? on Exterior accesories

[Kintar]

Hey all,

Just a quick question, more like I am looking for your opinions on a dilema I am having. I have a '96 Forest Green Explorer XLT and as of the moment it is all stock. Theres many things I would like to do with it but at the moment the highest priority is to add some exterior toys to make it stand out just a little more. This question pertains to Nerf bar/brush guards. I am planning on buying both however I dont know what color to get.

Ideally I would get chrome for it, although I live in MN and the salty winters would destroy those very shortly. I debated Black for those bars but was worried the dark bars and the dark paint would somehow just not look right. I eventually plan on buying rims for it and don't want those to look out of place. I cant make up my mind on Stainless steel however, because I am afraid they wont be as shiny as chrome and will give too dull a look.

I am looking for opinions from those who have added these items as to what would be the best color choice for a Forest Green vehicle as well as one that can stand up to MN winters and the salt it brings with it.

Thanks all,

 

[Lifted95X]

Damn winters...the salt has to eat up everything. Because of that....I would definately go with the black grill guard..the Manik ones are nice....and I would go with some polished aluminum rims. I think everything would go nicely.

 

[Fantasymon]

Ive got a black westin sportsman brushguard and chrome westin nerf bars....With a forest green explorer, you should go black on the brush guard. IMO, chrome would not look too good. I would then get chrome nerf bars. If you get black they will look just like factory. I got a pic in my signiture. Westin and Manik are both really good brands. Stainless steel will probley be better than chrome for nerf bars but theres not much difference in looks.

Hope this helps

Grant-P

 

[jimbo74]

stainless steel also has anti corrosive properties that chrome doesnt

 

[tbomb]

well, youre not gonna want polished wheels, theyre so high maintenance, and they get dull really fast. i would go with silver ones - in fact, this winter when i get new rims, im going with silver ones.

as far as brush guard and nerf bars go, why not get black ones then take em to a body shop and have em painted to match your green paint? i used to have a safari bar that i had painted to match the gray fender flares on my truck, and it looked awesome. you can check out my webpage for more pics of the safari bar www.personal.psu.edu/jmt204

good luck, and when youre done, post some pics

 

[Kintar]

Thanks for Replies

Hey all,

Thanks for the great suggestions, I am very new to the whole customizing scene and all these suggestions are just what I needed.

Grant, I have seen the pics of your Explorer and I think it is a great vehicle. You asked in one of your threads about your tail lights, the name escapes me atm and I am at work so must be quick, but I thought they were kick ass. Would I be able to get those for a '96 XLT? I looked but could not find any for my year.

Tbomb I learned alot from your thread about removing dealer stickers/nameplates cause I was wondering the same thing and now I know how to do that. This forum seems very helpful and trust me, that is greatly appreciated.

Lastly, anyone know of a good rim place to buy from? I.E. somewhere that I can browse their stuff on the web. All I know of is American Racing rims but I would like a bit more selection.

Thanks again!

 

[Fantasymon]

Hi,
I got those tail lights from www.pacificie.com . Mine are the Euro altezza's.
They are for 98-01. I dont think there are any out right now for your vehicle.
However they do sell just the plain clear ones for yours. I have seen a couple people with those on here and they looked pretty good. The main difference is the altezzas have the red in them and the plain clear are all clear.

Grant

 

[adambone]

Hey, www.tires.com has a pretty good selection of rims, with the extreme added benefit of having an "interactive wheel system" that lets you select your car and color thereof, then add whatever wheels (and in the sizes available) to see what they look like on your car. Granted, this isn't the most graphic-intensive web-site, but it is very helpful. Also, I highly recommend www.carparts.com for all of your exterior and interior modification needs. There you can select your exact make/model and engine to make selections easier; just don't get too many engine items there, as you won't find most of them. Also, for what it's worth, I choose to go with the "gloss black" items on my dark metallic blue '98 and I couldn't be happier with it. I also live near the beach and the salty air around here has yet to mess with it at all (still looking great and shiny, with very little maintance required).

 

[adambone]

2 quick things I forgot to mention: TBOMB is right about the polished wheels, I would definately go with silver for look and maintance reasons; and you can also find an incredible array of aftermarket parts at www.performanceproducts.com
Hope to see pics of another great X soon!