Donate to Save Dannyboy's life...cage time

[Dannyboy]

oooohhhh, I just wet my pants. I knew this application eliminated the rear door. For security i didn't know if I want to go this route but that tire mount is pretty boss.


I wish I would have saved my old hatch. I would have definitely carved that up and made the tire come out like that.

On a side note, I think I found a new way to help fund this. I was just offered my territory back with Fusion Wake as a sales rep. It's a nights/weekends job mainly emailing dealers and this is one of our products. I can probably mount up a few of these on the cage since I'm ditching the door panels!!!!

Now I'm thinking of going rear glass, welding up the doors and no windows...but my senses say this should be phase 2. The only body change I will be making is to make the hood a 4-pin fully removable only because the glass is shot.

 

[mounty71]

How did you manage to get your hands on those fiberglass pieces anyway?

 

[Exploderpilot]

4 pin hood? how about 1 piece f-1 conversion!

 

[mounty71]

With those rear fenders and the front end like this, I can just imagine...

 

[Exploderpilot]

aha you know the website too huh? you know what makes me giggle about this? Mcneil glass on a truck built by autofab......

 

[Burns]

I wish i could have started my cage.....


Hope you get this one done.

 

[Dannyboy]

How did you manage to get your hands on those fiberglass pieces anyway?

When I bought my truck for $2500 I thought I was going to get some lame TTB rig that I was going to strip the tranny out of and put in my 94.

Then it got here, had 10 shocks, over the engine crossmember, the biggest, most beefed out 9" I've seen, some crazy shifter, 4 extra tires in the back, boxes full of parts, and these bedsides. It was like a mystery box full of explorer parts.

I was thinking of tossing my solid axles under it from my 94 but took it for a few last runs to put a Dannyboy licking on my TTB like I've done in the past and this thing just wouldn't brake. When it finally did brake (truckhaven in Jan) I was hooked on going fast and was a believer of the autofab kit.

Hence the full restoration of the rear including full spring packs, and now addressing the front end even though it rides pretty good, it just needs something to freshen it up, maybe it will be new shocks, maybe it will get coilovers if the cage enters the engine area.

My biggest frustration is that I've never been able to trust a explorer tranny and don't have the paitence to learn about them. My old tranny failed me at the worst times. This tranny is the ballz and I'm going to just keep improving on the bulletproof setup this truck was given to me with.



As for a 4-pin hood, it's free...my hood has a little "cowl iduction" cause it's barely hanging on at the hinges. Some things just aren't worth me spending money on because I know I'll break them some more.


Kinda thinking of just glueing fur like from a gorilla suit all over the truck and making my exterior look like the van from Dumb and Dumber to really go for the unique look.

I wish i could have started my cage.....


Hope you get this one done.

I got an email from John after I sent him a link to this thread. She will get done. And John said...When you finish with what I have in mind for your truck, it will be the one that has pics floating around the internet that everybody will be talking about.

 

[Stic-o]

Here's a pretty good shot of the rear fenders...I LIKE!

I've been thinking about doing this for awile, dump the rear gate and build a bulkhead behind the rear seats, to seal up the cab. I never thought of cutting up the gate like that for smooth look though, looks pretty cool!

I like the look of the spare on the back like a jeep, but in the end it, just gets in the way I use to hit mine all the time coming off ledges and stuff, the explorer just has to much of a tail for it.

 

[IZwack]

My friend is running the same type of spare tires setup in his S-10 sand runner and yeah, I think it would get in the way when climbing up steep things or coming off of ledges. It works on a sand vehicle because it balances the weight of the rig (for jumps) a little by putting the spare tires as far back as possible (to counter the engine's weight).. but, not so much on a trail rig.

 

[Exploderpilot]

That's why you build a slider off the rear bumper!

 

[mounty71]

Getting rid of the tailgate and mounting the spare horizontal instead of vertical will also greatly improve backward visibility.

 

[R.J.]

danny, don't you already have a conversion front end?

since im looking at springs, how much were your rear springs?

and also, were are you getting your cage built at?

i think thats enough questions for right now

 

[Dannyboy]

Yup, I'm pretty sure I have Perry's 2000 front end conversion, just the hood is jacked up on the hinges and will be held on my nothing more than the front pins in a matter of a few more wheelin trips.

HunterOffroad.com is who is building my cage. John is pretty reasonable. You can just read his website and you'll see he's not arrogant and does good work. He's like Winter, he'll listen to what you have to say no matter how stupid it sounds and show you a constructive way on how to make it work. When I said I would let him get creative he just grinned ear to ear, I think too many Jeep guys go in there for a basic roll bar or bumper. Look at his buggy, there isn't a straight pipe on the thing because he freestyled a little bit.

My springs were built at Valley Spring

www.valleyspringservice.com

My pack was similar to an F150 race truck they built that ran the Baja races. I'm not certain what my opinion is about my leafs yet since I haven't had a real set of working shocks under them. It's night and day from what was on there before. Not cheap though, I did pay $600 for the pack. Thought about a coilover 4 link, but chose to go with old faithful versus trying to get crafty and spend years on R&D. Just hope there's a shock out there that will get my rear end under control as good as my front.

 

[cybergasm]

I like the look of the spare on the back like a jeep, but in the end it, just gets in the way I use to hit mine all the time coming off ledges and stuff, the explorer just has to much of a tail for it.

As I am finding out but it's doing what i wanted to do and that was to get the spare off the roof and down alittle lower so I don't throw my back out if I ever needed to get to it or try and load it back up there

 

[R.J.]

nah, the tail end is not that long on an explorer, it never hits or scrapes

 

[cybergasm]

nah, the tail end is not that long on an explorer, it never hits or scrapes

HAHA nah it's just the middle part that is sometimes too long

 

[Exploderpilot]

hey danny. sway away bypasses on desertrangers, 2.5 x 12, 1200 bucks for the pair....rear end situation solved......

 

[Exploderpilot]

or, king 14's buy your own resi's for 750. 2.5 race series. i'll valve em for ya! i have the king tool kit!

 

[Dannyboy]

It's getting close to go time!

Need to figure out the seats to go with.

Anybody have experience with Giant seats? They are a hell of a lot cheaper than Beard, Mastercraft or even the brands in JC Whitney (I was shopping the 15% off sale for tomorrow)

 

[dirtyXplorer]

Dannyboy!

Your truck is definitely gona be sic! when you are done with your cage you need to come up to Flag and help with mine! LOL