Finally Got The Money Together & am Doing it all

[Starsailor]

Bunch of questions to ask. First of all I have about 7K set aside to to as much as possible to my truck. I am planning a 2" to 3" lift going up a size on the tires and by the way will be sellng my present MT/R's when I do all of this in January. I am getting skid plates, shocks brush guard/Winch side bars and whateve else is reccomended for moderate offraoding.
Right now I do things like Truckhaven and various other trails ranging from easy to to reasonably difficult. Most of the time I do not bottom out but have done this on a number of occasions and just want the ability to do more than I presently am.
Questions I have include best type of lighting to ad on and where to mount. What size winch and and what brush guard to purchase without having to modify to much. What re the benefits are running duel shocks and are they worth the extra expense. and finally what do I need for protection underneith. I know Ford does not offer a hell of a lot in this department so what do I need there. Finally with the lift I have planned what is the largest/widest tire I can put on it and what wheels are reccomended? I would like to stay with the MT/R tires. so if anyone knows of the largest ones they are offering that would be nice as well.
Finally I would like to avoid doing much in the area of the drive train becasue of Economics so that needs to be considered as well. This is also my primary source of transportation so I need it to be reasonably stable for on road use. I know with the lift I will lose some stability but that is just a necessary evil. Any advise would be greatly appreciated and also is 7K eough to pull at least most of this off? Thanks

 

[rock883]

$7,000 is probably plenty to do all of this, and maybe more.

Lighting: I have had experince with the cheapo stuff at AutoZone, etc.., Hella, and PIAA. I would definately go with some PIAA's. They are really bright, and are just a whole lot easier than the other 2. The Hellas wiring sucks, the cheapos at AutoZone had easier wiring. But the cheapos little cheap chrom trim rusted easily. As for which model PIAA's, you would have to ask Matt Adams, the lighting expert, you could always seacrh the Perf. Lighting forum, too, I know there are a bunch of questions on which lighting is the best.
Winch and brushgard: Someone on this board had a 99 or similar with a sweet looking bruch guard with a winch holder built in, and he had a Ramsey winch in it. As far as what size winch to go with, the rule of thumb is for it to be able to take a load 1.5 times(or greater) the weight of your truck, so a 9,000 pounder would be the best. HEre's some pics of his setup: http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=18635
Shocks: Benefits of running duals (if they make a kit for your year) would be that you can run without a sway bar, which keeps your suspension from moving up and down, limiting your articulation. But with duals and no sway bar, it wouldn't effect the ride at all, because of the extra shock.
Skid plates: I assume you probably already have the gas tank, and probably the t-case (if not that would be a good one to get) you could also get a rear differential skid plate, I hardly do any offroading, but I have bumper the rear end a few times already, and needed to replace the stock plastic cover with a metal one. Ray Lobato had a huge skid plate made for the tirsion bars, and all the crossmembers that hung down real low after he did the lift. You may want to PM him and ask him about that.
Tires: I wouldn't really know much about what is the biggest you can fit with the 3" you are planning. I know some people on here with the same year as you have can help you out. I am sure someone on here will be able to answer that one for you.
3" of lift won't make it that bad, that is what I have and it isn't any worse than stock. But, you should consider putting a K&N filtercharger, and a cat back exhaust system, it will be much better.
Hope I was able to answer all of your questions, and if not, just ask them again, and I or someone else will be able to help you out.

 

[Ray Lobato]

Originally posted by Starsailor
Bunch of questions to ask. First of all I have about 7K set aside to to as much as possible to my truck. I am planning a 2" to 3" lift going up a size on the tires and by the way will be sellng my present MT/R's when I do all of this in January. I am getting skid plates, shocks brush guard/Winch side bars and whateve else is reccomended for moderate offraoding.
Right now I do things like Truckhaven and various other trails ranging from easy to to reasonably difficult. Most of the time I do not bottom out but have done this on a number of occasions and just want the ability to do more than I presently am.
Questions I have include best type of lighting to ad on and where to mount. What size winch and and what brush guard to purchase without having to modify to much. What re the benefits are running duel shocks and are they worth the extra expense. and finally what do I need for protection underneith. I know Ford does not offer a hell of a lot in this department so what do I need there. Finally with the lift I have planned what is the largest/widest tire I can put on it and what wheels are reccomended? I would like to stay with the MT/R tires. so if anyone knows of the largest ones they are offering that would be nice as well.
Finally I would like to avoid doing much in the area of the drive train because of Economics so that needs to be considered as well. This is also my primary source of transportation so I need it to be reasonably stable for on road use. I know with the lift I will lose some stability but that is just a necessary evil. Any advise would be greatly appreciated and also is 7K eough to pull at least most of this off? Thanks

Well, this is what you could do if you want 2" to 3" of lift. Get a 2" body lift and buy some OME shocks and springs. This will give you enough room to run 33's. The torsion bar lift and OME srear springs will give you 2" in the back and 1.75" in the front, maybe 2" but it depends on the vehicle. Some have being able to go 2", but I could only go 1.75". You don't need dual shocks. The OME's are more than suffishent to handle on and off road activities, and not be harsh. If you don't already have "B" rated torsion bars, then get them. The only winch mount grill guard that I know of, that looks good on a 95+ model is the Serria Wraparound winch guard. The winch guard and Ramsey Platinium 9500 pound winch cost me around $1500.00 from National Tire and Wheel. Since you have a 99, that means the your truck didn't come with skidplates, as they became an option after 98. You can get them from Ford. I do have a transfercase skid plate that came off my Explorer that I would be willing to part with. Make me an offer, then go to a junk yard and pull off the tank skidplate from a wreck from 95 to 98. I had a skidplate made for me that covers from the front crossmember to the back of the torsionbars. It ran me $182.00 and was made out of 3/16" plate steel. I would get some quick disconnects for the front and back. I used some JKS adjustable disconnects from a ZJ and modified them to disconnect from both sides. There are pictures of this on the site somewhere, or contact me if you want more info about these. They cost me about $130.00 to do.
Lights, I have 2 sets PIAA Pro 80XT's and one set of PIAA 520's. The Pro 80 XT's are mounted on my Con-Ferr rack and the 520's are mounted on the winch guard. If you click on Ray's truck in my signature you can see these. I don't know what gear ratio you have, but if you don't have at least 4.10's, I wouldn't go any bigger than 31's. Right now I have 3.55's and 33" tires and am getting sh@t for gas mileage. With the 3.55's and 31's I was getting 16 to 18MPG at 75MPH, now I'm getting 13MPG at 65 to 70MPH. If you are going to have to change gears, then you might as well lock your rear or get a limited slip. It doesn't cost you any more in labor if you do it both at the same time.
Let's see where your money is gonna go.
These are approximate figures. You have +/-100 to 200 dollars
grill guard and winch= $1500.00
skidplates =$300.00
shocks and springs = $700.00
2" body lift $80.00
lights PIAA Pro80 XT=$250.00 a set(at least that's what I paid for mine)How many lights do you want?
Tires BGF MT's 33x12.5 R15 X5 $680.00
Just this will set you back $3510.00, and that's not including wheels and rocker panal protectors, or gears/locker or Limited slip. Gears and a locker /LS will cost around $1000.00, +/- $200.00 ,just depands on what locker/LS you get. Rocker panal protection I was quoted from $400.00 to $800.00
To date I have spent well over 7 thousand on mine and I'm still not finished.
You could also invest in some shock mount skidplates= $90.00
Well worth the price. If you want a set of these, I can give you a phone number. There is also pictures of these in one of the threads, just do a search.
You noticed that I stopped at about half of the money? That is because if you do a body lift, it will cost you to have your bumpers and the brackets for the grill guard/winch mount modified and what ever else you won't be able to do will have to spend money on that to get what you want modified also. Labor cost a bunch, unless you can do this stuff your self.


Hope this helps, and good luck!



[Edited by Ray Lobato on 11-06-2000 at 08:02 PM]

 

[Goober]

Since your in California, finding a good shop shouldn't be any problem. Get your list together of what you want done and go talk to the owner. If the owner is a good businessman he/she will give you a break on some of the labor cost since some of these mods will be overlaping. If your going to spend a bunch of money there they may even give you other discounts. And if you have other shops in the area get other estimates. Trust me, it pays to shop around. Also, beware of some of the 'J**p' shops, they will try to tell you some things cannot be done and such... good luck and make sure to take some before and after pics.


Afterthought: If you find yourself with an excess of cash burning a hole in your pocket, you can send a donation to the 'Jeff needs extended radius arms funds'

[Edited by Goober on 11-07-2000 at 07:37 AM]

 

[kvo]

Dan -

Another piece of advice: Before you do any mod, sign up to go on a run with some of the guys on this Board. If you don't want to take your truck ask to ride with someone. Check out their rigs, see the capabilities of the mods, see what you like, get pictures, write down information, costs, installation, etc. That way you can take it all home, digest it and plan/build your rig the way you want it, the first time around. Maximize your $$$.

That's what I would do if I have to start over again.

The Truckhaven run is in January 2001 (in Southern CA), so I'd definitely go if I were you to check out all the trucks with all the mods. There are plenty of '98s and '99s with mods for you to look at. What's another two months or so to wait. You could get some great ideas there at the Truckhaven, get your mods and show up at the next event with your tricked out rig. I wish I could go but with the new baby, my wife would kill me if I even mention taking a few days and go 4wheeling!!!

Hmmm, I wonder if there is a lift kit for a Honda Odyssey minivan!!!!&@%#^@%^$

[Edited by kvo on 11-07-2000 at 08:42 AM]