Need to get rid of dead weight up Front

[rpenner54]

The question is, what all can I remove? I plan on running a HDD44 (Which isn't that HD) with some 36-37" tires. I want to remove as much stuff from the front end that I can. Even the back. Here is the kicker, I am not ready to remove the interior panels yet... LOL

What should I pull off to make this work?

I already have no front bumper...

 

[EMG7895]

What are you willing to sacrifice? a/c, winshield washer tank, fiberglass fenders etc.

 

[rpenner54]

Just about anything "useless" I would rather keep the a/c system more or less just for OBA. I wonder if Fiberglass really saves that much weight?

 

[RiverRat]

some things from my honda days....

remove a/c system, keep only a cup or two of fluid in the washer bottle, relocate and buy lightweight battery, wheels, aftermarket seats, remove air bags, remove carpet, insulation, speed control, drill holes in bumper, etc.

this all makes a big difference when your starting vehicle weight is around 2400lbs and you only have 120 ft-lbs or torque. Don't know what results you'll get with a hefty truck.

 

[glfredrick]

Truthfully, I am not sure how much weight you can remove from an Explorer unless you are dedicated to making it a pure trail machine.

If that is the case, start gutting...

I guess you could pull off stuff like the antilock brake system, replace the cast manifolds with headers, pull the cats (off road only), and perhaps get rid of some extra stuff - go lightweight glass, etc. but that is about all.

There is a difference in the glass parts and the steel ones - but there are also two different types of glass - stock replacement (thick) and race skins (thin). The race skins will save you lots of weight, but they need to be supported and do not look all that great. Again, a trail only item.

I might consider relocating the battery to the rear hatch area, that will instantly move about 50# and also shift the weight bias to give more uphill dig. I have found that some properly applied weight to the rear of the vehicle makes a great difference in hill climbs.

 

[merc2dogs]

It's realy a pain to figure out what you can pull off, once you've stripped all the un-needed items, you'll find that moving things will make the front lighter without actually lowering weight, moving everything you can from outside the wheels to somewhere between the axles will reduce the effective weight because of leverage and inertia, 10 pounds above the axle is 10 pound of weight, the same 10 pounds 1 foot away from the axle exerts 10 ft pounds of force, (in addition to the 10 pounds of weight) the same weight 2 feet away exerts 20 foot pounds, making the front or rear heavier in reaction, bouncing etc, than it would be if placed between the wheels.
placing weight behind the rear axle will lighten the front, at the expense of making it tail heavy.

My trucks always end up stripped, with the heavier things moved between the wheels, preferably just ahead of the rear axle to balance out the truck.

ken.