Gerald Jarrett - Simpsonville, SC 2nd gen offroad - Herc

GJarrett · April 20, 2004

Thanks

Nah, I'm a moderator and would just assume I didn't make Truck of the Week, that should be reserved for other members..... but thanks for the kind words!

Robb · April 20, 2004

Hey Gerald, I see that your rig has been from Tellico to Paragon to the CA Dunes. Do you drive your truck to and from all these places?

Your rig is definately the exception to the "sfa required" rule!

Congrats!! :bounce:

GJarrett · April 21, 2004

Yep, never trailored, and always made it home (so far

)

Ray Lobato · April 21, 2004

You better knock on wood there my friend. Remember we had to disconnect your front drive shaft to get you home from Kali, because your T-case was stuck in 4wd? :hammer:

GJarrett · April 21, 2004

You're absolutely right ol' buddy, but I still made it home

...I sure hope I'm not jinxing myself in this thread

med · July 26, 2005

damn- wrong thread

mynameisaric · August 10, 2005

I just thought i'd let you know i've skimmed this thread before for advice, and tonight and read ... most... of it. (including the links to other threads). Wanted to let you know i have ALOT of respect for you and your rig. it was your write up that convinced me to suck it up and get a front locker and finally do the "brown wire mod". I use the information about your truck and apply it towards mine and i know thats why you made this thread. I want to finish my reply by simply saying "Thank you".
-Aric

GJarrett · August 10, 2005

Glad to be of help

dtl 2k2 sport · August 12, 2005

any new pics of herc? I think it's one of the nicest trucks on this site!

neverhit · June 7, 2006

Engine

What engine do you have. You mention SOHC but I couldn't confirm if that is 4.0 V6 or V8. I did a search in your thread, but couldn't find anything.

Blee1099 · June 7, 2006

neverhit said:
What engine do you have. You mention SOHC but I couldn't confirm if that is 4.0 V6 or V8. I did a search in your thread, but couldn't find anything.

Gerald has the 4.0 SOHC V6.

Rick · June 7, 2006

Gerald, you need to change the title of this thread to Hicksville, SC

GJarrett · June 7, 2006

LOL. Done

mounty71 · April 17, 2007

Like many people on this site, you and your explorer have been inspirations for me as well. Yours is probably the biggest reason why i am searching for an explorer (or maybe ranger) for my next truck instead of something with a solid front axle already under it. I have a couple questions for you. You put a shackle in your rear bumper and use it as a tow point and it seems to hold up just fine for you. Is that c channel steel you have running through your shackles (the ones for your leaf springs) attached to the bumper to support it? and where is the steel attached at the other end? and besides those two steel pieces on either side, is there anything else you did to the bumper to strengthen it? because on the plastic around that hole in the bumper it says it can only support a few hundred pounds, not an entire vehicle. Also, doesnt the c channel steel limit the articulation of your shackles? And finally, do you have any future plans of swapping in a solid front axle?

GJarrett · April 17, 2007

The shackle in my rear bumper I use for minor pulls; I still have real tow hooks installed sideways on my framerails just ahead of the bumper for the tough tows.

I have a 3" body lift and the bumper is raised to match it.... the bottom of the framerail now matches the same level as the bottom of the bumper. Those channel steel pieces are bolted directly onto the bottom of the framerail with the bumper sitting on top. I've never thought about that it would buttress the bumper from the bottom but I suppose it does. The Warrior shackles I have can still go through their full travel and articulation without the channel steel limiting them.... they do touch at full articulation but they're already fully swung when they hit the channel steel.

As for going solid axle, I've enjoyed being a "sleeper" that has traversed trails that have astounded others who have witnessed what my Explorer has done. It's a lot of fun to show up in the morning and listen to a bunch of Jeepers make fun of me and then watch them watch me as the day progresses when I consistently outperform them on the trail. I can honestly say that my Explorer is about 99% Ford stock. However I've just about destroyed my undercarriage and my front crossmember is toast. There's only so much more abuse it can take and then yes, in lieu of spending megabucks to reconstruct an IFS frontend, at that point I'll probably go solid. I keep thinking that can happen anytime but then it just keeps going and going and going....

Yeah one day I'll go solid but it just keeps doing great as is and refuses to bite the dust yet.

hardywo · September 15, 2007

So I heard a rumor that you still have your grill guard mounted after the 3" body lift...is that true, and if so, how'd you do it? I'm looking at doing the bl, but I don't want to throw away the grill guard I already paid for...thanks for your help.

GJarrett · September 15, 2007

Yes. I did have to drill alternate holes in the guard so it mounted to the brackets above the original location and then I "muscled" it around to make it work, but it can be done.

Rusty · September 21, 2007

it had to have taken such a long time to put together all that info.. kudos man... all that stuff is soooo helpful! I also think that your explorer has to be one of the nicest on here.. its practical and can still get it done! Thanks for all your time and effort you put into this... it saves us alot of the same... Your the man!

BTW... did the herculiner ever come of? lol

mcpherson · November 21, 2007

Hey GJarrett,

I'm impressed with all the locations you traveled to in your Explorer. I did notice a picture of you located on the mountain peak of trail 2 in Tellico, NC. I was curious to what your trick was to coming down that last obstacle there in the picture? Also, if you had body damage, please let me know; I'll wait till later when i get some more protection.

Thanks

GJarrett · November 24, 2007

Howdy mcpherson, I was at the mercy of a Jeeper that was spotting me and I've learned long ago that guys that are really expert/great spotters for short wheelbase vehicles oftentimes cannot make the jump to spotting for long wheelbase vehicles. I don't know if it was his spotting, but it took a long while to get me through that. He spotted me real close to the wall and it didn't work; I went until my left rear quarterpanel touched the wall and then stopped. Any further would have resulted in severe body damage. No way to back up either without tires slipping and sliding me into it. That photo was taken while we spent about twenty minutes getting me out of that jamb, and I still got a little ding on the corner by the time we got through. It took a lot of guys pushing me off of the wall and more guys on the other side pulling a towstrap that was looped onto my door post, but we finally squeezed through. The Jeepers initially didn't think it was a big deal since they pushed their Jeeps off the wall all the time, but their confidence got shattered real quick when they tried to push over my 5,000+ lb Explorer and figured out that was gonna take a lot more muscle. I would try it again, but maybe try a line further away from the wall with a slightly different approach path.

Gerald Jarrett - Simpsonville, SC 2nd gen offroad - Herc

GJarrett

Robb

Explorer Addict

GJarrett

Ray Lobato

Moderator

GJarrett

med

Active Member

mynameisaric

Explorer Addict

GJarrett

dtl 2k2 sport

Explorer Addict

neverhit

New Member

Blee1099

Evil Asian

Rick

Pumpkin Pilot

GJarrett

mounty71

It's green, not gray.

GJarrett

hardywo

Well-Known Member

GJarrett

Rusty

Well-Known Member

mcpherson

Well-Known Member

GJarrett

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