Jen's 03 Sport | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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Jen's 03 Sport

Hello all...

To celebrate the final payment of my beast, I thought I should finally make a registry for it, with pictures and all!!!

When I was in college, I really wanted a 2door SUV that was relatively new and looked cool as well... Obviously that led me to the Explorer, as Jeeps are cool and all, but not all that practical as my daily driver. Sooo, the search was on! I wanted a black one, the newest year I could get for the Sport, with the fewest miles, with leather and a sunroof! :D

Eventually my searches pulled up my exact specs, but in South Dakota. I lived in Iowa at the time, so no big deal. I bothered the people at the dealership with my excessive questions to make sure it was worth the drive there to look at it. And luckily, it was! Mom and I drove out to look at it, and I ended up buying it. My first (nice) purchased car. It had 16,x.. on the clock, was a certified pre-owned from some old man so it was pretty nice, other than that saggy rear end.

First thing I did was swap out the stereo, and figured out how to wire it to the factory sub thanks to the forum! Then, add a leafs were next. I had the next several years mapped out for it when the tires would wear out and I was outta college and could finally have some money!!! I took off the step bars and added a Yakima rack and drove it like that until I moved to CO. That's when the magic started to happen, ;).

I knew I wanted to lift it from the day I bought it. When I started my big kid job out here in CO, I was able to buy new wheels, tires, shackles, and body lift to get it started! Thanks to the awesome boys from this forum (hokie, nssj2, sparkyXplorer) they got it on for me. I was of no use as I had just had shoulder surgery, but they made sure to get my on the right track :thumbsup:

Awesome! Now I'm good to go. Cranked up the torsion bars a lil, time to hit the trails!!! Got my feet wet in Ouray with the group. And by feet wet, I mean I almost peed myself on Black Bear pass, haha

Since then, I've upgraded my exhaust to 2.5 pipes from the cats back, Flowmaster 50 muffler (kinda quiet :rolleyes:) and a MAC intake. Changed out the plugs and wires at the same time, put on Motorcraft plugs and JBA cables...I also added a Yakima load warrior basket that is pretty quick to take off that holds my snowboard racks and my spare.

Mods to come ---- upgrading gears to 4.56, adding an Aussie locker (or something of that sort depending on my $$), removed gray plastic body panels to paint black, thus discovering rust on my doors GRRRRRR, need rock sliders, skid plates, and on and on.
 

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Looks great, keep us posted and enjoy it :)
 






Well Congrats on the Final Payment :D

Now the real fun begins.
 






Lookin good! Needs some trail scars now, lol. Just remember to read and follow the directions when you put a locker in, so you don't end up like I did, haha!
 






...:shifty_ey ...I know there is a four legged co-pilot that is not seen here...:D

...and yes...it's had trail scars...;)
ccr077fj0.jpg
 






Looks great!

I think adding a locker is a choice not to be taken lightly though. It will dramatically change the characteristics of how the rig handles. If your quick to adapt, you will be fine. The gear change is going to be one of the best mods you can do! Good choice there!

Maybe a trip to the Turdle farm is in order so we could lend a hand with the install.




P.S. The pic looking down on Telluride......do those guys know they were having a pic of them relieving themselves? LOL
 






thanks guys! I'm pretty happy it's paid off... although I pretty much voided the warranty years ago,haha. That was 5 long years!! I already have more scars than I would like, but hey, they buff out, right??

I'll have the lockers done the same time as the gears, so hopefully the shop won't mess it up!

And Seamus is my fearless copilot, how could I leave him out??? How bad of me!
He's navigating in Ouray
n14811518_39939645_1120.jpg

Just a puppy...
n14811518_36945737_1791.jpg

Keeping me safe, he's too big to do that now.....
n14811518_36945746_4083.jpg

...but somehow he sometimes still sneaks on ;-)
n14811518_36945748_4563.jpg
 






Looks great!

I think adding a locker is a choice not to be taken lightly though. It will dramatically change the characteristics of how the rig handles. If your quick to adapt, you will be fine. The gear change is going to be one of the best mods you can do! Good choice there!

Maybe a trip to the Turdle farm is in order so we could lend a hand with the install.




P.S. The pic looking down on Telluride......do those guys know they were having a pic of them relieving themselves? LOL

Thanks! yours looks pretty bada$$ as well... yeah, as for the lockers, i need to read up a little bit more about them. i want the gears done for sure, and i just feel if i wanna get then done, that would be the time! but who knows. I'd love to come down to the turdle farm.... and get some of those SWEET sliders too!!!

yeah, the boys in the foreground add some nice depth of field to the photo, LOL!
 






...:shifty_ey ...I know there is a four legged co-pilot that is not seen here...:D

...and yes...it's had trail scars...;)

you know, i HATE that stupid plastic! i forgot i just ripped it off of there. it was so frustrating! now I have them off, and there is no rubbing. AND it looks cooler, except for the holes... hmmmmmm... more ideas. i guess i could just trim them like a normal person :rolleyes:
 






hey i think i spotted you driving around boulder a week or two ago!! I was saying to myself "thats a badass explorer. betcha i can find it on EF." And watdayouknow, youre a member. well your rig looked good. hopefully you can join us for a run sometime :thumbsup:
 






hey i think i spotted you driving around boulder a week or two ago!! I was saying to myself "thats a badass explorer. betcha i can find it on EF." And watdayouknow, youre a member. well your rig looked good. hopefully you can join us for a run sometime :thumbsup:

oh nice!!! i'd love to join ya sometime. after i get some work done on the front end stuff, i'll be ready! i think i have a hub going, and perhaps the cv. after 5 years of trouble free ownership, it's probably time to fix some stuff up.

honk at me next time :thumbsup:
 






So... my project in the works, a little sneak preview... my SUV-RV lol
20149_803506908699_14811518_45701517_7527554_n.jpg


I'm pretty much done with it now. This was just test fitting the pieces. The box is fitted so the back seats can be up, and it gives me a flat area above the spare tire to carry stuff. It's held down to the factory tie-downs with a turnbuckle. When the seats fold down, there is an extension that goes to the back of the front seats. Then, there is one more extension that will flip out and I can push the front seats all the way forward for even more room!

I have a roof basket with my snowboard racks on it, and the full size spare is to tall to have up there and use the snowboard racks, so for now it's in the cargo area. Maybe when winter is over, I'll put it back on top and take the board racks off. It works for now!

I don't have any more pics, but I'll post some up as I progress. It was pretty darned easy to make it once I figured out my design and dimensions.

Can't wait to test it out! I'll be staining and painting it grey to match the interior, then probably putting carpet or rubber vinyl stuff on the platform portion. Then I'll put down some thick foam and probably a memory foam topper, some subzero sleeping bags and comforters, and I'm set for the mountains!
 






Looks good! I need to figure something like that out for my truck. My 32" fits underneath, but all my cargo area is taken up by my toolbox, and my box of spares and fluids.
 






Do you have a 2003 Sport or is that a 2001? For some reason I thought 2001 was the last year of the 2 door sport. I'm am going to be looking for a new 2 door Sport and I want to get the latest year they made.
 












Looks good! I need to figure something like that out for my truck. My 32" fits underneath, but all my cargo area is taken up by my toolbox, and my box of spares and fluids.

Thanks! It'll be pretty sweet once it's all done... probably in the next few days!

And yes, mine is a 2003.
 






so... my newest project... getting rid of this rust I discovered under the plastic!
20149_803551334669_14811518_45702635_1017788_n.jpg


20149_803553076179_14811518_45702724_6765445_n.jpg


I'm going to attempt it myself since I doubt I can mess it up TOO bad, and it'll be covered by the panels anyway. It's so weird, it's just on the drivers side too! And the rear wheel well too. Hmm.... bad pic of it
20149_803554074179_14811518_45702750_3453746_n.jpg
 






It doesn't look too bad. Maybe clean it up some and put some Por-15 on there? Your rockers look alright, that's a big thing.
 






nice sport and keep up good work
 



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Hi Jenni,
I like the rear cargo project. Is it going to allow use of the back seat or do you have to remove it all to fold them back up?

Good to see you back around-:thumbsup:
 






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