Lowered

[JarvisB]

Just thought I d share:

Today I managed to get the front end lowered. But it was one of the most "pain in the ass" job!

My brother and I tackled the job at 1 PM. We end up having to stop 3 different times and go to the store to get what we need. So we finally worked on the springs without stopping at 4 PM.

It was damn ridiculous, newer vehicles all of the bolts and nuts are hard to reach IMO. But like I said we managed to get the front end done. The first spring we worked on (front left) took us 3 hours, and then did the right one in one hour! trail and error lol.

So we will be tackling the rear end tomorrow! and we noticed that there are not much of room in the rear wheel wells, and the top nut is so hard to reach. Any advices?? I really hope that everything will go smoothly on the rear end tomorrow.

Any advices about the rear end would be appreciated! Thanks!

BTW I will get some pictures uploaded tomorrow I promise

P.S. Can anyone tell me what is a rear lower control arm inner bolt? I need to locate it so I can install the cambers tomorrow.

 

[JarvisB]

My brother and I gave up on the rear springs. There wasnt much of room behind the rear wheel wells and the bolts were rusted badly so we werent able to do any **** using wrench or whatever! We wanted to use socket wrench or impact gun, but they wont fit under there.

I was furious as hell that I had to give up on it.

As of now, explorer is at Midas getting the rear springs and camber adjusters done. I think I got a good deal though

Newer vehicles are pita to work with compared with old vehicles lol. My brother built 88-89 F-250 from scratch literally and he thinks it was easier than working with suspension of my 04 explorer lol.

P.S. I should be picking up my explorer within an hour.

P.S.S. Again, please move this thread to modified 02-05 explorer subforum. I apologize for the misplacement!

 

[JarvisB]

Any moderator here that is willing to move this thread to the correct place?

BTW, my explorer is officially lowered!! It is a difference of day and night! The handling is awesome; much less body roll and I feel like I m nearly driving a sports car lol.

Also I am not sure if I can tell the difference in ride quality?? It seems to be the same to me, maybe better, seriously. And the steering got so much better as well, it is like a cutting thru butter while steering(so smooth). not sure what helped the steering I will get back to you guys after I drive it some more.

It is too dark outside to take pictures so I will get the pictures tomorrow and I m going to get the TPMS installed into my 22s and then mount them on my X. Cant wait!

On Wednesday I am going to go and see the exhaust guy and hopefully get it done. Today I checked out my exhaust while it was on the lift at Midas, I have decided that I would like to run only one muffler since it seems to be cramped up in the back so I think one muffler with dual in and dual out should work pretty good. Also I would like to cut off the Y pipe and 3rd cat after o2 sensors and run dual 2.5" catback all the way to back (muffler, x pipe in the middle of course)

 

[JarvisB]

UPDATE: I just went to blockbuster and there were enough light near the explorer for me to snap a couple of pics with my BB so here they are:

More pictures tomorrow when sun is out! and when 22 is mounted

 

[BrianDye]

Wow that looks great man....good work! PITA jobs usually pay off

 

[JarvisB]

Thanks But trust me it is gonna look even better tomorrow after 22s are mounted up

and prolly even better after I get the exhaust done on Wednesday hopefully

 

[BrianDye]

Oh geez....makes me want a 3rd gen now LOL I dont think ill be able to handle those pics tomorrow

 

[JarvisB]

Oh geez....makes me want a 3rd gen now LOL I dont think ill be able to handle those pics tomorrow

Hey 2nd gens can be sick as well!

I loved my 95, only if it was a Limited and in a better condition, it would have been awesome but it was pointless to do it.

If your truck is decent enough, let the mod bug get into u? I m sure it already have lol.

 

[BrianDye]

Well it got into me, and then im whooping its ass back out lol because I know it will only cost me a **** ton of money that I dont have in the long run. Little stuff is okay haha but like right now id say lower it, then I get in my buddies truck with 35's and I say LIFT LIFT LIFT, so in general it would be in my best interest to just sell it LOL!

 

[zerodevil]

Im planning on doing hte ground force drop, is that the product you used? how does she ride? any stiffer?

 

[Sams01XplrSprt]

looks good

 

[JarvisB]

Well it got into me, and then im whooping its ass back out lol because I know it will only cost me a **** ton of money that I dont have in the long run. Little stuff is okay haha but like right now id say lower it, then I get in my buddies truck with 35's and I say LIFT LIFT LIFT, so in general it would be in my best interest to just sell it LOL!

Lol my bro got plenty of mud bog vehicles. He built a 87-88 F250 ground up and it got 42 inches tires on them and some lift. I think I have seen enough lifts so I went with the street look and I am pretty much a city boy, so street look is the way to go

Im planning on doing hte ground force drop, is that the product you used? how does she ride? any stiffer?

Hope this helps:

Also I am not sure if I can tell the difference in ride quality?? It seems to be the same to me, maybe better, seriously. And the steering got so much better as well, it is like a cutting thru butter while steering(so smooth). not sure what helped the steering I will get back to you guys after I drive it some more.

and yes they are Ground Force Springs.

looks good

Thank you

 

[JarvisB]

Went to Kan Rock Tire Co. this morning and had them remove the TPMS from my stock wheels and install them into my 22s. Mounted up the 22s as well.

I LOVEEEEE how it looks sexy as hell

pics:

now we finally can see how well the grilles flow along with my X and the rims!! hope you all enjoyed the pics!

I am going to do the brake job all around tomorrow morning before going to the exhaust shop.

And then after the exhaust job is done, I am going to rewire everything inside the X with new 1/0 and install speakers n etc to complete the interior. Possibly detail it afterwards.

P.S. I am thinking about painting the foglight bezels and the lower valence insert gloss black.. what do you guys think? should I do it or not?

 

[Limited02]

Wow, I don't know how I missed this thread? Jarvis, your ex is looking great man!!! I am very jealous and when things pick up later this summer, I'll hope to get mine dropped with a with the same grill as yours. I also think I may end up doing the black headlights and use 4th gen tails.

I would see about wiping the valane and fog bezle with some liquid ice from turtle wax because it'll be easier to do that than maintain what you paint. It'll chip and whatnot you know?

Keep it up and do us a favor, make a video clip of your exhaust before and after! That way we can hear the difference.

P.S. What muffler did you go with?
P.P.S. Maybe see about painting the mirrors silver?
P.P.P.S. You should give your ex a good detail, she deserves it!
P.P.P.P.S. Been a while since I have done the P.S. thing!
P.P.P.P.P.S. Okay, I'll stop now

 

[Tylers02]

P.S. I am thinking about painting the foglight bezels and the lower valence insert gloss black.. what do you guys think? should I do it or not?

Do it it will look alot better IMO. Loving the look of your ex. And here is a pic of when i painted my foglight bezel and lower valence gloss black.

 

[stuartr]

Wow that is killer man. I love the wheels. So how much to have the TPMS put into the wheels.

STU

 

[JarvisB]

Wow, I don't know how I missed this thread? Jarvis, your ex is looking great man!!! I am very jealous and when things pick up later this summer, I'll hope to get mine dropped with a with the same grill as yours. I also think I may end up doing the black headlights and use 4th gen tails.

I would see about wiping the valane and fog bezle with some liquid ice from turtle wax because it'll be easier to do that than maintain what you paint. It'll chip and whatnot you know?

Keep it up and do us a favor, make a video clip of your exhaust before and after! That way we can hear the difference.

P.S. What muffler did you go with?
P.P.S. Maybe see about painting the mirrors silver?
P.P.P.S. You should give your ex a good detail, she deserves it!
P.P.P.P.S. Been a while since I have done the P.S. thing!
P.P.P.P.P.S. Okay, I'll stop now

:bsnicker:

Yes, I cant get enough of looking at my explorer lol. Seriously I think the true duals are going to be like a cherry on the top of the ice cream just to complete it

I think I am convinced on painting the insert and the foglight bezels black. I just got Rustoleum all purpose paint from autozone in gloss black color. Seems like it is a good spray can so hope it wont chip or anything. I can always redo them I guess?

I'm not sure if I can fulfill your request of taking a sound clip of stock exhaust and after the custom true duals because I dont have digital camera but my brother just texted me and said he wants to go to the shop w/ me tomorrow so I might tell him to bring a digital camera and hope it captures sound pretty good. I will try my best

I want to go with flowmaster 70 series but I have not gone to the shop yet so I am not sure what do they have in stock, hopefully it is 70 series or something equivalent. I want dual in/out as well I think it is going to be much easier if I do that and prolly cheaper just like most ppl said.

Yes, I am thinking about painting my side mirrors silver, I will find out where I can get them painted.

I want to detail my explorer BUT I am driving back to Washington D.C. this Saturday or Sunday so I think I will just detail it when I am in D.C. since all of my detail work will go into trash after driving for 9 hours lol. But I definitely will detail the interior after I complete the interior this Thursday ot Friday.

Hope I have covered everything from your post lol.

Do it it will look alot better IMO. Loving the look of your ex. And here is a pic of when i painted my foglight bezel and lower valence gloss black.

I am convinced! I will do it either tomorrow or Thursday. How did you get the foglight bezels off the bumper? LMK thanks.

Wow that is killer man. I love the wheels. So how much to have the TPMS put into the wheels.

STU

Thank you, and Kan Rock Tire Co. stayed true to their words and charged me only 15 bucks per wheel for the TPMS installation. I only paid 60 bucks for the transfer of TPMS from stock wheels to 22s. They were smart, they just deflated the tires on my 22s and had their machine push the tire all the way down, just enough for them to gain access into the stems and install the TPMS. While Belle Tire and Discount Tire said they had to charge me over 200 because tires have to be completely off the wheel and then have them remounted, blah blah blah, all that is a BS!

They could not believe it when I told them Belle Tire wanted 50 bucks per wheel for TPMS installation.

I walked out of the door paying only 100 bucks for the TPMS installation plus balancing. I was pretty happy

 

[Tylers02]

Here you go Jarvis, I did a write up a while back. If you have any questions just let me know. http://explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=235320

 

[JarvisB]

helped a lot! thanks man

one question- did the quick nuts come with the valence?? because mine is sitting in there with nothing!!! I think I got to go to the store and buy me some quick nuts?

Is it called quick nuts? and what is it exactly?

Also what grit sandpaper did you use to sand/prep it?

 

[Tylers02]

Yes the quick nuts secure the valence and fog light bezels from the factory and im almost positive they are called quick nuts. They are just thin metal nuts that screw onto the plastic studs on the valence and bezel. Pretty sure the valence uses the same quick nuts as the foglight bezel so you could just take one off and take it to the auto part store. I think I started with 150 and ended with 2000 or 3000, just depends how smooth you want them.