Project what was I thinking???

Ok, so I feel obliged to give a little backstory as to how I arrived here...Here goes.

My most recent vehicle before the X was a 2000 Mercury Mountaineer. To be frank, I wasn't an X or Mounty freak then but I'm a Ford guy and it was a nice SUV.

Fast forward to November 2010 and my dad buys an old 92 Explorer, 4 door 5 speed to pick up semi parts....Rusted to hell, 170k miles, but loads of new parts on it. He jokingly one day said that he'd trade his for mine and I went for it.

Before you think I'm a complete fool, he had gifted me $2000 to pay off my Mounty (as a gift when my wife got pregnant) and offered the Explorer and $1000 for my Mounty. I had got a good deal on the Mounty so I'm not really losing out....

I finally decided to pull the trigger because after 3 years of marriage & with a 9 month old baby my wife decided to leave me (I'm still a great guy & there's no better husband or dad, apparently, she just didn't want to be "tied down"). So that's my sob story. Single daddy every other week and in need of a distraction. So anyway this is my mid-life crisis early. I've always wanted to build a mud/rock crawler and I figured what do I have to lose at this point? Unfortunately funds are a little tight but hey, they are for most people.

That's my story. I'm going to throw some more posts on what I've done thusfar and I've got some pics to put up once I get a little time. If you take the time to read this, enjoy.

 

[lounge lizard]

they look like they are frame mount style tubes already. they just aren't deep enough?

 

[Baddecision93]

they look like they are frame mount style tubes already. they just aren't deep enough?

C'mon man, you're killing me....

they just aren't deep enough?

First, that's what she said.

Ok, now on to Explorerness...They are frame mounted but because of the way the frame narrows towards the front of the truck I need to make a bracket to come out to the bar. And I really don't like the idea of drilling a hole in my frame so I'm going to see if I can make an adapter bracket of sorts so I can install them where there are already holes in my frame. In theory, of course

 

[jelkins]

Hey i love the post the nerf bar thing i have the chrome ones on my 91 ex i don't really like them my job requires me to be clean and my truck never is and Every time i get out i get the backs of my legs dirty ya its my dd. But good luck the truck looks awesome and Im not going to lie you post has inspired me to do a few things to my truck it seems we have a lot of the same issues minus the cancer
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[Baddecision93]

Hey i love the post the nerf bar thing i have the chrome ones on my 91 ex i don't really like them my job requires me to be clean and my truck never is and Every time i get out i get the backs of my legs dirty ya its my dd. But good luck the truck looks awesome and Im not going to lie you post has inspired me to do a few things to my truck it seems we have a lot of the same issues minus the cancer
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Thanks a lot, really appreciate it.
I know what you're saying. I used to have to wear khakis everyday and getting out of my old truck the backs of them would get crap on them. Bad times . But now I get to wear jeans and all is right with the world lol.
Mine's DD too so I feel your pain.

Glad you could get some ideas from me. Let me know if you have any questions. The majority of my stuff was inspired by other guys on here. The info just seems to keep growing and changing hands.

I'm jealous of you for two reasons though; NC has a ton of killer trails and they also don't put down road salt like it's going out of style (no cancer).

Thanks again for the post & hope to hear from you in the future.

 

[Govna47]

Amazing work!

 

[Baddecision93]

Amazing work!

Thanks, buddy.

 

[jelkins]

lol ya but as some of the other members have mentioned and as you seem to be doing now the parts for the truck are rare in the area so its looking like im going to have to drive for parts when ever you do that moon roof i got to see some pics of that i want to do something different with mine seeing that it leaks all the time and the weather strip is 179 where im lookin but that is gonna be sweet!

 

[Baddecision93]

lol ya but as some of the other members have mentioned and as you seem to be doing now the parts for the truck are rare in the area so its looking like im going to have to drive for parts when ever you do that moon roof i got to see some pics of that i want to do something different with mine seeing that it leaks all the time and the weather strip is 179 where im lookin but that is gonna be sweet!

Ya, I've had to definitely drive a ways for stuff. I found a good deal on a roof rack and if they accept my offer I have a 2 1/2 hr drive each way to get it lol.

My buddy is really anxious to try the moonroof install cause if it goes well he wants us to do one in his car too . Mine is the guinea pig lol.
I just have to wait until it's a little warmer so if things go terribly south I can ride my bike to work for a little while

 

[lounge lizard]

I know what you mean about the front mount on your tubes being too short. yea! she said that too! LOL

that is why I made mine! and there are holes up front that can be access for this part of the project.
just get your butt under there and look for god sake! they on yet?? what are you waiting for? winter! LOL

 

[Xplorer82]

Now I decided to dip back in to the remaining $800 from the project start.

Got some much needed body panels from a place up in Cleveland, Mills Supply Co. www.millsupply.com If you need first gen panels try them. I avoided shipping by driving to Cleveland to get the panels but got both rockers, both doglegs, rear quarter panel (mine is completely shot around the filler cap), and both new front fenders for $575.

thanks for that link man. they are only like 25-30 mins from me depending on traffic. i know where im getting my rear quarter panel (my driverside is shot as well) and rockers possibly..

now back to reading the rest of the tread...................

 

[Baddecision93]

Thanks for the good comments . Always glad to see someone took the time to read my little novel here lol.

Well since I'm on I might as well throw up an update.

Basically I have been supremely lazy. The only work I've done is to weld up my new front bumper (bought from Built by Pottsy Fab). Dad helped me and it is ridiculously strong. I'm learning how to weld so dad had me throw extra welds on the inside just to practice. There are a bunch of triple welded seams lol. My frame may actually bend before this thing does.
I am waiting for some warmer weather to actually get it painted and mounted. Maybe next week?
I'm going out to mom and dad's for dinner tonight so I'll try to snap a pic.

I also purchased some 2" square tube to make my rear tire carrier and of course the chop saw burnt up after one cut. So that's on hold till I replace dad's saw . (Stupid cheap Harbor Freight stuff).

Hmm..what else? Oh that roof rack I referenced above ended up getting sold out from under me. But such is life. I told the guy not to hold it for me cause I absolutely hate holding stuff for people who never show. It always seems like 6 other people show up in the meantime who want to buy it.

Also sold my Smittybilt bumper that I ended up not using. Got enough for a tank of gas so that's cool.
The guy that bought it told me about a semi-local wheeling spot so I'm anxious to get out and try it.

Found another semi-local semi-wheeling (kinda gravel roads but not very extreme) spot and went out this weekend. It was actually pretty fun. Too dark for pics but I'll try to get out in the daylight and get some up .

Tis all for heute.

 

[Baddecision93]

Ok, well I'll defend myself just a little here. Since I did do some work I might as well show what I've got done.

Maybe when the weather gets better I'll get even more done hahaha. Doubtful. (I have my doubts the weather is ever going to get better...stupid Ohio).

Without further ado, my bumper:

Oh ya, the welds need ground down and it needs paint for sure. But just as any mother views her child I think she's beautiful. Beefy!

 

[4rd4life]

nice looking bumper there!

 

[Baddecision93]

nice looking bumper there!

Thanks! Maybe I'll actually get it painted and mounted this week, lol.

 

[Baddecision93]

Hey, I actually did something!

Managed to get the bumper painted up this weekend and got it mounted Sunday night. While I was fiddling around under the truck my buddy got my new grill in too. The grill made a HUGE difference.

The bumper looks a little funny without a winch mounted on it but that just gives me more incentive to get a winch sooner!

The super bad news is the bumper sticks out way further than I thought it would so I lost my grill guard. I'm still trying to decide if I want to sell it or cut the top portion off (the top bar & light guards) and just weld those to the new bumper. I don't know if that would work or just look really hokey and homemade.

Pics to come once I get them off my camera.

 

[lounge lizard]

man you take for ever!


still waiting! LOL

 

[Baddecision93]

man you take for ever!


still waiting! LOL

You're killing me dude!
Actually it's flattering that someone is still following this...Now let's see if you stick with it long enough for me to actually get the body done and it repainted lol.
It's actually incentive knowing someone is watching...I can't slack off too long hahaha.

Ok, here we go: (all terrible quality, btw )

And, old janky grill:

 

[4rd4life]

i dont think it sticks out too far at all looks real good

 

[lounge lizard]

My God!

that crosses the state line an hour before you get there! :

actually it might not be out far enough to accommodate a winch.

anybody have numbers the average width of a winch body??

 

[Shooey_]

Bumper looks good! And that grille looks way better than when I was running my black one, haha.