ld50 Explorer mods revisited

[ld50]

More on the Warrior skidplates

Warrior is going to make me a new set of plates with the mount moved in one inch.
I am trying to convince them to move them up because I am bending the mounts and scraping the heck out of my shocks. We`ll see.

Check out what`s happening:

 

[ld50]

bending a bit:

 

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-I am also making my engine compartment less susceptable to water, since alot gets thrown in there when I go through even shallow water. I`ll throw up more pics when I`m done, but here is my first addition:

the plate is just a sheet of fiberglass, and I have some garden edging attached behind my sway bar. I just have to cover the holes in my wheel wells now, and maybe some more playing with the edging.

 

[ld50]

Well I decided to get my A/C fixed and retrofitted to the new system before my trip this friday (Vancouver Island).
It may have a negative effect on new goodies I want because apparently my evaporator has a leak.
It`s going to end up costing me over $700 CDN.

I had been looking at a Ramsey 8000 receiver hitch winch setup that they just got on one of the trucks at work. It`s really sweet, even the lettering is blue to match the truck. I decided that I will PROBABLY go that route, since I could take it right off when I don`t need it, and not worry about it getting ripped off.
Anyway, I`ll have to recuperate from the A/C bill first. before attacking any new project,

My Island trip should be very awesome, and I`ll be sure to put up a bunch of pics, they don`t call it beautiful BC fer nuthing!

 

[ld50]

I`m back, with a story to tell. I hope I`m not cluttering up the modification thread by doing this, but it does help to see what my current setup is capable of before deciding what else is next.

Putting my home to my back early friday morning, I headed for Horsehoe bay Ferry terminal, packed with camping gear, my son, my brother, and my backroad mapbook. Destination: Nanaimo, then Courtenay, BC

 

[ld50]

The carrier on top, although prividing storage for all our bedding, put me overheight, which made the cost to ride, $70 and change (CDN). Without it, cost is $50.
I will not bring it to the island again.
-7ft is the height you want to be below-

First night we stayed at a friend`s in Courtenay. Next
morning we headed out with him along. I wanted to find some caves that were on my map, which depended on a gate being open. The inland island highway took us to an exit by the Oyster river where we found the gate to be closed due to extreme fire hazard.


So we crossed the river and headed towards Mt Washington, which has a lot of logging roads and abandoned roads too.
These roads are all called "main" for some reason, so somewhere along the Pigget Main I checked out this trail which was not really very satisfying. It was one of those west coast trails that leads you on with nice open areas visible in the distance, but demands a run through paint-hungry branches to get there.

 

[ld50]

There were some minor rough spots to test the truck.

 

[ld50]

But those branches were getting bad. I was gripped with a need to see this trail lead somewhere interesting, but all I got was a big pile of dirt and a trail that just petered out.

I got out of there and found a cool little trail that was quite easy and long, taking us from one main road:

 

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to another .

 

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Then we ended up camping on the shore of Wolf Lake.


We went back to my friend`s in the morning, shed all the gear except my toolbox and some essentials, and headed for a trail I was recommended to try. The Boston Main near Comox lake.
It was a good trail, and was a highlight of the trip, since it was the only real challenge so far. It started out with some steep rocky stuff and then went into a dark valley which was packed with undergrowth, which was cool, then got rocky and rutted for most of the way after..
Here`s the first of
a two-part action shot sequence on a steep part:

 

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And then through a big dip and a quick steep climb out. My son was spotting.

 

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As soon as my rear tires got in that rut, I believe I had only one front tire down, and I spun the tires. I had to get a bit of a run at it to get through.

It started to rain while we were up there, and you shoulda seen the grin on my face coming down in the cloud shadow, trying to remember myself coming up, so I would know where to best go.

Here`s the entrance to the Boston from the Comox. Small sign.

 

[ld50]

Another cool thing about the Boston Main was the terrain changes. From the open areas like you just saw, to dark overgrow areas like below:

 

[ld50]

Next day was a long one. we took back roads towards Port Alberni and tried to find a waterfall along the way. It was supposed to be on BR73, we couldn`t find it, but the road had a really cool stream crossing (my first big one)that I didn`t get a picture of (no one wanted to wade through for me) We found a really cool swimming spot along the river that must of had the falls along it, but thats it.
The rest of the trip gave me lots of experience with freeway driving with my rig, since we went toTofino and then Long beach, which is at least 2hrs and 40 mins from Courtenay, by highway.
It was a very windy road in parts, and I had no rear Sway bar, remember.

I`ll post more on how the ex handled and my thoughts about it in the next post.

 

[ld50]

Thoughts are:

- Rear sway bar is permanantly off now.

It is a little hairy when the locker breaks loose on a sharp curve, but It is not a huge deal. I love how the rear tires were able to articulate so much on rough stuff. It felt as though they were solidly on the ground through everything. If I did another mod to the rear it would be The Zimmerman, with long travel shocks, but first...

-Front suspension is so stiff!

I never disconnected the front sway, to see how that would feel, but I know I had a tire off the ground when I lost traction that time. Another time, I had to get through this ditch with a big rock in the middle of one side. I had to approach until one front tire was in the air for a few seconds, until the truck leaned over enough to get the tire on the ground, frightening my passengers. It felt a little strange for me too!
So I have to think about what to do to the front, which may include losing the spacer and buying longer coils. I`m going for a quick overnighter(Harrison hot springs) this weekend and promise to unhook the front swaybar and see how it is, instead of being lazy.
I`ll see how that feels.

-Ex is a dog on long, heavily loaded trips.

With all that weight, after a couple hours the ex seemed to have less power than the beginning. It wanted to stall when trying to start off uphill and just seemed to lag alot. I left it in 4 lo for a while when we were searching for a camp site cuz it sucked otherwise.
Sure would be nice to have a V8. I think I will replace the exhaust soon with something better, and look into a larger TB and a performance chip. I even wonder if I should have gone to 4.56 gears, but it`s still a tough call, cuz it`s great when not loaded with so much stuff, and the highway would suck more gas.

-I wish I could afford a GP unit.

It would have been awesome to see a layout of our path to compare to my map. I found that I kept going further than I thought we were on the map, and was confused alot when I couldn`t find a road sign to reassure me.



All in all I had a great time, and it was a laugh to hear my buddy from Courtenay continuously say "no, you can`t get through there, no way, we`ll get stuck!" LOL, especially on the stream crossing, he insisted that we would be stuck right in the middle, the tires would dig down, water would start to push us down stream, etc. It wasn`t even that deep, maybe 2" at most, and slow moving too, 1st gear lo all the way.

 

[ld50]

More on those Warrior shackles.
Tecnically only three outings through rocky terrain with them on and pic says it all:

No good for shocks!

Stopped to air down before the trail got rough, and got a surprise. Luckily I reattached it to what was left of the threads. See, they tell you in the flyer that if the part that the shock mounts to gets bent, you can unscrew them and buy new ones. They don`t realize that the part it screws into is too thin.

 

[ld50]

dang.... 35 posts and they are all yours.... i sure hope you deleted the original thread... this is killing ricks bandwidth! with threads like this, you will easily surpass aldive in top posters in no time....

Mua ha ha.
- hey, I asked the moderators if it was okay, The old one will be gone shortly.. Besides isn`t this what "Rick`s bandwidth" is for?

-oh yeah, have fun deleting your notification emails tomorrow, I`m on a roll!

 

[ld50]

I read today about the "accelerator cable mod" I did it and there was so much play there that I fit three zap straps on it to tighten it up. I can`t wait to see if I can open up that throttle plate more now!

In case YOU haven`t seen it. (can`t believe I never stumbled accross it myself)

Your pedal has a bit of play that may increase over time, making the pedal hit the floor before you get the throttle fully open. You just put straps on the end of the cable at the top of the pedal lever. Also increases throttle response they tell me.

-Came back here to comment on it. It does bring the pedal up higher, but as far as more to the floor oomph, I don`t see it. I also realize that I don`t usually floor it anyway. I do like it a little higher tho`-

Ya gotta love this site man!

 

[ld50]

I haven`t really mentioned how much lift I have gained so far so it`s actually a good question!
I took some pics of the ex with a big ruler resting on the bumpers to have a visual record of how it sat when stock. I could only find one at the front bumper though. But here:

Stock front height to bottom of bumper:

18 & 3/8 inches

Height now:

22 & 3/4 inches

Total front lift:

4 & 3/8 inches

Rear height now, to bumper:

22 & 1/2 inches

So this is with 2" spacer and add-a-leaf & going to a 31 inch tire.
Also the rear got probably an extra inch at least from the Warrior shackle I installed.

 

[ld50]

New mod coming for early in September!

I`m kind of excited
I was thinking about how to get the tires out further from the truck for two reasons:

- At full stuff my rear tires rub the inner wheel wells, which not only sucks, but prohibits me from going to a taller, or wider tire.

- I think the truck will be much more stable if it has a wider stance, which will allow me to be a little more confident when off-camber.

So I had two choices here, other than seriously modifying my axles. I could get off-set rims, or wheel spacers.
Now alot of people are dead against spacers, and argue that they put a strain on your drivetrain, make you sterile, give you Cancer, etc, blah, blah.
I did however see some of the hardcore wheelers explain that you will still have the extra strain whether you use spacers or offset rims. The secret to good spacers is to get a really well-made set that bolt on to your studs, with studs to fasten your wheels to.

I have ordered my spacers through http://www.performancewheel.com/index.cfm
I wouldn`t say they are a cheap alternative, but I like the look of my rims and don`t need the hassle of selling them or trying to store them.
One of the "cons" of the spacers is all the nuts to remove to look at the rear brakes or front hubs, but I can live with that.

I had to decide how much spacing I wanted and went for 1 & 1/2 inches. This, I figure, would easily keep the rear tires out enough, with room to go to at least maybe 32 x 11.5 tires if I want.

Points I learned about this brand of spacer are:

-You PROBABLY need at least 1 & 1/4 to clear the original studs without trimming some thread off, but don`t quote me.

- They are made from 6061 billet aluminum, which is nearly twice the strength of the 6063 aluminum other manufacturers use. (in layman`s terms they are strong man, strong like bull!)

I am going to research fender flares now to find out what I should get, since I have decided on adding some, so watch for these mods in early September!

If you`re wondering about my skidplate shock mount dillemma, I am still WAITING for my replacement set, and I am getting tired of the anticapation of checking my mailbox for nothing, let me tell ya!


I think I have the modification all figured out for them now..

On another note, I saw a cool looking lifted, red Ex today. I think it had 35 inch tires and it looked sweet, but it was a ways ahead of me so I couldn`t get a good look. Then I got caught by a light, so I lost it!
I have yet to have a good look at another modified Ex in person, if you can believe it! All I`ve seen is pictures for crying out loud. Must be a laugh for alot of you Explorer enthusiasts who go on runs together.