Ronin's Rig 2.0

[Ronin8002]

Wiring is all finished. Here's how she looks:

 

[College Student]

Nice looks real nice. Any additional fog lights soon?

 

[Ronin8002]

Nice looks real nice. Any additional fog lights soon?

Thanks! The OEM amber fogs are pretty bright, plus I have the hidden LED light bar in the bumper:

I do have some Muthco signal mirrors that are waiting to be installed, and also some amber marker lights for the front side of the mirror housings that will illuminate and blink when the turn signals are activated.

Probably next on the list will be the Truxxx spacer lift and BTF upper control arms.

After that, I have a solution I'll be working on to get some tow hooks installed since the 4th Gens don't have the tow hook mounting holes like the 3rd gens.

Might do a front skid plate along with that too....otherwise that'll probably be it for major mods for a while.

 

[College Student]

Forgot about the bar in the front. And Muth Co mirrors are literally just the glass with lights correct?

 

[Ronin8002]

Forgot about the bar in the front. And Muth Co mirrors are literally just the glass with lights correct?

Yes, they just replace the glass and come with some wire harnesses and things. You can also get the heated mirror version. For the 4th gens the muthco is the only option I know of. For the 3rd gens, BigRondo did a writeup on a less expensive version.

 

[Curtis]

Those clearance lights are awesome!
Ive wanted to do something like that
(I remember as a kid my dads 77 F100 had them and at night it looked so cool)

Can you share where you got them? Brand?
Sold individually or as a set?

Looks awesome!

 

[Ronin8002]

Those clearance lights are awesome!
Ive wanted to do something like that
(I remember as a kid my dads 77 F100 had them and at night it looked so cool)

Can you share where you got them? Brand?
Sold individually or as a set?

Looks awesome!

Thanks Curtis. I got them from K2 Auto on Ebay but a lot of vendors sell the same type. They are the Dodge style smoked LED clearance lights (usually listed as "cab lights" and they come as a set of 5...they were $38 shipped.

They are knockoffs of the type that Pacer Performance makes but they seem to be identical in construction. Here's a link to one vendor:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/5PCS-TRUCK-...Parts_Accessories&hash=item3f1dda5720&vxp=mtr

You can get the actual Pacer brand ones from Summit Racing but they are more expensive:

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/PPP-20-247S/

Here's a writeup on how to install them. I went a step further by squirting a lot of clear silicone RTV into the screw holes and wire holes that I had drilled in the roof before placing the lights and tightening them down:

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=348106&highlight=clearance+lights

 

[Curtis]

Thanks Curtis. I got them from K2 Auto on Ebay but a lot of vendors sell the same type. They are the Dodge style smoked LED clearance lights (usually listed as "cab lights" and they come as a set of 5...they were $38 shipped.

They are knockoffs of the type that Pacer Performance makes but they seem to be identical in construction. Here's a link to one vendor:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/5PCS-TRUCK-...Parts_Accessories&hash=item3f1dda5720&vxp=mtr

You can get the actual Pacer brand ones from Summit Racing but they are more expensive:

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/PPP-20-247S/

Here's a writeup on how to install them. I went a step further by squirting a lot of clear silicone RTV into the screw holes and wire holes that I had drilled in the roof before placing the lights and tightening them down:

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=348106&highlight=clearance+lights

Awesome! thank you man!

 

[Kazer]

following the trend of this thread... its been almost a month since your last mod which means your next one should be just about finished

 

[Ronin8002]

following the trend of this thread... its been almost a month since your last mod which means your next one should be just about finished

I'm a little behind schedule due to being out of town on vacation, but plan to get the truxxx spacers and btf arms on next weekend.

 

[Ronin8002]

Been a while since an update so I thought I'd give one.

I decided to skip the Truxxx spacers and build a Fox coilover shock setup for the front. This will give me the same lift as the Truxxx would have given me in the front, but I'll have much better suspension travel. Rear will get 1.5" strut spacers for now (going to build those too) . So I'll be selling my Truxxx kit probably at the beginning of the new year.

Also cracked one of my running boards on my last offroad trip, so am going to build some rock sliders to fix that

After that I plan to tackle to front tow hook/skid plate project, and sometime in the spring I hope to look at getting an Eaton Truetrac differential installed in the rear.

So much for what I said in my first post about "not modifying this one" as much, lol.

 

[Ronin8002]

Quick video of driving on a mild part of a trail last weekend...shows the front suspension working a little:

http://youtu.be/2DXjnNpKdkc

 

[Kazer]

How's the front tow hook project coming along?

 

[Ronin8002]

Going to pick it up again this afternoon. Have had a lot of home improvement projects going on so truck stuff went on the back burner for a bit. Just need to weld the skidplate part on, paint, and install.

I may make one final version of the lower coilover brackets. The ones I have are good, but I think if I play around with the shock mounting angle I can get a bit more flex and lift.

After that, it'll be time for rock sliders or the locker. haven't made up my mind yet which to do first.

 

[Kazer]

Nice. My opinion, go with sliders first. The coil over flex + a locker will probably make you pretty ballsy and you'll probably just crack the other running board

 

[HiImBrian]

Nice. My opinion, go with sliders first. The coil over flex + a locker will probably make you pretty ballsy and you'll probably just crack the other running board

I second that lol

 

[Ronin8002]

Front skidplate/recovery shackles installed:

 

[HiImBrian]

Looks great!

Any reason you didn't angle the skid plate down to the front crossmember?

 

[TexasArmadillo]

Sweet. I need to do something similar. I still can't beleive they scrapped the recovery hook on the 10'.

Juggling more fur balls than a constipated cat.

 

[Ronin8002]

Looks great!

Any reason you didn't angle the skid plate down to the front crossmember?

Thanks! If the plate extended that far back it would get in the way of changing the oil filter. I'm not trying to use it as a way to slide over rocks, mainly just to protect the underside of the radiator and the lower hose from being punctured. Should keep mud from splashing up into the front of the motor too.