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Josh's 4 door 1st gen explorer crawler (SGT Ex)

Whoa! Been a while since i updated this....

been beating on this thing like it owes me money. Its been tearing up the trails out here and has earned its keep.

Here are some pictures

Wishbone Ranch
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Harlan




Slade

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Thanks brudda! Now i am trying to decide if I want to go to a rear link setup.
 






March 2nd, 2013- Natural Bridge/Daniel Boone National Forrest/Red River Gorge

So a mad dash through all last week led to actually getting Ex ready to wheel by Saturday. We loaded up a buddy's 2 car trailer and headed to the Gorge.

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Now it was cold, but clear when we pulled out of lexington. When we got to the gorge, that was not the case. It was cold, and snowing. The snow was not deep, but it did saturate all the trails enough to make most of them a PITA. We only ran a few trails because half way through the day, one of the heeps blew his front hub to pieces and we got to play rescue mission. Anyway, here are some pics.

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buddy's gf playing with her iphone photo editor
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Damage report:

Tail light and a little wrinkle
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I am stuck...
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The pinion yoke guard was wedged into the rock. Winches were not helping, nothing. Ended up pulling from the side to slide the front around, then up she went.
 












Time for an update...

Built a rear bumper

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Done for now. I'll add d-ring mounts and a receiver when funds allow it

Then took it wheeling again

Starting...
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Letting her eat
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Let her eat a little too much...
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Still drove out without a winch though
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Poser
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Damage report this time...

for some reason, the wheel studs stripped out the axle shaft, causing the lug nuts to loosen, and 4 of the 5 on the driver side rear to fail and snap off. I had a spare stock axle shaft that had a little twist in it, so i pulled the chromo, put the stocker in, and rode on. Then i snapped the stocker off in the diff. Called it a day.

Then I brought it home, put the 2 driver side doors on, installed a radio, cleaned up the interior a little, added a CB Antenna mount, and fixed the rear end.


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Where are you at in OK? My X is down and not 4wd so it would be pointless for me to go to Turkey Bay.

I'm not in OK. I bought the truck from a guy who lived in OK. I live in Kentucky.
 












Ahh okay, I seen the old tag and assumed. I just retired from the Army out of Ft. Campbell in December.

Thanks for your service! I was down there in January. That is where my Ranger is. My buddy lives right off base outside of Clarksville.
 






Thanks for your service! I was down there in January. That is where my Ranger is. My buddy lives right off base outside of Clarksville.

Likewise brother (in uniform). I have had 2 uncles serve in the USMC.
 






Lately I have been tinkering with Ex fixing all the little issues that were bugging me. 1st was the CB location. When Dan had it, he had an external speaker for the CB that came with Ex. Well, I broke the old CB and the old speaker. It was originally mounted on the floor. When I pulled out all the carpet, I never put the CB back in, as I didn't want it on the floor anymore. Well, this past weekend, I put it where I mounted D's. On the roof.

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The Rangers have a brace that runs between the headliner and the outer roof skin. Ex didn't have that. I don't know if it was because of the sunroof, but I knew that this was going to require me to go through the outer skin.

There is also a gap of probably 2-2.5" of air between the headliner and the outer skin. Because of this, I couldn't mount the CB mount directly to the roof without modifying it. I plan to use this CB again in D when I get him back, so I didn't want to modify the mount.

A couple of long screws, a pair of old castle nuts from the factory tie-rod ends, and I had the spacing I needed. I extended the wiring, added a blade style fuse instead of the cylinder-type, and tucked everything behind the factory panels.

I snagged these doors for a good deal, along with the pair for the driver side. I have keyless entry and an alarm, so the door locks were no biggie to me.

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The next project was installing the rear passenger window regulator. I hate these things because they are always riveted in, and a pain. This one was no different. I decided to weld nuts on the backside and use some left over fender bolts to mount the new regulator instead of using rivets. I had to shave the fender bolts down a bit, but they work! I still have a little bit of adjusting to do, but it at least goes up and down, and doesn't fall down on its own.


I have also needed to install my D-Ring mounts to the rear bumper I built. The front panel needed to be cut out as they go through the metal and are welded to the bumper mounting brackets. I couldn't get my grinder in there, so I packed it up, and headed to my dad's shop. Using his plasma, I cut out the windows needed, then headed back to my place to mount everything up.

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I ran out of welding wire, so I will pick some up today after work then get these finished up.

On the backside, I took another piece of 1/8" plate and "formed" it around the mount, as I don't trust just one side.

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Not the best, but I think it should hold. The Dring mounts were from Barnes4x4. I really wish they were a little longer (story of my life), but I bought them, so I was going to install them.

Also got my front case shifter hole silenced. There was nothing to keep the metal shifter rod from dragging across the hole in the floor, so it would screech about a bajillion times every time I took it out. Not anymore. Had the shift knob from Kristy's old TJ project, so I just threw that on there.
 






Finished up the back bumper this weekend.


Finish welding everything in on the backside, then cleaned up my welds a bit
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You can see where the dimple-died panel is 2 pieces. Also wrapped 1/8" plate around the D-ring mounts. Hopefully they will not rip off
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It isn't perfect, but I have about 30 bucks in it, not including welding wire/gas. Hopefully my next one will look a little better. It fits really well, but not the prettiest

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I didn't get a picture in paint, as it wasn't dry yet. Went with black to match the front rather than tan
 






finally bolted the bumper back on. Looks crook-ed, but its just the picture.

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I'm probably the only other forum member that has a license plate similar to yours, (mine just has Army logo) and then I personalized mine to read 10 MTN.

Nice bumper, but I really dig the mural on the back.


Thanks!

I think Keeper0311 has a vet plate has well. He's a marine ground pounder
 






Looks great man! About how much has your new bumper improved departure angle over the stock one do you think?
 






Man this thing is getting better and better ! , The Mural Is Awesome , And Again Thank You for Serving our Country ! :salute:
 






Looks great man! About how much has your new bumper improved departure angle over the stock one do you think?

Thanks man. Honestly, no clue. I mainly wanted it because the old bumper that dan built was wide to help keep the body panels straighter. Well, the trails here are REALLY tight, so the rear bumper would catch on everything on the sides. The new design is to fit to the body better.

Edit: Went and tried to find some pics for ya


Stock one I found online:
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This truck Before:
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After:
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Man this thing is getting better and better ! , The Mural Is Awesome , And Again Thank You for Serving our Country ! :salute:

Always man! :usa:

I love taking it out memorial day weekend as well so people remember what cost their BBQ day was...:salute:
 



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WHOA this is way outdated!

well, i traded the truck off in July 2013 for a small block ford powered Jeep, which turned out to be a raging pile of junk, so I stripped it and scrapped it.
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Then at the end of March 2014, I went and bought the Explorer back.
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Then I built a new front bumper
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added some rock rings
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Put LEDs in for the headlights
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went wheeling
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