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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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201222-6-05_WINTER_DRIVE_003.jpg


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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[QUOTE='97 V8]dreamr i want that skid plate!! Didnt know you made one on your truck till heyok told me.[/QUOTE]


Hehe
It actually does pretty good. I dropped the truck off a rock in reverse and balanced my front end on the skid for a second. Other than scrapes. It held up. Barely even took a mild bend. I was impressed that it held up that well considering the materials I used. Anyway, you should make one. It was pretty simple to do....
 



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oh oh I washed and detailed my truck.....


that is note worthy right. :D


Sorry There are no clean pics of her in her current stage in this thread. Twice a year I spend a weekend with all my goodies and the buffer to protect the paint as good as I can and try to hide some of the brush striping. Seems to be getting harder and harder every year. Anyway here she be......

etc_003kl.JPG


ikl.JPG
 






(Sigh) Shiny paint...how i miss it. Looks really shiny though. i think this is the opnly 2 pictures ive seen of your truck clean and plainly in sight. : thumbsup :
 






dreamr said:
oh oh I washed and detailed my truck.....
that is note worthy right. :D
Yeah,,,,,,sure,,,,,,,,Russell :p
 












oh oh I washed and detailed my truck.....


that is note worthy right. :D


Sorry There are no clean pics of her in her current stage in this thread. Twice a year I spend a weekend with all my goodies and the buffer to protect the paint as good as I can and try to hide some of the brush striping. Seems to be getting harder and harder every year. Anyway here she be......

etc_003kl.jpg


ikl.jpg

I love your truck man.. damn. Where are the snow wheeling pics? :D
 






Jake, holy crap, where ya been??
 






Just work a lot, and no time for anything else.. but, thats all changing :) So I will be around more often now. If the explorer doesnt sell this year, I will rebuild, or maybe buy another and swap it all over.
 












warcraft? You play WoW?
 












I have level 500 Jigga
 






Man I got behind on all my threads getting involved in a crazy new position at work, and of course playing video games lol - it amused me to see the post above about wow and realize how damn long I have played that game.

Anyway just a note to say - nothing has changed she continues on in the same form with no issues - think all I have done is a tune up and replace a water pump.... I love this truck for it's reliability - whenever ya turn the key it starts and goes wherever I point her.

Still have that damn clunk in the suspension that has never shown itself....doesn;t seem to effect it though after almost 2 years of it lol
 












i thought you died..
 






damn, beat me to it!
 


















I just had to post to say I love my truck though I am mad at her right now.

This thread encompasses the build stage of her life then goes stragely silent. Somewhere along the line I realized I was pretty much done other than armor and I was too lazy to address it. For the last 4 years all I have done really is basic maintenance and drive the **** out of it in every kind of situation from downtown traffic to backcountry travel and abusing her on 4x4 trails. I have had several minor concerns but she has really not required any work or repairs at all untill this year. She needed brakes and a water pump. Of course then I discovered all the gasket leasks so she got tore down to a bare block and everything refreshed with a few new sensors and a timing chain. None of it was really bad it just was worn.... I love her for tkaing care of me and rarely costing me much of anything.

Next month I figure I'll tear apart the front end and refresh everything with new joints and bushings just because it has been 4 years though lol.

Anyway - a moment of reflection on my part and a hello to all of you I unfortunately do not find the time to visit much these days
 



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Hmm who is this guy? :salute:

And what happened to the truck since one can assume Dreamr is still wandering the mountains on foot most of the time? :exp:

New boots and tires respectively, I assure you they are in them hills together most available days. ;)

Anyway just saying hello to all you sheet metal destroying folks :D :eek:
 






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