MrQ's Red Flyer

[MrQ]

Ok here we go...

I really detest the Goodyear Wranglers (another Walmart Special) that I have on there now. They are noisy on concrete and are literally dangerous on wet roads. Yesterday I was trying to stop quickly and I nearly slid into the back of another vehicle. They have very little traction wet and their tread pattern makes them only average dry. Thank goodness we don't get very much snow down here.

From the looks of the 32's I should be able to fit them with minimal issues. The clearances seem alright. Somehow I still think those 2wd coils made the difference upfront with the ride height. Anyway, I am just going to mount 'em and use them daily. I'll only switch back to the Wranglers when I run the tread off these.

 

[gmanpaint]

I would get a 2"-3" body lift before you try to fit those 32". Or a 5.5" suspension lift.

3" BL, and you might not have to trim the front fenders. Rears will fit with no problem.

The problem is when you turn the front wheels it causes the outside of the tires to hit the fenders. Also when off road, there is a night / day dif in characteristics of articulation. What may work on pavement, does not always work off road.

Now those being an 11.5" tire will help some in this, but I'm not convinced they will fit with no rub. Wheel Back spacing will play a big role as well. I assume your going to use the stock wheels. Be careful with a 7" wheel & a 11.5" tire. This is not recommended, but yet people still do it.

Be prepared to break out the sawzall or the cutting wheels to make them fit AND work properly.

 

[yellowford]

Along with what gman said you may have to do some trimming, I was able to trim enough to fit 33's without any lift for about a week till my leveling coils came. With the stock wheels you shouldn't rub anywhere when turning, my 33x12.50s only rub on the radius arm at full lock.

Kind of surprised you have that much trouble with those wranglers, had some that came with my old v8 ex and they weren't too bad the sidewall was horrible but they did amazing in the snow compared to all of the mud tires I've had since then.

 

[MrQ]

Key words there are mud tires. They did great on loose sand and were decent in mud, but the dry and wet pavements are not their strong suits.

I guess, I'll look into a body lift gman. I really don't want to trim the fenders.

 

[MrQ]

As a side note this truck is going to be a pavement queen for a while longer until we set up a decent Texas run. HHMike and I are going to be doing something in December, but that is still up in the air when and where we are going. I am definitely thinking of using some junkyard rims for the 32's before I put them on. For some reason I really like the spare rims Ford put on these models,so now I gotta find 4 trucks with their spares still intact.

 

[Xeek]

i like em to. ive been thinking of doing the same thing

 

[MrQ]

Wow. I have just put nearly 2k miles on my truck in 2 weeks hot shotting for a delivery company and Red is tired. As you guys may or may not know I have worked as a part time produce clerk for Randall's since '08 getting minimal hours. Just recently I acquired another job working as a delivery driver for a hot shot company out of Dallas. It was because of these two jobs (and the lack of time and money therewith) that I found a third full time job working at a electronic manufacturing company. They are offering me full time with a starting pay of $10 an hour. By the end of this week I will have finished the produce and delivery jobs. Beginning on Monday I will start on the new one. Finally, I will be getting back on a regular schedule and start making consistent money. Also the Ram will be in my name within 2 weeks and hopefully its tranny problem fixed in 3.

Guess what that means!

By using the Dodge as my DD this allows for Red to go back under the knife. For the present, she will be getting coil spring spacers and an AAL for the rear so I can fit the 32's. I will then start modifying the interior a bit. My door panels have had it so I am going to rig up something that will stay put and work. I want to also add a small body lift farther on down the road to make way for a secret new mod that will breathe new life into this Explorer! Most of the experienced modders will get what I am going to do from the body lift reference, but for the rest of ya' it should be a surprise.

Saddle up gentlemen, its going to be quite a ride...

Oh and for those interested the new podcast will be up Wednesday.

 

[TexasArmadillo]

Have fun and don't hurt yourself. I hear knives are sharp.

 

[MrQ]

All plans have come to a halt. Red is dead in the water and is not going anywhere any time soon.

You know that new tranny I put in? It blew up on the highway doing 65. I promised myself, that if this tranny failed, come hell or high water I was going to put in an M5OD. Well, since hell came first I have a new job to add to the growing list of issues with this explorer.

It needs:
New transmission
New ball joints
New Radius arm brackets
New radius arm bushings
New rotors
Find and fix a brake fluid leak
Replace a freeze plug or two on the engine
Find where all my oil is going and fix it
Figure what is making me lose coolant, possible radiator fix there.
Fix the passenger and driver side door panels
Get an alignment
Replace door speakers
and so on...

I'm tired of repairing issues and plugging leaks. To borrow from gman

The "nickle & dime me to death" has begun

 

[Hitchhikingmike]

Geeze man, you will almost be building a new truck from the ground up! I've come across some good deals on CL for 2nd gen 5.0Ls .

Can I get you to come to the dark side? IFS is precise in the city and drives straight and true on the highway. 5.0L, 4r70w, all wheel drive, IFS great combination! Just broken in @ 216k miles . You can use it to tow the dodge around too A few cranks of the torsion bars with some shackles and you have a 4" lift

http://houston.craigslist.org/cto/2070625128.html

 

[Hitchhikingmike]

... orrrr just rip out the drive train and stick it in red!

 

[Hitchhikingmike]

hang in there! at least you have the dodge avaliable to get you around while you build red back up.

 

[reapereviltwin]

As Mike says Dan, hang in there, you have came a hellova long way on Red already, you'll make it.

 

[MrQ]

Don't know why I locked this?? :scratch: But anyway I forgot to add that if anyone on the forum is also interested in Red my PM box is open.

Thanks

 

[rookieshooter]

Sorry to hear all this. Hope all things work out for ya.
Don't forget us.

 

[Hitchhikingmike]

You've got college coming up, will need to be focusing on that, work and not vehicles and you need a reliable vehicle. Circumstances don't always allow us to do what want we want done. Sometimes the logical choice is obvious, but hard to make. But you've got to do what will help yourself the most.

 

[Joe Dirt]

Agreed- priorities first. Not to worry- the forum will be around when you're rich and itching for a project.

No reason to totally leave Dan!

 

[MrQ]

Not even thinking of it Joe. I enjoy this forum way too much to do that.

 

[Joe Dirt]

Does that mean a picture of the Ram jumping the same swale that Red did?

 

[Hitchhikingmike]

We can go right back to the same spot again to make it happen... Anyone else that wants to join us can come along too to get a pic of their truck flying.