a day trip to find a waterfall I heard about. The mission was a success!

View attachment 452984

I continued through the 4x4 loop trail. It was enjoyable and had it all including climbs and descents on shelf roads, some mildly rock terrain and some washouts that really crossed up the suspension. Towards the end I hit a bump and heard a loud noise. My rear sway bar inverted, that has never happened before and I have done a lot rougher roads than this. Guess I really do need to lengthen my links 2"-3" I found a shady spot for lunch then took my impact and had the bar back in its proper orientation in just a few minutes for the highway drive home.

View attachment 452985

Here is a 5 minute video I put together of the loop and of course driving across the top of the waterfall.

looks great! beautiful scenery.

 

[Turdle]

Great picture of the waterfall. Thanks for making that hike.

Weird the sway bar links inverted. Had it happen on home made stuff on the 93 way back, that sound was scary. I bet you were relieved when you saw that.

 

[410Fortune]

Inverted links! Wild! Can’t believe there is room for it to travel backwards

I think I used superduty links in the back of my bii years ago, they were like 3” longer then the 93 explorer links and had the correct offset

 

[Brian1]

I haven't been updating this thread lately but then again, not much has changed.

I did cut my rear sway bar links and extended them 2.5". I took a slightly larger solid round bar, bored each end to slip over the stock links and then welded them back together.

Back in September I went with a local group to explore a route I have only done a short section of before. Saw some new stuff, crossed the official continental divide trail twice and got the Explorer really muddy running trails through the mountains in the wet months. I spent 2 nights on the trip and everything went well. It took a long time to clean the mud off under the vehicle and that is why I hate mud and try to avoid it if I can.

I took advantage of Advance Auto Parts going out of business and got what little parts they had left at 95% off and on the last day everything was $1. I now have enough spark plugs for life I also got a few small spare parts and door handles along with a part for an upgrade I will do at a later date.

In preparation for a big trip I checked over the whole Explorer including testing my starting battery. My Bosch AGM battery was in poor health after close to being 8 years old so I bought a new Duracell AGM to match my auxiliary battery. Price was reasonable and it has a 4yr warranty which was better than many of the options out there.

I went in to Discount Tire to get my tires rotated and balanced for the trip. I pointed out a cut in the sidewall I got in Utah over a year earlier. It never leaked and it wasn't into the cords but they said the tire was compromised so I got a brand new replacement free under the road hazard warranty I bought ~6 years ago. Dick Cepek no longer makes the tire (The entire brand was discontinued) but I got the same exact tire which is now under the Mickey Thompson brand. Always buy the warranty! (More on that coming soon...)