Cladding

[jutgin]

Hey guys, just wondering if anyone has removed the lower plastic cladding? Whats behind there? Any holes to cover up? Any pics?
Thanks

 

[chad551]

Lots of holes for the clips under the doors. IMO it will look incredibly ugly without the cladding.

 

[John_Rock]

Lots of holes for the clips under the doors. IMO it will look incredibly ugly without the cladding.

Ouch! Stop hatin on my truck. LOL Of course I'm not trying to win any show and shine awards.

Recent pics of two Sport Tracs with cut bumpers and no cladding.
http://s178.photobucket.com/albums/w242/kalbokowboy/2009_Offroadiing/090221_KatemcyRocks/
http://s178.photobucket.com/albums/w242/kalbokowboy/2009_Offroadiing/090221_Txplates_pics_Katemcy/

 

[chad551]

Sorry John I am not hating on your rig, I did not realize yours was missing the cladding.

 

[John_Rock]

Sorry John I am not hating on your rig, I did not realize yours was missing the cladding.

No worries Chad! I'm not mad. Everyone has their own taste. Making my truck look good hasn't been a priority for awhile. Not to say that I want it looking like hell either. But, I have to set priorities with my budget. Of course they didn't have the black bumpers and cladding back in the day when I removed mine. I went through enough hassle painting the bumpers and step bars black and I didn't want to go through it with the cladding.

 

[jutgin]

Thanks,
one more question, has anyone else removed their front sway bar like I have? I've had good results with IFS without the sway bar.

 

[jeremyc653]

no have not removed sway bar but i have a white st and i removed cadiling there are some holes but i think it looks better you can always but a stainless steel bolt or what ever that metal that wont rust is and just glue it in there i am thinking about puting the bolts it

 

[jutgin]

no have not removed sway bar but i have a white st and i removed cadiling there are some holes but i think it looks better you can always but a stainless steel bolt or what ever that metal that wont rust is and just glue it in there i am thinking about puting the bolts it

Any close up pics?
Or anyone else with close ups?
Those pics in the links seem a little far away to see very detailed.

 

[ncranchero]

 

[jeremyc653]

ya thats ^^^^^^ what it looks like ill take a few and post them up in the next day or 2

 

[jutgin]

So anyone in EF land removed the sway bar?

 

[John_Rock]

So anyone in EF land removed the sway bar?

What are sway bars??

 

[jutgin]

What are sway bars??

Haha, that piece of metal sitting in my bed about to get thrown in the scrap metal bin at work

 

[John_Rock]

Oh, that's that thing that makes your independent front suspension not independent.

 

[jeremyc653]

how much diffrent is street/highway driving without the swapbars i want to take them off but i wana know what to expect

 

[John_Rock]

how much diffrent is street/highway driving without the swapbars i want to take them off but i wana know what to expect

I don't think there would be much difference with the rear sway bar removed. But, the front will make a difference. It's probably something you won't want to do until you go offroad. The front sway bar doesn't take much time to remove.

 

[jutgin]

I was gonna say the opposite, an independent suspension has very little travel and is relatively stiff compared to a straight axle. You get alot more flex and "roll" from the rear straight axle sway being removed.

 

[chad551]

With my coilovers I can remove the front sway bar and there is hardly any difference. However when the rear is off there is a huge difference, at least on my ST.

 

[jeremyc653]

so 1 says not a lot of difference from back being removed and 2 say opposite. ??? im wondering if i should just try it. i talked to a buddy of mine who use to drive jeeps and go wheeling. he said that it will make a huge difference especially on high way with either removed. i just hate seeing pics of people wheeling and 1 wheel way up in the air and they wonder why they got stuck and i do not want to look like that if i go out there

 

[jutgin]

so 1 says not a lot of difference from back being removed and 2 say opposite. ??? im wondering if i should just try it. i talked to a buddy of mine who use to drive jeeps and go wheeling. he said that it will make a huge difference especially on high way with either removed. i just hate seeing pics of people wheeling and 1 wheel way up in the air and they wonder why they got stuck and i do not want to look like that if i go out there

Yea your buddy had straight axles like the rear of our trucks. So that lines up with what I said. I bet you hardly notice the front disconnected. Like you said you could try it, it only takes a minute to disco, then you will know for sure.