Ray Lobato's Before and after | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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Ray Lobato's Before and after

Well, I guess I'll put up my before and after pictures since I just got it back. Actually my before picture has the 2" Torsion Bar Twist and Old Man Emu rear springs. More to come on the underside later.

moab_rayledge.jpg

Dead Link Removed

  • Tires: 33X12.5 R15 BFG KO's
  • Wheels: American Eagle Ar-117 15x8's
  • Front Suspension: Trailmaster 4" Ranger lift kit
  • Rear Suspension: Skyjacker 4" lifted springs
  • Shocks: 4" lifted SSV's.
  • Lift: 2" body lift
  • Gear Ratio: 3.55:1 (Waiting for the ARB to come, so I can put 4.10's)
  • Differantials: Rear: open (Waiting for a ARB to be available), Front: open
  • Transfercase: Advanced Adaptor Atlas II 3.78:1 Lo
  • Plug wires: Magnacor 8.5mm
  • Spark plugs: Bosh Platinium 4+
  • Power: Interstate/Optima Yellow Top
  • Lights: PIAA Pro 80XT's, PIAA 520's
  • Cargo Rack: Con-Ferr
  • Winch: Ramsey Platinum 9500 with Serria Wraparound winch mount.
  • Front Tow hooks: GM full size tow hooks
  • Rear Tow hooks: Ford rear tow loop
  • CB Radio: Cobra 29NT-ST
  • GPS: Garmin GPS III Plus
  • Misc: Front& Rear swaybar disconnects,shock mount protectors,T-case/Torsion Bar skidplate, Hi-Lift jack, Granatelli rear diff cover/support, Power One CO2 tank, Bushwacker Extend-A-Fenders
    The engine breaths better with a K&N drop-in filter.




    • [Edited by Ray Lobato on 10-16-2000 at 05:45 PM]
 



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oh hell ya! That's exactly how an Explorer shoudl look :).
 












Awesome Ray!!!

That looks great Ray. My question is from your past. Are the OME springs that much better than the warrior shackles? If I understand, the OME Springs are $200 each. That's pretty steep for a grocery getter. Thanks, and great truck.PS Are your old Springs for sale?
 






by the way, Ray now has as many lights as "Vegas - phase one" I don't ever expect him to go to Vegas phase two... and you don't even want to know what vegas phase three is! LOL
 






I must say that is one great looking truck. All that money you spend looks like it has really paid off. I can't wait to see some action pics. Congrats on your new toy. Is it just the picture or do the front tires stick out about an inch more than the back tires?
 






I always see lifted jeeps,chevys, toyotas, and even durangos. I had a major case of lift envy. You just gave me a lot of inspiration. I think it is time to celebrate and take ray's truck to Don a Vee jeep for some lunch. Chomp, Chomp! Oh and stop by my friend's garage to chomp on a chevy sandwich. Bad ass rig bro.
 






Very nice Ray. One question, will it fit in the garage now?
 






NICE

Nice looking rig Ray
Looking forward to meeting you on one of the next runs.
 






Looks great, Ray! Once again, I'm anxious to see it on the trail. You realize that you're going to cause me to spend a large sum of money some day. :)
 






Hey Ray, schweet looking rig! I noticed your next-door neighbor has a stock Explorer...how much more are you going to have to do to your truck before he gets the bug?
 






Excellent!! That's one serious before and after. I can't wait to see it out at Truckhaven!

Explorers are meant to be lifted! They look so much better!

BTW... I see your neighbor has a white Explorer. When is it going to be lifted? :D
 






You're gonna cost me a lot of money if I try to stay up with you..... :D
 






Congratulations!

Ray,

This looks GREAT!! I bet it will be a blast to let it crawl off road with the Atlas T-case, specially once you changed gearing. How is driving on road now, sitting some inches higher than before? Really, way to go!

BTW, are you selling your old EMU rear springs? If yes, PMail me, I might be interested.
 






Ray,

Man that looks AWESOME!!! Worth the wait in deed. One day I hope to reach your heights. :)

What size tires in the before?

I didn't realize you could fit a 12.50's on a 15x8 rim, I thought you could only go as wide as 10.50 on that size rim. I was going to put 31x10.50 on my stock rims, with the T-Bar lift, but if I can fit 32x11.50 may I should go that way. What do you think?

Thanks for posting the pics,
Alan
98 Xplorer


[Edited by 98 Xplorer on 10-16-2000 at 06:38 AM]
 












Looks great! I was just wondering how much it costed for the lift and how much modification was needed. I want to lift my 95 4x4 sport but I can't afford anything over $2000 and don't think there is anywhere around here that can do any heavy modifications. I live in the UP of Michigan, which we have A LOT of fun trails because the entire area is woods. Just wondering about those things!
 






Yooper?

Yo Brendon,

Where in the U.P. are you from? I used to spend alot of time in the Keweenaw, bummed around Copper Harbor, Eagle River, Calumet, etc. LOVE it up there, but it's hard to make a living...

Sundown
 






To All,
Sorry the OME Springs and shocks are already spoken for.

4x4 Yes the OME's are definately worth the money.

98 Xplorer The previous set of tires were 31x10.5R15 BFG's. Yes 33x12.5R15's fit real well on 15x8" rims. I had talked to many people about this, since I was thinking about 15x10's. Most everyone that uses their truck for rock crawling said to go with the 15x8, because it will keep a bead better, and also save the rim. You might be able to fit the 32x11.5 if you crank the torsion bars up. It's one of those try it and find out type of things. You might have to trim the back of your plastic alittle but not enough to be noticeable.

brendan The lift kit cost $1300.00. The 4" skyjacker rear springs I think were around $350.00. If you wanted to go with a spring over setup, the Ranger kit has everything you need, you would just have to make new spring perches so the springs would go over the axle. The modifications that were needed to make it fit on a 95-97 Explorer all have to do with the rear torsion bar bracket. I am going to be taking pictures of the bracket with the mods. You could take the pictures to a shop and have them modify the rear brackets, then you could put the rest together yourself.
Like I said before, The reason it took so long to get my truck back was I had alot of other things added, not just the lift, plus this was a first time for Trains 4x4 and Off-Road in Salinas CA ever doing 95+ Explorer. They did say that they now know what to do and would be more than willing to do another one. Most of the guess work has been taken care of. Once I get all the photos uploaded and write about the particulars There shouldn't be a problem for most do be able to do it.
Keep in mind that these mods are ONLY FOR 95 TO 97 MODELS. 98 through 2000 models are just bolt on. Buy some 4" springs or go spring over.

For 95+ Explorers Would anyone be interested in some rear shock mount skid plates. These will actually move the shock up 2" and also protect the U-bolts. I can post some pictures if interested. I know that no one makes these for our year models and had these custom made for me. If enough people would want them I could approch Trains 4x4 and see of he would makes these up for you guys.
 



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Ray, I might be interested in those rear shock mount skidplates. I was already thinking of lengthening my Edelbrock stems 2" to put the range back in stock length. This would be a better way to go.

Now if I could find a way to get the front shocks back to stock range.....
 






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