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dreamr's finally elite

Dreamr's little mountain goat ( 99 XL 4x4 )

The Truck and the Story

I surfed in here one day looking for info on my newly purchased Ford Explorer, and that my friends may have been a fatal mistake. For soon after entry the rumored Mod Bug bit. Painful little bugger, and I hear there is no known cure. Oh well if I am to be ailed by the bite of this rare creature at least I can be provided respite with this elite group of fellow victims. Whose to say I suffer anyway 'tis the finances which will begin to suffer :eek:

I always dislike having to say whom I am, and am tempted to move on to the truck. But then you would just get let down by my nearly stock X and be disapointed before I had a chance to say hello.
Here I am at Bridal Veil Falls.
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My name is really Bryce though I suppose dreamr is a better fit, if only the world understood the simplicity of existence without the social structures and limitations we have put upon ourselves.........sorry.
Back to me. I am a thirty - one year old father of a beautiful if not sometimes demanding 9-year old girl by the name of Zaira-Dawn and live with my partner on the outskirts of Seattle. More accurately Edmonds, WA.

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It seems I have absorbed my life into trying to vanish into the remnants of a more natural world. I grew up in Idaho and spent most of my childhood and teen years wandering the backcountry of Idaho with my dad and brother hunting, and fishing in some long lost location.

Of course back there(Idaho) it was a very different wilderness from here(Seattle) as there were no people. Living here has driven me further into the woods than before, which has been beautiful. Though the knees dislike the 100-150 miles we average on the trails each summer, most of it with a 40+ lb pack ( I know it's light to a lot of you military and athletic types, but I am a little guy with bad knees.) Besides see how much rain gear it takes to stay dry (gotta love the NW) and then wonder where we put food. If you would like to see a few of our fishing trips follow the link.
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=102921

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Do you want me to bore you more, or should I get to the truck? But my critters need some attention :D . I have been interested in animals in general since I was very young. Always catching and keeping wild critters at our home as a child. Today that has evolved several times over. Shiloh and I ran a reptile rescue and adoption agency for a couple years and became overwhelmed as we were maintaining over 30 reptiles and amphibians as well as all the ill rescue. Chaos and expensive but educating, got a Herp question I got an answer. Today we try to resist the urge to help everything and try to maintain our reduced collection of 13. These are mostly breeding pairs though so we always have a cage or four full of babies.:rolleyes: If ya want to take a peek scroll down a ways. .

Anyway here's my 99 Explorer XL. Now remember we just came together in late September 2003 so she's not a well trained or equipped lover yet.

January 2004 1.5" suspension lift and 30's
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November 2004 2" suspension 30's and secrets under the hood.
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January 2005 2" sus., and 3" Body lift with 33's
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****************************************************
Current mods
*Last updated 3-19-05*

INTERIOR
9-03 Steering wheel cover
9-03 Seat covers
9-03 Husky Floor covering /all and cargo
9-03 Tool Box w/ rifle rack
replaced with new tool box/tire carrier/camping
bed 1-05

3-04 Kenwood Cd head unit
5-04 Stock speaker upgrade to Infinity Kappa's
6-04 Custom removable mosquito screens for all windows LOL
Very neccessary for sleeping
12-04 Custom (cheap ;) ) console control panel
2-05 Blue lighting on a seperate circuit for camping
3-05 Body colored interior trim (the black stuff)
3-05 Garmin GPS
Next: more bass (just a bit I'm no audiophile)

EXTERIOR
9-03 My Stickers
10-03 Fubah style antenna
10-03 Lund bugshield
10-03 Aeroshade vent visors
10-03 5% Tint Rear 20% in front
11-03 Grill Insert painted chrome
12-03 Blue Spectre-wired engine compartment
12-03 Mud Flaps
3-04 Removed pinstripe
1-05 Removed the very scarred and twisted tupperware.
1-05 Fender trimming :rolleyes:
Next: Bumpers and Sliders?.

LIGHTING
11-03 Triple Goddess 3rd Tail Blackout )0(
12-03 Pilot Amber fogs
12-03 Pilot Cyber-white driving lights
1-04 Sylvania Silverstars
1-04 Superwhite Markers
2-05 Clear corners
2-05 Sylvania Silverstars blue/amber signals
Next: auxillary reverse lights

SUSPENSION/TREAD/AXLES
1-05 BFG M/T KM 33x10.5
11-03 Ultra 15x8 alloys
12-03 Warrior shackles w/TT 1 1/2 in.
1-04 Energy Suspension hyperflex bushings
12-04 Pro-comp AAL/ TT up to full 2"
1-05 Performance Accessories 3" body lift
2-05 Monroe Reflex Shocks
2-05 Yukon 4.56 gears
2-05 Rear Eaton E-Locker
3-05 Explorer Express swaybar
Next: HP D30 solid front axle

PERFORMANCE
10-03 Accel superstock plug wires
10-03 Bosch Platinum plugs/
swapped for motorcraft double plat. 5-04
11-03 Throttle Cable Mod
1-04 K&N FIPK Gen II intake
1-04 Custom built cat-back exhaust
1-04 All breathers extended to underhood filters
4-04 BBK 66mm. Throttle Body
6-04 SCT Performance programer
(This program was re-done by Bama Chips and
Rocks!!!! My previous Apten was a bad experience!12-04)

12-04 Optima Red Top
12-04 Brown Wire Mod (2hi,2lo,auto,4hi,4lo)
3-05 B&M Transmission Cooler
I don't know????

RECOVERY AND ARMOR
1-04 Hidden Hitch front class III receiver
2-04 Hidden Hitch rear tube style class IV
receiver
5-05 Eddie Bauer gas tank skid plate
5-05 Eddie Bauer transfer case skid plate
11-05 Custom IFS Skid Plate
Next: well.. a multi- mount and a winch I suppose

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Need some off road do ya?

OOps!!!
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A Little tiny bit of flex
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201223-5-05_Zaira_spring_in_the_hills_019.jpg


Felxin a bit more
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Well that's all folks. I am excited to be a member of this forum, hopefully I won't aggravate you all with my need to know everything about something before I do it. And to all you seeking knowledge I'll do my best to relay the truth as I have found it (more than likely with the search feature. ;) ) I have a automotive history of small block chevy muscle cars and 5 liter mustangs (it was such a fun car). Should have helped my dad and brother more with their trucks. So I have a general knowledge of performance stuffs, suspension though, what's that ... I always thought flex was something you did to show off your muscle... Rick and the pumpkin have completely redefined this for me. Thanks,I think. Might cause me to be single with a nice truck though. Bye everyone, and see ya around.

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I recently decided to update this thread a bit as it seems to be constantly expanding in the winter months.
On some mods I have gone into more detail than others on the site. As part of this registry there are several of these posts, so for ease of browsing I have created this brief table of contents. In addition to this if at some point I have gone into more detail on a thread outside of this I have linked it below as well

NW Explorer organized runs
Tahuya
Reiter
Solo Run (locker testing)
Salmon Le Sac / Cle Elum
Wenatchee/Cle Elum Run

Table Of Contents

Page 1
-Me and my truck
-Welcome from members
-Sylvania Silverstars
-Extended breathers
-Cat-back/exhaust
-Pinstripe removed
-BBK throttle body
-Infinity Kappa’s
-Apten Flasher

Page 2
-Optima Battery
-Control panel
-Brown wire mod
-Bama Chips flasher re-tune
-Add-A-Leaf
-3” inch P.A. body lift
-33’s and fender trimming

Page 3
-New tool box/false floor
-Exhaust rehung
-New Shocks
-Clear Corners
-Eaton E-Locker
-Yukon 4.56 Gears
-EE Swaybar
-Interior trim painting

Page 4
-B&M Transmission cooler
-Garmin GPS
-Gas tank and transfer case skids
-Custom IFS Skid Plate
*********************************************************
 



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What a sh***y week!!!!!!!
I do not want to go in to details, but this has been a helacious week and I was so very glad for the opportunity to just sleep in today.

Unfortunately around 8:00 a.m. my door bell rings. My lady had gone out with her friends the night before, so was dead drunk and sound asleep. I jump out of bed ready to rip the head off of whoever had the oddacity to interrupt my blissful slumber. As I swing the door open suddenly my anger evaporates as I see who awaits me there.

How can you stay angry when this is the first site of the morning? Good thing Shiloh was asleep. ;)

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OK OK we all know I have a fetish for this here UPS girl, and that mine is not nearly so cute, but.............................
She did bring me a box to play with. :D

What did I get ?

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I figured that since one of those 33's weighs a whole heck of a lot more than my stock 225/75's I should give my mistress a better chance at keeping her tranny alive and kicking. I choose this particular unit based on Aldive's advice from his installation. And sadly I fully plan on copying his and Monmix's install :p
I'll drop a pic when done. But for now here is the thread I am referencing for install.
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=127706&highlight=tranny+cooler+install

As to the GPS. Now I know what you are asking yourself, "Why did he go with a little bugger like that". Well, as some of you know, I hike nearly 150 to 200 miles a year. Not to mention the hundreds of miles of forest roads. I learned years and years ago how to navigate adequately using a topo map and compass, so have never bothered with GPS. For backcountry purposes, I mainly purchased it to make pinpointing my exact location easier when off trail than dragging out all the tools and challenging my befuddled brain. Plus it gave me all the little added goodies like altimeter, mileage, etc......... Should be nice. In addition I plan on mounting it on my dash, and wanted it to take up as little space as possible. It's main purpose there, is to help guide me back out when I get into a maze of fire roads. Secondly I now have a completely accurate speedometer.

Fun times........................ we'll see what surprises that lovely delivery girl brings next time.....untill then.............................................
 



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Nothing really special to add, but since this is where I am documenting all of the changes my girl has gone through I might as well add the recent projects.

As many of you know I have recently picked up a side project that will be going under the Explorer in 6 months to a year. That project is a High Pinion Dana 30 front Axle form a 1996 Jeep XJ. Follow the link to the build-up if you are interested. HP D30

My other new addition was to combat the damage that has been occuring to the under-carriage of my vehicle over the last 18-20 months of exploring my beloved Cascade Mountains. It seems that the dent's in my gas tank just keep getting bigger, and also there are several minor scars on my transfer case. Now obviously there are many more points of damage down there, but these two were a big concern for me. I have no clue why Ford never bothered to install skids on this vehicle, but needless to say they did not.

Yesterday I headed over to visit Greenbeer from the board and swap some front end components from his totalled low mileage Eddie Bauer on to mine. Basically just to keep it on the road untill Axle swap time comes around in the misty future. While crawling around down there I discovered that his Eddie Bauer happened to have skid plates over both the gas tank and transfer case.

So.......what could I do other than remove them and load them into the back of my truck. :D This evening I went to Home depot and picked up a bit of rectangle stock which I welded to the skid as reinforcement, and bolted her up there. Yeah :bounce: now I don't have to worry quite so much about them damn rocks.

Anyway like I said nothing too special getting added to the project. But it sure made me happy ;)
 






I never knew that the newer Explorers didn't have any of those skid plates. Mine has the skidplates covering the gas tank and the t-case already. If you can get your hands on one, JoshC used a first gen gas tank and cut it up to use as a skid for the muffler and driveshaft. I will probably do the same thing he did and get one for mine.
 






I have skidplates on mine. I think they were a factory option?
 






I think the reason my X didn't have them is because it was the XL base model. I picked the base model as I did not want all the power/electrical crap that could go wrong in the middle of nowhere. Furthermore I didn't want the running boards or flares. All a trade off that somehow eliminated actual useful accessories such as skids :rolleyes:

I had been plotting how I was going to design a set, but this was so much easier :D
 






If you have a chance, would you mind posting pictures of the skid plates? My X is unprotected and I have never seen the factory skid plates.

Thanks,
Al
 












What service! Thanks for the pics. I'll have to check out the local bone yards and get some too.
 






Wow I have not made a post to this thread since May :eek:
I suppose then that this is the year in review. My lady (Truck ) and I have had an adventurous year. Seeing a lot of new country and also really getting the oppportunity to seek out her new limitations. So far all of my modifications as well as the stock components have held up fairly well.

A couple problems and observations that I have had though:

-One of my Body mount bolts decided to back out a considerable amount after it's second wheeling trip of the season. I lock tighted the hell out of them and used the impact to reinstall, hopefully they will hold together in the future. :rolleyes:

-My wiring for the Brown Wire Mod........I was running a very rocky and tight cornered stretch of trail in the Cle Elum Area. I was all alone. The truck was in 4 low with the front end disengaged via the "brown wire mod". Suddenly smoke started pouring out from my control panel. I immediately stopped and killed the ignition then began ripping things apart.
What fried? All the wiring coming from the TOD relay. This mod has been in place and used for several months however, one day there she went in smoke. All is removed now and the TOD relay was replaced. Interesting note there. The wires were all melted, but the unit was still operating normally after dissasembly and new wires. It is now my spare.

-Of course I have had to do a lot of maintenance this late fall early winter, but all in all I have found nothing of concern other than the items listed and that one mysterious clunking noise.
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=146413

What has been done since my last post?
Not much really.....I have reconfigure my "****pit" a bit to make everything more convenient to have extra communications and navigation items present.
I also have of course fine tuned many of my additionsw along the way and done a bit of under hood painting.

Ball joints and Tie rods were replaced with Moog's as they wore out.

The one area that I have been focusing on was the preperation of My HP D 30 to move under the Explorer. Unfortunately this has never happened, and the longer it takes, the happier I seem :rolleyes: I guess in the end my truck has proved herself capable of going anywhere I want to go as she is.
I think that the SAS will still happen in the future, but really there is no point in doing so untill I decide that I want to deliberately go out seeking body damage. To me this rig is my ability to explore and see the corners of the world that few frequent. Recreational Off roading holds no interest for me what so ever....... One day though she'll get smashed up and I'll change my mind :D

With that said....Where does that leave me? Needing a lot of armor as my front end and undercarriage don't look too pleased with me :p
So for the first project of the season now that my Alpine lakes and meadows are under a lot of snow.

>>>>>>>>>IFS SKID>>>>>>>>>

I was broke and bored :( .
As I wandered around the garage I recall.
There be a lot of steel in the back of the 'yota.
A recently demolished shelving system from Clayton's home.
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With a bit of cutting and grinding
Things began to take shape.
A couple bends and a few welds
Suddenly tis late and I sleep
The new day finds me sanding and drilling
By 10 A.M. this is what we have
20122new_031.JPG

Now I am back to pacing
I have no money for paint or diamond plate
Ahh but Friday comes upon us
With it comes a paycheck
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Can you say bling :eek:
Where's that paint!!!!!!!
Ahhhh! much better and all monuted up
20122skids_004.JPG
 






OMG, he finally touches the X! :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:

Now the Mustang is going to PEE tranny fluid all over the driveway :p





I gotta bring the Pony over for a looksee ;)
 






Ya, I need to see the rig I am going to be riding in during my first trail roll over :D :roll:

Better be careful though at the rate you are going my sawzall and welder might prove to be tempting toys.........


































You just can't touch the axle in the garage :D
 






:nono: :nono: :roll: :nono: :nono: :nono: :nono: :nono: :nono: :nono: :nono: :smoke: :nono: :nono: :nono: :mattmoon:
 






Wow, I have not posted to this thread since Nov. :rolleyes:

Really I haven't been ignoring my girl. Then again she has not got any real additions other than new seat covers (x-bound) and just maintenance. I think I mentioned earlier that BJ's and Tierods were on there way out, They are now gone and replaced with moogs. Including the upper control arms.

All in all Phil I figure this thread might get opened by you and I am hinting that my front end is sound again.. Well there is this noise :rolleyes: but whatever, I find it to be solid and so did Ford and Les schwabb :D

Maybe next winter I'll get motivated by the skull cracking axle hanging in the garage, but first we have to crush that skid plate I made in my last posts...It just looks too clean under there compared to all the scarred steel. Of course that doesn't mean I need to brake a mirror off to be like you ;)
 






We're headed over to Salmon La Sac today to see how much snow is left :thumbsup:
 






:)
 












The campgound is still snowed in and closed. :(

It's going to be July before we can get to our camp spot and probably August before we can get to the lake :rolleyes:
 






Albino 94LTD said:
The campgound is still snowed in and closed. :(

It's going to be July before we can get to our camp spot and probably August before we can get to the lake :rolleyes:

Sadly that is what I was expecting. Hmmm I need to take a drive up the 2 and the Mount loop hiway and see when I can catch a fish again :(
 






dreamr said:
Sadly that is what I was expecting. Hmmm I need to take a drive up the 2 and the Mount loop hiway and see when I can catch a fish again :(
Yes please. ;)
 



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dreamr i want that skid plate!! Didnt know you made one on your truck till heyok told me.
 






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