Prerunner/weekend toy Explorer

I have a thread up in modified 95-01 Explorers, but since mine is mainly off-road I figured it would be more suitable to have a thread in here.

What I am working with

97 2wd Explorer 4 door with 5.0L V-8

Front suspension: 14" Wheel travel

Modified LCA to accept a 1" uniball as the outer pivot then boxed in accordingly. Custom UCA with 7/8" heim as outter pivot and 3/4" heim on frame pivots. Fabtech lift spindle tapped out for the heim and drilled knuckle for a 7/8" on the outter tie rod as well. Fox twin tube bypass shocks as well as a 2.0 body air shock per side assist the stock torsions with spring rate. Fox hydraulic bump stop off of the UCA

Rear suspension: 18" wheel travel

62" race leaf springs by Deaver with custom 12" long shackles. 18x2.5 triple bypasses by Fox though the wheel wells.

Other:

Baker 8" front fenders with FIberwerx 8 " fiber glass rear panels. Front and rear bumpers with a 2" rollcage threaded throughout still in the making. Fullsize axle out back with 4.56 gears and a L/S. 35x12.50 BFG Baja TAs and some Pro comp rims to hit the ground running.

 

[danwaters]

nah. Itll be nice. Its a pain in the ass to take it off and adjust it. The actuator will be like a walk in the park!

 

[Brandon96]

I know what you can do..
(remember I'm no expert in the electronics field)

BUT, you could some how rig it to your speedo so the rack adjusts to your speed.. you know kinda how all the new German cars have the 'auto-leveling' headlights?

now THAT would be baad.

 

[danwaters]

haha. Wild idea. Its nice to be able to adjust it electronically because with changes in terrain or going to different deserts you usually need to see different distances. Ill get it figured out.

 

[danwaters]

Just hooked up my GPS to see what it was all about. Going to clean up the wiring and decide where to mount it this week.

 

[corkey]

i run a Lowrance in my Explorer too, if you get the map create discs they have the topo for all of the US and Canada on them, so not only would they show you roads, but also the changing terrain in contour lines,,

 

[2TimingTom]

This thing is..... uh..... awesome!

Subbin for action pics/vids.

 

[danwaters]

i run a Lowrance in my Explorer too, if you get the map create discs they have the topo for all of the US and Canada on them, so not only would they show you roads, but also the changing terrain in contour lines,,

Nice thanks. Ill look into that. Im going to take it out this weekend so it'll be the first time playing with the GPS at all.

 

[King$nake]

this thing is so badass beyond description. I have a 98 4dr 2wd 5.0 like yours so this is definitely inspiring. Really digging the all white. Any videos of it? Would like to hear the exhaust

 

[danwaters]

Thanks, the sound clips don't do justice at all. I don't have any video of it at its current state besides a you tube vid from my buddies gopro camera. It was his first trip out to Glamis so we were kinda just putting around, but in the first half of the vid you see the Explorer a little.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDemP19pop4

I am currently rebuilding the front end using a 2.5x12 Fox coilover and a 12x2.5 Fox tripple bypass using Dana 35 hubs to handle the 35' tires better. It will be about 3.5 inches wider than it is now. We also plan on running a Chevy HD hydro brake booster to 86 the Ford unit that will be in the way of the shock mounts. Shooting for 22" of wheel travel.

 

[danwaters]

Got some more goodies to start the new front end!
All I am waiting on are the custom machined D35 snout blocks to start designing the spindles and this thing should take off quick!

Fox 12x2.5 three tube bypasses and 12x2.5 dual rate coilover

All my hardware including 6 3/4" heims, 2 1" heims, 2 1.5" uniballs, and 2 1" uniballs. All stainless FK bearings.

New rotors and bearings/seals for the Dana 35 hubs we're building the front end with.

 

[NWOff-Roader]

Great looking Explorer!

 

[crazyflights]

This thing is sweet lets see more pics of the front end work being done

 

[danwaters]

more goodies, can start designing now

 

[tvalentino]

bad ass ride

 

[danwaters]

Heres the start of my new spindle uprights using the dana 35 snout block

 

[tonyroc14]

WTF?!?! thats insane! Good work man!

 

[King$nake]

any updates on your truck dan?

 

[Shooey_]

Has the word "badassness" been thrown out there yet?
There's some badassness happening here!

 

[Josh S.]

Lookin sweet man!

 

[danwaters]

Spindles are done, lower fixtures are done and the lowers are tacked together. Now we have to cut the top of the frame off with all the factory UCA mounts are and make new mounts lower and further in than factory. Overall extended width over stock arms will be 5.25 " per side so 10.5" total. Expecting 20 inches of wheel travel bumped and strapped off. I also got a new tranny rated for peak 600 hp and a 331 stroker kit. Shopping for new heads and a cam builder. My wallet aint empty yet , but I cant imagine it being full by the end of this! haha