Just got a 1994 Ford Explorer XLT!!! =) | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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Just got a 1994 Ford Explorer XLT!!! =)

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December 13, 2011
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Ok I guys, This is my first truck, My brother decided to give it to me, 109,876 miles on it....Basically I want to know the ins and outs, what kind of MODS should I be looking for?

We gave it a tune up earlier today, runs great it just looks kind of bland....

I plan on murdering it out (flat black), maybe raising it, getting some cleared headlights with HIDS, the lights one there now are foggy, custom billet grill etc....


Does anyone know where i can find rims like these? I know its a second gen explorer, but those would look great on a murdered out truck.

 



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i see those rims on craigslist all the time. in fact, i got mine from craigslist for a 200 bucks. those are actually cragar soft 8's. you can find a new set for under 400 bucks. congrats on the new ride.
 






Congrats. Be sure that if you retrofit your headlights with HIDs you do it the proper way and retrofit projectors inside of your new housings.

dreddog47 did a projector retrofit on his explorer, Here is the thread he made on it. Shows you how cheaply and easily it can be done, and it looks hundreds of times better and classier than any plug and play retrofit ever will.
 






Those would be Cragar Soft 8's, I have 15x8's with 4" b.s. and 33x12.50x15 GY DuraTrac's mounted on them.

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By the way, Crager Soft 8s look good on just about anything, not just trucks with flat black paint. :D
 






Big Thanks to the guys who responded, I will def be looking for these. I'm actaully going to the Junk yard this weekend to see what I can find.

Something weird happened today though, the Gas Guage stopped working lol, I figured it was the sender, maybe the fuel pump, we will see..
 






I think your truck looks good. I like the two tone red. Cut the chrome off the rear and make a bumper, add a rack and lights. Maybe a 2" BL and some bigger tires.
 






U think I can put the Crager Softs on without a raise right now? If so What tires do I get, I'm still in college so raising the car will probably come later.
 






congrats on the X. not quite sure what "murdered" is context indicates that it is good. Foxracin has a good thread on a build up. how competent are you of a mechanic?

I recommend, depending how serious you are and what you will be doing with it, but working out the mechanical mods like engine and tranny as well because nothing is worse then having a nice ride with a dead tranny.
 






congrats on the X. not quite sure what "murdered" is context indicates that it is good. Foxracin has a good thread on a build up. how competent are you of a mechanic?

I recommend, depending how serious you are and what you will be doing with it, but working out the mechanical mods like engine and tranny as well because nothing is worse then having a nice ride with a dead tranny.

Thats true, the only car I've worked on in my life was my 1994 Nissan Altima, It was my speedster lol, I've never really dealt with trucks, but I'm soaking up as much info as I can. I think I will try and find a service manual as well as an Haynes book.

and Murdered is flat matte black paint, just search google and you will get a better understanding.
 






flat and matte are two completely different finishes
 






"Murdered out" reffers to having your car be completely black no matter what finish. He's pushing twards the rob dyrdek murder (that's what I call it) which pretty much all of his vehicles are FLAT black all the way around top to bottom.

For the crager soft 8 wheels just get some 15x8 with 3.75" - 4" backspacing that will fit stock tires if yours are still stock on 15" wheels. look at your tires and on the side wall it will say some mumbo jumbo like mine say 32x11.5R15 that R15 is the Radius of your tire which refers to the Radius needed for your wheel, if it looks like 285/65/15 something like that ask someone else because I have no idea how to tell how big the tires are in those terms since I still am a newbbb.

You can do some pretty cheap lifts I'm in college also and I'm just working on a 2" lift right now and throwing 32's under my car Coil spacers, Add-a-leaf and 153 warrior shackles do wonders!
 






congrats on the new ride. Save yourself the hassle flat black doesn't look good when you do it yourself, I did and it looks like @$$!!!

Pay someone to do it right IF YOU MUST go this route. I only did this because I had a red shell, 4 brown doors and a 94 limited green bumper, I wish I hadn't done it now, because now I get to strip all the paint off (the flat black that is) before I repaint.

Here's my masterpiece...LMFAO
CIMG0173.jpg
 






I kind of agree with Mr Cribb. Flat black doesn't look good. Matte looks better. Although it looks like Cribb didn't lay down the coats evenly, making it worse.
The best way is to use a spray gun, black color coat, and flattener in the clear.

Mr Cribb, you probably don't have to sand it all off. Scuff it and spray flat clear over it.
 






Worse than that... Its flat black spray paint. Like I said earlier I did it because I was tired of the 4 different shades of red, 4 brown and tan doors and a green bumper. There's only $50 invested in this paint job.

After I sand it, I will primer it and repaint it red w/ tan bottom to go with the EB interior. (It was originally built as an XL model)
 






Aww Cribb, that's just tiger striping. Comes from not keeping the spray pattern even. Lots of things cause that, spraying at an angle to the surface, getting closer and further away.... though, it is hard to spray evenly using a rattle-can, since the pressure kind of pulsates or fades.

You can do an even paint job over a whole car using a rattle can, but it is tough. You can achieve better results easier using the cheapest HVLP you can find. A gallon of cheap urethane paint and hardener can be had for under or around a hundred bucks, or you can just go get some tractor paint, aka cheap acrylic, the same kinda stuff you get from a rattle can.

That said, matte looks better than flat in my opinion. I did a car flat black, regretted not going matte, so I repainted it 6 months later.... big waste of money and time to have to paint it twice.
 






Aww Cribb, that's just tiger striping. Comes from not keeping the spray pattern even. Lots of things cause that, spraying at an angle to the surface, getting closer and further away.... though, it is hard to spray evenly using a rattle-can, since the pressure kind of pulsates or fades.

You can do an even paint job over a whole car using a rattle can, but it is tough. You can achieve better results easier using the cheapest HVLP you can find. A gallon of cheap urethane paint and hardener can be had for under or around a hundred bucks, or you can just go get some tractor paint, aka cheap acrylic, the same kinda stuff you get from a rattle can.

That said, matte looks better than flat in my opinion. I did a car flat black, regretted not going matte, so I repainted it 6 months later.... big waste of money and time to have to paint it twice.

LOL @ not keeping an even spray pattern.... ummm well, here's three fail points for you 1) using spray paint, 2) did it outside w/ wind blowing, 3) hurried with the painting.

I have access to a shop with compressors and paint guns, when time and money permits, I will do it right. Until then it is what it is... it's one color that's all I can say for it.
 






I'm not knocking it. I've seen much worse believe me. I know it's better than the clown car scheme. Besides, It's yours and (I assume) you love it. You should see one of my Rx7s, but I love her.

I was going to suggest you try to wet sand with 1000 and buff it. It might turn out matte and look way better. I don't think it would hurt to try just one panel first before dedicating 3-4 hours. I realize you are going to repaint it. I was just thinking it's easy and couldn't hurt. I think of things like that for myself all time. Doesn't mean I do it.
 






LOL @ not keeping an even spray pattern.... ummm well, here's three fail points for you 1) using spray paint, 2) did it outside w/ wind blowing, 3) hurried with the painting.

I have access to a shop with compressors and paint guns, when time and money permits, I will do it right. Until then it is what it is... it's one color that's all I can say for it.

where did you get your tailights from?
 



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where did you get your tailights from?

From a guy who had a 94 limited being parted out because the trans died, however if you look in the LMC truck catalog they're in there for a MUCH higher price than what I paid for mine.
 






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