Hunter's '96 XLT | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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Hunter's '96 XLT

Hey all,

I've been around this site for awhile but haven't made a thread about me yet, so I figured I'd go ahead and make one for your entertainment.

I've done a few mods here and there that I got the ideas from on this awesome site, and I'm more than happy to show them off to ya'll

First off, My name is Hunter and I'm currently studying mechanical engineering at the University of Central Florida. I got my 1996 5.0L XLT in September of 2010. My aunt was the first and only owner until then.

Since, I have converted all interior to blue and white LED, slightly lifted it with shackles and torsion keys to fit some 32x11.5x15 tires which I'm loving! I even built a custom 12" sub box to fit in the rear quarter panel. Even more recently I've added a roof basket and some other mods here and there.

Engine runs great, and I love my Explorer! Now for some pictures:

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Here are some shots of the roof basket. Its a Rage Powersports Stingray low profile roof basket. Mounting them on top of the roof racks seemed too high for my liking--and the absense of roof racks didn't look good either, so I came up with this:

IMG_1500.jpg


where the roof racks basically go "through" the roof basket instead of underneath it..

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Here are some of the LED interior shots:

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Here is a shot of the sub that I built the stealth box for:

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thanks guys :usa:
 



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Looking good! :thumbsup:
 






Nice looking Explorer:thumbsup:. Thanks for sharing the photos and a little about you. Good luck with your studies.
 






Nice truck! Pm me, i wanna talk about some of the stuff you did and how you did it!
 






I see you've been having fun with LEDs. Looking good so far. Are you planning on taking apart the gauges and climate control sometime to remove the color filter behind them so you can get them to shine white too?
 






I see you've been having fun with LEDs. Looking good so far. Are you planning on taking apart the gauges and climate control sometime to remove the color filter behind them so you can get them to shine white too?

I've thought about it but haven't really looked much into it so far. Is it even possible to do that? The only thing I recall reading about that is when you have a '98+, the green filter is on there and you have to scratch it off in order for your guages to turn a different color, but as far as changing the blue, I don't know if its as simple as taking out a filter or as hard as scratching off the color.

You wouldn't happen to have any experience with it would ya?
 






nice x
 






It is basically the same procedure, the later ones just have a greener filter. Here is a basic how to for it

www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=98460

I did check around though, just to be sure. But it is just a different color applied to the back of them. It comes off the same way.

You can find threads on just about every board out there on how to change the color of your gauge faces. Just a tip, if you do this, use a cloudy white filter behind the numbers, or transluscent white paint, just to diffuse the light better. The white does look a lot cleaner and more modern. I've considered doing it in the past, except I do a lot of driving in the middle of nowhere, which means green is much more practical to use.
 






Heres my most recent project completed:

DSCI0001-5.jpg

Backup camera:
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Also came with GPS antenna and ipod hookup integration thing. You can see I wired the iPod hookup into the center console where I also removed the 6CD changer which at least doubled the space in there!

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Heres a shot of the LED plug-and-play bulbs in the door light: (looks alot better at night)

DSCI0004-6.jpg


I always kind of thought that the touch screens don't really "fit" in an old explorer, but after doing those LEDs inside, it fits right in and looks great.

Even before I replaced the HU, I was having problems with the old amp in the rear quarter panel causing the volume to drop out randomly and come back on randomly.. So today i spliced the wires back there and bypassed it [and then threw it away].. All is well again :)
 






I have gotten some new goodies for it in the past few days..

Went to the junkyard to get the temp sensor and found out that they got a new explorer added to their collection. Upon some investigation, they had aftermarket speakers in the front doors so i gladly took those for $5 and installed them that day..

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Then a new Isuzu Trooper arrived as well and it had a brush guard on it. I got it for $45 and i just repainted it today. Hopefully I'll have some time to install it tomorrow but I'll definitely upload some pictures of it all when i'm done!

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That looks better than the hunter guards that are made to fit the sploders.
 






Thanks FIND! I think it turned out really good for not knowing whether I could make it work or not. It fits the curves of the vehicle very well, no complaints here :afro:

Another shot:

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Good lookin truck! I have a post trying to find ppl in the North Florida area. Let me know if youd be interested in getting something going!
 
























Ever since I had the truck I've never had a 3rd high mount brake light. Today I got around to finally installing one!

Getting the idea from another thread on here, I just took the easy path and bought the universal mount LED strips from autozone. They were on sale for 20 and I had a $5 off coupon so for $15 you cant beat it!

Heres a pic of it all done, I didn't get any during progress but if you've seen the how-to its pretty self explanatory.

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If I can say anything about this mod, it is that it is not very satisfying because you rarely (never) get to see the light in action, you just have to imagine what it looks like while you drive..
 






Looks good! Thats how I did mine, and yeah, it sucks you cant see it lol. I dont even know what my exhaust sounds like :(
 



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So I guess I never mentioned that I removed the running boards a few weeks ago. Although I like the look of not having those huge things in the way, I must admit that I missed having a step to get into and out of the truck.

So I used the pieces from the old running boards to make these:

First I removed all the plastic and rounded off the front to fit the old plastic piece and painted with bedliner
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Then I put the old plastic on
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Bolted 'em up!
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And the old plastic no longer being used:

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I think it actually came out pretty good. I'm surprised I've never really seen anyone do this to their old running boards, but im sure I'm not the first one to do this.

Let me know if you think I should still change it somehow; Theres something about it that just needs to be tweaked but I can't put my finger on it (i.e. does it need to be thinner or not come out as far or what?)

Thanks!:usa:
 






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