dreamr's finally elite

[dreamr]

I usually complain when the snow flies and I am isolated in this infernal jungle of steel and concrete, However it does provide time to return to this particular hobby of mine in preperation for springs washed out mountain roads and late melting snow.

My first project of December was to rebuild my Girlfriends old cars head.
After getting it all apart it really only needed cleaned up and some minor repairs. Sadly it wasn't in the cards As we soon discovered a blown main seal and possibly some serious crank damage judging by the angle of the lower timing gear. When I started the project I had to pick up a battery. The stock replacement for her car was 68 dollars and optimas happened to be on sale for 89. I figured what the hell it's only twenty bucks.
Unfortunately her car passed away and I inherited a red top. Installation was actually a bit time consuming with having to make a smaller battery fit tightly.

The space left when turned sideways is about the same as the battery, so you can guess at the next project under the hood. To be able to jump myself when I am out in the middle of nowhere alone would be extremely valuable!!!!

Now if only it wasn't so damn RED. When I go to two I think a cover/tie down will be in the works. Black or Blue only!!! The mud is optional. And a very difficult option to clean out of the deeper partsw of the engine bay. I gave up over the wet fall, but I am making progress now that rain is my only element to drive in.

 

[dreamr]

When I first purchased this truck I spent weeks planning the build up on my available budget. The plan called for several years of work, and the goal was rather dim in the future. I knew what I wanted and how to get it, but what will it look like????

Anyway I am amused that my original plans have been scratched, revised and twisted into new ones dozens of times over.

So I suppose with that here is my message for those freshly bitten by the mod bug. If you know you want a supercharger don't waste your money on stage 1 or 2 upgrades. Buy the parts as you can for the big project, then build.

With that said when you know that a 33" tire is your goal. Don't waste your money on 30 or 31 with a set of shackles just save the money and do it all at once. Then you will have room to park in the garage without 5-275/70"s used for two months, 5-Bfg At 30x9.5 run for 1 year (18,000 miles), 5- used 32x11.5 and a set of 33x12.5. Actually the 30's are on the truck, but you get the point.

With all that said The cute UPS girl came today and left this here for me.

The AAL is to eliminate the sag it has developed since the shackles and bring me up to a full 2" suspension lift.
The Body lift is my inexpensive cop out. It should be a superlift, but installed I was qouted 3200 dollars Now here's where my above cautionary statements come in. Figure out what I spent on all those tires, and see if it comes close to making a suspension lift more reasonable.

Anyway, I'll post back when done and tell you what else the UPS girl drops off.

 

[dreamr]

I couldn't wait anymore.
I am waiting for my tuner to come back before I do the lift, But I had to at least do the add a leafs and the x-tra 1/2 inch of TT

Everything went very smoothly. Didn't even have to contend with any rusted bolts.

When doing my pre-leaf measurements I noticed that the driver side was just over a quarter inch lower than the passenger in the rear. While I had the leaf packs off I went a head and swapped them side for side.

I was very happy to see it level out at 35 and 3/4 wheelwell to floor on both sides. I only dared to bring the TT up to 2" so the rear actually sits a half inch higher. But it should settle in to be close to even.

One thing I did note, is that after installing my shackles it seemed a bit softer in the rear and "wallowed" around corners more. With the add-a-leaf as well it feels tighter and does not "wallow" quite so bad. A bit rougher, but it's better than bounce.

My last observation was that man do I ever need to replace those weak shocks!

On another note, I also recieved my flasher from Bama chips today. Awesosme reprogramming Doug!!!!!!
Check here for my review.
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=123711

 

[dreamr]

Hee Hee. I have no idea why I did not do this a long time ago!!!!!
I just fisnished off my switch panel so I figured I might as well do the Brown wire mod. What fun to have rear wheel drive again. I had to give the tires a few good squeels In fact to "test it out", I had to do one nice little power stand. A/t's are noisy when they are spinning

For the switch panel I took a cheap easy route.
Somebody got me a console drink holder thing. Which was rather useless considering the stock drink holder is adequate. My solution was to turn it in to a control panel.

The switch panel is open underneath to allow for the 9 accessory switches, and the top was done in acrylic. The first open spot fits the radar detector well, and the area that is now for the drink cups will be smoothed out to mount the CB. Everything is secured using extreme velcro for ease of removal. Those little silver/grey things you see on the sides are blue LED's for floor lights when I drop stuff.

The panel itself cost nothing, but we got a little carried away with the wiring.
A hot terminal and ground have been run into the panel/console and have easy butt connectors to remove easily. The 9 accessories run to a seperate fuse box under the hood, where the relays are to actually flip on all the accessories.

Only 5 of the 9 switches are currently active. 2 more for lighting and 2 for the e-lockers. When we activate the other lines I think we are going to use computer ribbon to run the lines to the relay/fuse box. Therefore it will be nice and flat to run under the carpet. Currently there is a mess of wire running down from below the dash. That should disappear tomorrow night though, and be ran a lot cleaner. Just need more time in the day!!!!

Body Lift next weekend

 

[dreamr]

Yeah, The body lift is finally in and the tires look so very small! :exp:

The body lift was for the most part an easy, but time consuming install. About eight to ten hours.

No problems at all to speak of untill we came to the rear bumper.
:fire: :fire: :fire: :fire: :fire: :fire:
It sadly took another five hours to get it right...AHHHHHHH

But it is on, and I likes my new stance. It does feel a bit more top heavy, but not enough to be bothersome. And the steering feels a little tight, but I have heard that is normal for the first few trips then lessens. If not there is an easy fix posted on the P.A. website for steering bind. Though mine doesn't really bind up. Anyway, I digress, here's a link if you want the rest of the details, and a pic.
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=124251

 

[dreamr]

:exp:

MY TIRES ARE HERE!!!!!

After all the delays financial and snowy mountains stopping the truck bringing them. My tires arrived and are cozy in there new garage.

The truck I jokingly dubbed "petite pied" (little foot) when I bought her, is finally looking for a new name. She isn't really sure if she likes the changes though. Her gentle smoth paws were replaced by the rough callouses of a mountain wanderer (BFG A/T) now she sits inches higher than she has ever been and grips the land with claws (BFG M/T) that I so happily purchased.

She cringes as her shiny moldings are peeled away exposing her hidden curves and minor flaws. she shudders as the drills and mallets come into play. But her fears are as yet unfounded. Her Steel skin is unharmed. The expectation remains, as the sawzall is sitting upon the work bench. Batteries charged. With sadness she knows her beauty must not always be focused on the surface. Sighing she at least knows her lover has gentle hands and an eye for appearances.

A cold night spent in the dark garage adjusting to these changes. She feels a tingle of excitement, and smiles to her self. Stretching her new claws and shifting herself at her newly aquired altitude. She welcomes a secret part of herself. She feels the spirit of the explorer arise. She fears the end of her transformation, but sets her eyes upon the sun set vistas at roads end. drifting peacefully to sleep with the scents of pine and lupine in her dreams.

Sorry it is kinda dark. I'll add a picture to the 1st post in this thread after she gets a bath.

As you can see her fears may be well founded. That fender is close to the tire. I actually only have one spot that rubs though. On the drivers side there is a spot about the size of my thumbnail that is looking shiny. I am not really sure how I am going to approach it.

I can still go up almost .5" on my TT but I really don't want to. Maybe I am paranoid, but after bringin the rear up to 3" over stock suspension I left the front around 1.75" I just really don't want to go all the way to 2" or a touch more. Besides with the spare, a full tank of gas, and my tools it is almost level.

Ahhh. We'll get the clearance for the tires with the fender linings and a bit of bending metal. Maybe a few trims, but I hope not. When I was ordering the tires I was going to get 33x12.5 but at the last minute I changed my mind to a 33x10.5 for this very reason. I am so glad I did!

For now I am carying a marker in the glove box. When I hear a rub, or see a fresh shiny I'll mark it. After this weekend and a week at work I'll think about the saw

 

[Premier]

LOL.. thats a funny umm.. 'description'. Tear her up.. they like that

 

[j602]

Awesome dreamr You should seriously write a book.

 

[dreamr]

So the tears have been shed and she met my friend the sawzall....Actually I found a super duty version of the dremel a buddy had to be much cleaner......

Over the Weekend I went out with a couple fellow Western Washitonians from the board. My goal was to see how much I had to cut to make these tires fit.
Here's a link to the fun. http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=126194&page=1&pp=20

To my sad wonder I found that I was rubbing about a half an inch of sheet metal and in several places on the inner fender liner. The rear stuffed great with no concerns. It's just the edge of my tread on the front while turning and compressing.

I was utterly horrified by the process of cutting on my baby, but it was that or fiberglass fenders, and gears are more important right now.

I attached a few pictures of the process and my tears.

In this first pic I was just getting a general idea of where to make my bend to make it even with the upper fender body lines. The length of the bend was to try and smooth the line out, and the measured area to go away was at 3/4". After the bend I figured it would have moved the fender back an inch in truth it was a bit over 1.25 which works well, and gives enough room that with the angle I can get the flaps back on the front without cathing them with the tire. I don't like them, but I spend a lot of time on gravel roads and it raises hell with the paint.

Now the first thing I faced was figuring out how I was going to get the fender liner to move back an inch+ evenly. When I pulled it out, I found that there was a sheet metal seam sticking out about an inch and a half. It was holding the liner from moving back. This was notched at the top and bottom with the saw and bent with visegrips and a hammer. Now that left the liner hanging up on the bottom fender mount.

There was about 2" of metal sticking past the last bolt and it also hung very low. It showed no signs of having had the tire touch it, but I figured while we are at it, cutting it off will give more play with the liner. In the below pic the cuts and bends have been made. And yes I shot it with the flat black rust paint after this pic. The interior seam only moved about 3/4 of an inch but a couple strategic notches alowed us to move the liner back well over an inch.

Next came the scary part. I marked the spots and handed the saw off.

We made three cuts in the factory fold. One at the top of our bend. One on the bottom corner, and the last one on the bottom fender where Our bend would end. Due to the lack of a tool selection at our local Home Depot and Shucks auto we used hardwood shims on the inside and the out with vise clamps (not grips..clamps) We first straightened out the factory bend very gently. Then took the whole piece and bent it inward at the new line. It was tough to keep it even, but there were several clamps to help you adjust just where you were pushing. On the passenger side we didn't cut quite far enough and got a small ripple at the top of the bend, well bottom too. On the drivers side we cut a little too far and have a tiny little notch visible ( less than a penny width but I am picky)

All done and said with a bit of touch up paint the passenger side turned out pretty good. There is just those little ripples at top and bottom. But they are barely visible unless you are looking in the wheel well.

The driver side didn't turn out so well. Everything went the same, but the factory bend did not come out nearly so smoothly. In the middle it is still bent out. We tried to bend the whole panel anyway, but the two bends fought each other and the new bend won't "square" off as nicely as the other side. With time I will get it evened out, but nobody I have shown noticed. My problem is I can see two bends and it looks funny plus kills almost a half inch" of tire space. Not to mention that it limits my ability to use the afore mentioned "gravel flaps"
I think with some creativity at a later date it will flatten out.

Besides who cares what my bent up fender looks like when it is all under the flap anyway.

Note I actuall gained a about an inch and a quarter of space between the tire and fender. In other words I went from a tight two fingers to my fist. Adequate I believe. The inner part of the fender liner had bowed in with being remounted in a stretched position an inch further back. To accomodate this I wallowed out a few of the holes to give play and used a super duty zip tye to yank it back toward my body mount. Sadly that cleared up more space than all the cutting behind the liner

Here's a before and after for you. For some reason the pic doesn't really show all my new found space, but you get the idea

Before

After

As a little side project waiting for paint to dry I filled all the holes left by the removal of my tupperware. I found these little plugs at Lowes Hardware. They are to fill those extra bolts holes in metal shelving and such. I took a few out to the truck and found the right size. They fit very tight against the body and the head is not very big at all. Nice! I started to paint the ones that got cleaned with the fender getting bent. With the touch up paint. They look like they belong there. The first pic has the same thing you find in your body panels only black filling the holes the second pic is my new find pre touch up paint.

Anyway there be the latest and one of the sadder moments in my trucks life. I just kept whispering to her to wait a couple seasons and I would get her some fiber galss fenders, and cowl hood before I had all the scrathes and dings washed away at the body shop. First she has to let me get her built, Then we will get her back to being sexy After all ya got to show me you can work before I care enough to worry about your beauty.



Oh yeah I'm ...chained plus kids.

 

[Premier]

Man.. that turned out really nice. Instead of putting the flaps back on, have you thought about using a liner on the rockers? If you dont like black(Herc) what about a similar colored liner?

 

[dreamr]

Thanks for all the Kind words.

I have been tossing the idea of herculining my rocker panels up to the chrome trim on the door for quite some time. My fear is that the Herculiner or similar product will not clean up very well and not look good after getting filthy a few times. I have been looking for a smooth product of a similar nature, but have not found one yet. I also fear that it will fade too much and look funny. Though if I use black it will likely fade to match my bumpers.

Maybe I’ll have to start a thread to get some pics to look at

 

[Albino 94LTD]

My fear is that the Herculiner or similar product will not clean up very well from my hootus.

Now that's what youre' really afraid of,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,right?

 

[Premier]

LOL!!

I can get pic of mine. Its dirty though, but never faded. I could even get a before(dirty) and after(clean) to show ya. Its pretty tough ****.

 

[dreamr]

Lol Albino, I'll a make sure to wear gloves

Premier, a pic would be cool. Especially a clean one after a season or so of wear.... Demanding ain't I lol

Any would be cool to give me an idea, Honestly I haven't searched to hard for pics on here.

Hmm might be another good side project. Gears, locker, shocks, and maintenance first though.

 

[j602]

Man that's a nice trim job dreamr. Very clean.

 

[bmxking5]

Wow, your truck has come a long way! Looks MUCH better now. Keep up the good work

 

[Premier]

Lol Albino, I'll a make sure to wear gloves

Premier, a pic would be cool. Especially a clean one after a season or so of wear.... Demanding ain't I lol

Any would be cool to give me an idea, Honestly I haven't searched to hard for pics on here.

Hmm might be another good side project. Gears, locker, shocks, and maintenance first though.

I put it on close after I got my lift, due to rubbing and I had to cut the fenders. So its probably close to 10 months old. I cant imagine it fading at all, especially since the rockers dont see direct sun, like it would if installed in a truck bed.

My trucks been in the garage for the last couple weeks, but is really dirty from the rollover. Here is what it looks like right now. You can see the herc line http://www.explorerforum.com/data/500/177111.JPG Ill get more pics tomorrow in the morning, and scrub a spot off.

 

[dreamr]

Thanks for the pic Premier. That is just about the level I was planning on going up to.
I'll anxiously await that clean pic

 

[Premier]

Sorry man, got busy yesterday. Here are some pics. And yes, the water has been all dried.. the Herc is just shiny with the flash.

Also if you look close, you can see the little plugs that I Herc'd over. They'll never come out now

 

[dreamr]

Hmm that actually doesn't look to bad after almost a year.

Might be losing another hundred bucks to the truck on herculiner lol.

Thanks Premier