Project Vulture

[EB4X]

Explorer - 1
Tree - 0

 

[DintDobbs]

Well, it's been a long time coming, but after owning The Vulture for almost 7 years, her brakes are finally worn down enough to warrant replacement.

Power Stop K1855-36 is on the shopping list, just waiting for my tax return now.

Also somewhere in the endgame plan is a steel front bumper. The idea is to take a Westin TrailBlazer (specifically, 42-2005) and have the brackets reworked to properly mount on my Ex. I've seen one other EF user succeed at this, although I've lost his username; the width seems perfect on his, but I can't confirm the actual dimensions. I'll have to figure out what to do with the fog lights, but all of this will come in its time. If anybody has any recommendations on bumpers, I'm all ears, but Westin comes highly recommended by the locals.

 

[Rick]

I think @RockRanger may have a weldup bumper kit.

 

[Turdle]

Which can be customized as you want, before paint.



Customizing a pre made bumper means stripping powdercoat to get as good finish.

 

[DintDobbs]

@Rick Thanks! I believe that I've seen it. Somewhat more or less like this one, right?

1998 and up weld together winch bumper.

I built this bumper for the newer rangers and figured a few of you might want to see it. This bumper bolts to the factory bumper mounts. I start with a tape measure paper pencil and bunch of head scratching. Then I transfer it all to the computer into a cad program and eventually cut it my...

www.explorerforum.com

That's an outstanding design, but I'm looking for more of a baja-style bumper, something lightweight, like Josh C., Lefy, Mounty71, and particularly PAExplorer had. I have pics, but essentially they all look like the Westin TrailBlazer (with or without stingers of various sizes - I don't need a stinger, but mounting lights behind it would protect them).

I'm thinking to integrate the front trailer hitch receiver into the final bumper design, welding a couple of tubes between the bumper and the receiver for extra support. If anybody has any reasons that this isn't a good idea (convenience of removal notwithstanding), hit me with 'em. It might end up being cheaper to have a full custom job than it would be to modify the Westin. I'm not in a hurry to get this done.

 

[DintDobbs]

Power Stop K1861-36 (Z36 Truck & Tow) on order.

 

[DemonMudder]

Power Stop K1861-36 (Z36 Truck & Tow) on order.

That'll be good! Should make a great upgrade, let us know how that goes! Just did the same to my rado the other week! Came out looking so perty! Well worth it, especially once I get my upgraded MC in, might not hurt to swap yours too, definitely doesn't hurt if ya feel like it! Now I want to look into better brakes for the Xploder...I got a whole kit like yours to go in that I never got to throw on, yet, so maybe I'll look into the other brake related items...

 

[Fix4Dirt]

That'll be good! Should make a great upgrade, let us know how that goes! Just did the same to my rado the other week! Came out looking so perty! Well worth it, especially once I get my upgraded MC in, might not hurt to swap yours too, definitely doesn't hurt if ya feel like it! Now I want to look into better brakes for the Xploder...I got a whole kit like yours to go in that I never got to throw on, yet, so maybe I'll look into the other brake related items...

View attachment 452004

View attachment 452005

rip death row still in the background waiting to be revived

 

[DemonMudder]

rip death row still in the background waiting to be revived

Oh I'm working on it, doing some accessory projects I had in plans, but this summer..! But that'll be gotten into on my thread, not here lol
Very interested to see how well they do on his, since mine didn't get them in yet!

 

[DintDobbs]

@DemonMudder Now that's a thing I'm going to leave good enough alone. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Having a spare at this age might not be a bad idea, but it's not leaking (somehow).

Those are definitely better brakes for handling those fat rubbers. Nice tread pattern, those wide lateral ridges oughtta take care of mud and sand.

 

[DemonMudder]

@DemonMudder Now that's a thing I'm going to leave good enough alone. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Having a spare at this age might not be a bad idea, but it's not leaking (somehow).

Those are definitely better brakes for handling those fat rubbers. Nice tread pattern, those wide lateral ridges oughtta take care of mud and sand.

That's completely fair! And usually that tule works perfectly for the MC, a spare definitely ain't a bad idea though! But as said, never got my rotors and all in on the X so I'm real interested to see what ya think of yours!

Oh they do help, that mc upgrade, whenever I decide to finish, will be 10x better, the oem one in my rado wasn't known for being real good lol
Which as said, makes me curious about the X mc options...

 

[DintDobbs]

Had minor qualms about ordering the K1861-36 after hearing about deliveries with battered boxes and missing parts, but wasn't disappointed. Front rotors and pads came yesterday, rear rotors and pads came to day. Wasn't supposed to be here until next Monday.

All of it came, all of it was inside. One of the external (Summit Racing) boxes looked like it had been crushed by a large, heavy object being placed on top of it, but the external boxes had stronger (Power Stop) boxes inside, with more packaging inside, with smaller Power Stop boxes inside those, with more packaging... I'd have thought it was overkill, but after hearing the others' stories about ordering these kits, I guess the companies were tired of replacing components and started taking the packaging more seriously. No disappointment there.

The K1861-36 is the complete package, minus calipers. I didn't need new calipers, as mine are in great shape and I didn't want to mess with disconnecting the lines and bleeding the brakes. The kit comes with all of the necessary hardware, as well as lubricant for the moving parts. It's like a LEGO set - open it, put it together, and start playing. The lubricant package had an "exploded" diagram of how to disassemble and reassemble the calipers, handy for those who do order the set including calipers. The rotors are handily labeled Front Driver, Front Passenger, Rear Driver, and Rear Passenger. I guess Power Stop was prepared for those ignorant doofuses we all know who wouldn't pay attention to the angle on the slots and would put them on the wrong sides. Good move, Power Stop. I know it's a cliche, but the number of stories I've heard about ignorant mechanics who shouldn't be certified is no joke.

I'm planning to install it tomorrow, we'll see what life tries to do to get in the way. I already bought groceries and did favors for all the people I owe them to, so I should have a few hours to myself.

In other news, I observed a few years ago that my front sway bar is on upside-down. I don't care, but eventually I might fix it.

 

[DemonMudder]

Sweet! Glad it's all in and in good shape! Hopefully you'll have 'em installed soon enough! Definitely agree it ain't overkill in that situation

 

[DintDobbs]

Power Stop K1861-36 installed and broken in. Boyo, these suckers are strong, next to the dead ones that were on it before.

 

[TribeZ]

Had minor qualms about ordering the K1861-36 after hearing about deliveries with battered boxes and missing parts, but wasn't disappointed. Front rotors and pads came yesterday, rear rotors and pads came to day. Wasn't supposed to be here until next Monday.

All of it came, all of it was inside. One of the external (Summit Racing) boxes looked like it had been crushed by a large, heavy object being placed on top of it, but the external boxes had stronger (Power Stop) boxes inside, with more packaging inside, with smaller Power Stop boxes inside those, with more packaging... I'd have thought it was overkill, but after hearing the others' stories about ordering these kits, I guess the companies were tired of replacing components and started taking the packaging more seriously. No disappointment there.

The K1861-36 is the complete package, minus calipers. I didn't need new calipers, as mine are in great shape and I didn't want to mess with disconnecting the lines and bleeding the brakes. The kit comes with all of the necessary hardware, as well as lubricant for the moving parts. It's like a LEGO set - open it, put it together, and start playing. The lubricant package had an "exploded" diagram of how to disassemble and reassemble the calipers, handy for those who do order the set including calipers. The rotors are handily labeled Front Driver, Front Passenger, Rear Driver, and Rear Passenger. I guess Power Stop was prepared for those ignorant doofuses we all know who wouldn't pay attention to the angle on the slots and would put them on the wrong sides. Good move, Power Stop. I know it's a cliche, but the number of stories I've heard about ignorant mechanics who shouldn't be certified is no joke.

I'm planning to install it tomorrow, we'll see what life tries to do to get in the way. I already bought groceries and did favors for all the people I owe them to, so I should have a few hours to myself.

In other news, I observed a few years ago that my front sway bar is on upside-down. I don't care, but eventually I might fix it.

I installed the same set this week as well, with calipers

I am one of the idiots that appreciated the stickers telling me which side to put my rotors . I smoke to much and it helped me remember. I put the calipers wrong side even though they are labeled R and L as well. But got em corrected.

Great brakes though!

 

[DannyW]

Had minor qualms about ordering the K1861-36 after hearing about deliveries with battered boxes and missing parts, but wasn't disappointed. Front rotors and pads came yesterday, rear rotors and pads came to day. Wasn't supposed to be here until next Monday.

All of it came, all of it was inside. One of the external (Summit Racing) boxes looked like it had been crushed by a large, heavy object being placed on top of it, but the external boxes had stronger (Power Stop) boxes inside, with more packaging inside, with smaller Power Stop boxes inside those, with more packaging... I'd have thought it was overkill, but after hearing the others' stories about ordering these kits, I guess the companies were tired of replacing components and started taking the packaging more seriously. No disappointment there.

The K1861-36 is the complete package, minus calipers. I didn't need new calipers, as mine are in great shape and I didn't want to mess with disconnecting the lines and bleeding the brakes. The kit comes with all of the necessary hardware, as well as lubricant for the moving parts. It's like a LEGO set - open it, put it together, and start playing. The lubricant package had an "exploded" diagram of how to disassemble and reassemble the calipers, handy for those who do order the set including calipers. The rotors are handily labeled Front Driver, Front Passenger, Rear Driver, and Rear Passenger. I guess Power Stop was prepared for those ignorant doofuses we all know who wouldn't pay attention to the angle on the slots and would put them on the wrong sides. Good move, Power Stop. I know it's a cliche, but the number of stories I've heard about ignorant mechanics who shouldn't be certified is no joke.

I'm planning to install it tomorrow, we'll see what life tries to do to get in the way. I already bought groceries and did favors for all the people I owe them to, so I should have a few hours to myself.

In other news, I observed a few years ago that my front sway bar is on upside-down. I don't care, but eventually I might fix it.

Was the sway bar upside down for the lift?
That was one of the steps in the lift I did. Helps clear the longer links.

 

[DintDobbs]

@TribeZ Nice pick! I haven't heard any complaints about them anywhere, except one, that said they warped really badly. My guess? Didn't follow the break-in instructions. Don't know, might have just been bad luck, or there could have been other contributing factors. I expect that we not-quite-so-ignorant doofuses will get a little better results.

@DannyW I get the idea that it was probably put on that way for some reason or an other, but I don't know what the reason was. It's at a pretty weird angle where it connects to the end links, and the bushings are totally destroyed. The end links could have been designed to match the angle of the upside-down sway bar if Superlift had intended for it to be used that way, but I guess that was too much engineering or some thing. Again, I assume there was probably some reason for that too, but I don't know what the reason was.

 

[DintDobbs]

Well, as we gear up for the annual Uwharrie trip, I thought it would be wise to give the ol' Vulture a good field test just to make sure she's still up to the task. She tackled every thing I pointed her at like a champ, and actually fared better than I expected in deep standing water left by Debbie.

As is my custom, I drive her at least every other Saturday; however, this morning, she wouldn't start or even give me more than half a crank. I suspected the battery, since it's somewhere in the vicinity of 5 years old, so after work, I set about to swap Hazey's Duralast Gold in... and ended up having to swap over the entire battery tray, because the Vulture's clamp bolt was rusted in place and that battery was not movin' out of that tray. So there's an other little task added to the list.

Swapped the tray and battery in, same issue. Second suspect: the starter is probably cooked, after all that playing in deep water. Don't remember what brand is on it, but I remember replacing it a few months after I got the truck, so it's going on 7 years old... and the only unusual thing that happened recently was the deep water.

Grabbed a Duralast Gold starter from the Auto Zone and plan to swap it in tomorrow. If all fails to bring results, I do have another vehicle that I can bring on the trip in stead.

I'm just thankful that this came up BEFORE the trip and not during it. God saved me a lot of headaches on this one!

 

[DannyW]

Well, as we gear up for the annual Uwharrie trip, I thought it would be wise to give the ol' Vulture a good field test just to make sure she's still up to the task. She tackled every thing I pointed her at like a champ, and actually fared better than I expected in deep standing water left by Debbie.

As is my custom, I drive her at least every other Saturday; however, this morning, she wouldn't start or even give me more than half a crank. I suspected the battery, since it's somewhere in the vicinity of 5 years old, so after work, I set about to swap Hazey's Duralast Gold in... and ended up having to swap over the entire battery tray, because the Vulture's clamp bolt was rusted in place and that battery was not movin' out of that tray. So there's an other little task added to the list.

Swapped the tray and battery in, same issue. Second suspect: the starter is probably cooked, after all that playing in deep water. Don't remember what brand is on it, but I remember replacing it a few months after I got the truck, so it's going on 7 years old... and the only unusual thing that happened recently was the deep water.

Grabbed a Duralast Gold starter from the Auto Zone and plan to swap it in tomorrow. If all fails to bring results, I do have another vehicle that I can bring on the trip in stead.

I'm just thankful that this came up BEFORE the trip and not during it. God saved me a lot of headaches on this one!

Did you ever address that fuel pump?
Seems like it was messing with you last year.

 

[DintDobbs]

@DannyW Nope. She hasn't given out on me yet, so I'm just going to park her nose-down this year and ride on it. I should grab a spare already just to have it on hand for when it gives, but I haven't got one yet for no particular reason.

I replaced the starter and the first couple of times encountered the same issue. The relay clicked and every thing else appeared as it should be, but I noticed after replacing the starter that there was a splice upstream from the starter that I didn't remember making myself. Took it apart and held the wires together while a pal turned the key, and she cranked right up. So I probably didn't need to replace the starter. Oh well, she's got a 6-month-old battery and a new starter, so she's good to go to Uwharrie now. And now I have a spare used starter that hopefully I'll never need.

Might give her an oil change before the trip still. She hasn't seen 3,000 miles since last year.