New 2002 Explorer Sport Trac Owner - Plenty of Questions!

[kaczman]

Hello all,

Long time lurker, I have a few posts on here. I originally bought a 2001 Explorer Sport a month ago for my winter car - it had 4x4, leather, sunroof, 6 disc, etc. Great truck, but the more I looked at the Sport Tracs, the more I became obsessed with them. I love the functionality of a full SUV 4X4 with a small utility bed in the back. Well yesterday I sold the explorer sport, and picked up an 02 Sport Trac. Its fully loaded with everything but leather: 4x4, Sunroof, some very aftermarket looking Pioneer cd player (which I guess is stock, with a subwoofer, per the original window sticker,) and I wanted to show off what I did, and I have some questions.

First, here are some pictures of when I got it.

Obviously the first thing I wanted to do was turn that goofy gray trim into black. Looks much nicer:

Now here come the questions. I've did plenty of searching, and came up with multiple results, so any help would be great.

I plan on taking out this "Pioneer Edition" blue LED lid radio and putting in an aftermarket nav. Do I need a special wiring harness that goes to the sub or anything? Or is it like a standard radio and I can wire the speaker channels directly to the radio?

I bought 3k HIDs for the fogs and 6K HIDs for the lights. Do I need a bypass harness for the fogs? I saw a few people saying they were blowing fog light fuses with them, but cant find which harness is needed to correct it.

I plan on putting in an aftermarket remote start and keyless entry alarm. Do I need a special bypass, if so which one?

Ive seen the thousands of threads on lifting. is a 3" body lift the most economical option for a cheap small lift? What about shackles and torsion keys?

Thanks in advance for all your help, its great to be a part of this community!

 

[bdmaash]

Hello all,

.....big pictures....

Now here come the questions. I've did plenty of searching, and came up with multiple results, so any help would be great.

I plan on taking out this "Pioneer Edition" blue LED lid radio and putting in an aftermarket nav. Do I need a special wiring harness that goes to the sub or anything? Or is it like a standard radio and I can wire the speaker channels directly to the radio?

I bought 3k HIDs for the fogs and 6K HIDs for the lights. Do I need a bypass harness for the fogs? I saw a few people saying they were blowing fog light fuses with them, but cant find which harness is needed to correct it.

I plan on putting in an aftermarket remote start and keyless entry alarm. Do I need a special bypass, if so which one?

Ive seen the thousands of threads on lifting. is a 3" body lift the most economical option for a cheap small lift? What about shackles and torsion keys?

Thanks in advance for all your help, its great to be a part of this community!

look online for harness adapters for the radio, there will be different ones depending on what's in the truck. If you feel like hacking up the existing wiring in the truck go ahead also.

relay harness's are good for HIDs, startup currents can be high depending on the ballasts, if you ballast is thicker than 1/2" then most likely it's startup current is high. Some of the slim ballasts ballasts have up to 7A startup current each (14A) that should be able to blow a 15A fuse.

If you buy an alarm worth buying, it will recommend the proper bypass required for the truck and that is compatible with the alarm.

....too bad the search feature must be broken or you could have found the answers yourself.

 

[Clusterpup]

Congrats on the new ride. The cheapest lift is a tortion twist and shackle lift. You just have to buy the shackles for the rear and get an alignment on the front after you tighten the tortion bars. The body lift isn't too expensive (about $300) but it is by no means a quick lift. It's a lot of work. I know two guys who are both mechanics that did one on an ST when the it was only about a year old and it took them all day, until about 11pm to finish. Me, it took me 3.5 full days.

 

[MidnightRebel07]

Nice looking Trac man, did you use Satin black like I did?

I'm not sure about all the electrical questions youasked simply because I haven't messed with all that stuff. I do have a aftrermarket Pioneer H.U. but no sub yet.

About the small lift I can answer. The most economical small lift would be Warrior Products lift shackles, about $60-80 shipped depending on where you buy (private seller or dealer). For the front most have done a simple Torsion Twist (2wd upto 3" safely, 4wd upto 2" safely).

A Performance Accessories 3" body lift will help out alot with ground to body clearence and can be bought for around $150-400 depending on where you buy it.
Note: the kit for the Sport Trac's only list for '01-02 but fit '01-05.

You can get torsion keys but why spend the money when you don't have to. If your torsion bolts are close to being all the way up in you can buy a longer set from Todd over at Zabteck cheap.

Where at in Ohio you from, I'm in Pittsburgh, Pa..

 

[LONO100]

ive never seen the stock sub that comes in some tracs, but im sure there are a ton of audio guys on here that can answer your questions on it if you can find them. just search for threads involving the pioneer audio system and pm the guys who are posting on those threads. im sure someone will help you. if you want you can take a few pictures of the sub and its hook ups and i might be able to answer some of your questions. if you can find the specs on that stock sub and the amp that is powering it that would be even better. congrats on the trac, i love mine!

 

[kaczman]

look online for harness adapters for the radio, there will be different ones depending on what's in the truck. If you feel like hacking up the existing wiring in the truck go ahead also.

relay harness's are good for HIDs, startup currents can be high depending on the ballasts, if you ballast is thicker than 1/2" then most likely it's startup current is high. Some of the slim ballasts ballasts have up to 7A startup current each (14A) that should be able to blow a 15A fuse.

If you buy an alarm worth buying, it will recommend the proper bypass required for the truck and that is compatible with the alarm.

Thanks for your answers. I found The ballast is under 1/2", so I guess I'll try these first. Ive looked at a couple alarms online, but none show any proper bypass harness, since I think they are all different per each vehicle.

Congrats on the new ride. The cheapest lift is a tortion twist and shackle lift. You just have to buy the shackles for the rear and get an alignment on the front after you tighten the tortion bars. The body lift isn't too expensive (about $300) but it is by no means a quick lift. It's a lot of work. I know two guys who are both mechanics that did one on an ST when the it was only about a year old and it took them all day, until about 11pm to finish. Me, it took me 3.5 full days.

Thanks for that info. I will look into those as time goes on.

Nice looking Trac man, did you use Satin black like I did?

I'm not sure about all the electrical questions youasked simply because I haven't messed with all that stuff. I do have a aftrermarket Pioneer H.U. but no sub yet.

About the small lift I can answer. The most economical small lift would be Warrior Products lift shackles, about $60-80 shipped depending on where you buy (private seller or dealer). For the front most have done a simple Torsion Twist (2wd upto 3" safely, 4wd upto 2" safely).

A Performance Accessories 3" body lift will help out alot with ground to body clearence and can be bought for around $150-400 depending on where you buy it.
Note: the kit for the Sport Trac's only list for '01-02 but fit '01-05.

You can get torsion keys but why spend the money when you don't have to. If your torsion bolts are close to being all the way up in you can buy a longer set from Todd over at Zabteck cheap.

Where at in Ohio you from, I'm in Pittsburgh, Pa..

Thanks. I used gloss black, which obviously came out similiar to satin anyhow. I think it looks nice. Thanks for the info - do you recommend Warrior Shackles 131? Or 151? I just sent the 131's back I was going to put on my Explorer sport.... doh. Im from north olmsted, 20 minutes southwest of cleveland.

ive never seen the stock sub that comes in some tracs, but im sure there are a ton of audio guys on here that can answer your questions on it if you can find them. just search for threads involving the pioneer audio system and pm the guys who are posting on those threads. im sure someone will help you. if you want you can take a few pictures of the sub and its hook ups and i might be able to answer some of your questions. if you can find the specs on that stock sub and the amp that is powering it that would be even better. congrats on the trac, i love mine!

Thanks! I went back and double checked. Behind the rear drivers side seat there is a panel that opens into an amp. Below the rear drivers seat is a black box, with a subwoofer that fires downward. The wires going into it looks like a factory ford plug. Could this possibly be aftermarket? it has no marking on it or anything, but I noticed I couldnt put the drivers side rear seat down, probably because this subwoofer box is under it. Does this sound factory on these trucks?

 

[TmacTrac]

Thanks for the info - do you recommend Warrior Shackles 131? Or 151? I just sent the 131's back I was going to put on my Explorer sport.... doh.

The Shackles are Warrior 153, i think part number WAR 153. MidnightRebel knows for sure. But I'm pretty sure they are different.

Good looking Trac btw. And nice Caddy

 

[LONO100]

if you have time, take some pics of it and post it! take pics of all the connections, and where the wires feed. if you have specs or can read specs on the actual components that would be even better. hope we can help!

 

[MidnightRebel07]

Yep, the part # is 153 for the lift shackles.

 

[kaczman]

Thanks guys. Ill take pictures when I get the new harness and radio in.

I ordered the shackles.

 

[kaczman]

anyone know the correct bypass module for an 02 sport trac?

 

[TmacTrac]

Thanks guys. Ill take pictures when I get the new harness and radio in.

I ordered the shackles.

Next up: 3" Body Lift, Right?
Nothing seems to be holding you back. lol, im excited to see all your plans for this truck, good luck with everything!

 

[kaczman]

Thanks! Still trying to find the right bypass module....