Completed Project Should I start a new Build?? 97 Explorer, SAS, Atlas?

[crazyflights]

 

[crazyflights]

 

[crazyflights]

Yes, I am aware front bumper is not right, but its only temporary. Better than it was sitting all the way down. Getting ready to go work on my radio and c/b right now, few little things and it ready to go.

 

[gmanpaint]

Holy crap, that thing came out looking bigger than I thought it would! Looks killer! Nice going!

I kept my valence on mine till the first time out wheeling. Needless to say, it's not on any more..lol.!
I got a brand new one to replace it, but the style of tow hooks I have wont work for the new valence I bought. One of these days, I might get it installed.

The rear bumper is a trick to get up. Do you have the brackets for it?

 

[dkchrist]

Looks great. I might be convinced to do the ranger now

 

[jg09]

Damn, I wish I could just buy an Explorer and SAS it myself. Sick!

 

[crazyflights]

Gman-no rear lift brackets for bumper, decided not to waste my time, im off work wed, gonna try and get my rear bumper built, but will see???? Todat going shopping need to 12in subs and amp, i installed aftermarketed 5x7s last night, with wiring mods to take to aftermarket cd player, ran cb cable and rca's to rear, decided i wanted good tunes for this road trippin beast, makes me feel like im back in highschool LOL.

 

[Glen4X4]

The ex looks awesome, nice work.

 

[410Fortune]

very nicely done in a short time front shocks look a bit short, LOL unless you have 2" of bump travel, but I am sure you are working through that
How does it drive? Atlas II = drool city

 

[crazyflights]

yes 410- that pic u see of shock does not give it muc travel, that is in the works to be fixed, somehow right side i did it right and have plenty of travel to flex it out, but i failed on left side LOL, im actually gonna redo lower shock mount on the longarm, get about 2 more inches of travel. When i flexed it in the other pics i made the driverside extended , since didnt have enough room to compress, but will be fixed.
-side note, for some reason today i picked up JL500-1 amp and some JL 12's , i told myself years ago i wouldnt buy stereo stuff like that ever again, but it happened, I want this thing to be alotta fun driving. In all aspects.

 

[crazyflights]

O- and it drives pretty good, drove 100 mile round trip Friday and did pretty good, needs dull shocks to help with little more sway than i like, but tracks straight. Gets allota looks.

 

[jg09]

you should offer your SAS skills for a little coin here on EF.

Hell, I'd trailer the X out there for a sick-ass SAS setup.

 

[crazyflights]

Thanx JG- but I barely have enough time to finish my own projects , I dont plan on stopping after this one. I have a new project brewing up, so garage can stay busy.

 

[IZwack]

O- and it drives pretty good, drove 100 mile round trip Friday and did pretty good, needs dull shocks to help with little more sway than i like, but tracks straight. .

You dont need dual shocks - you need an anti-sway bar to control the body roll.

 

[jg09]

True, though anti-sway bars REALLY suck. I never noticed it until I took mine off. The difference is night and day.

 

[rhauf]

Nice find.. its gonna be a cool build it sounds like!

 

[crazyflights]

Shocks fixed, dull shocks up front, rides way better and flex's even more.

 

[crazyflights]

I think I may need to get an add a leaf for the rear also, with alot of weight sitting lower in rear, this would also help stiffen it up a little. Im not use to how much it weighs yet compared to my b2.

 

[gmanpaint]

Ok Brad, time to update this with some inside knowledge on how the EX fared in Moab & Ouray. Need some feedback on how your set up performed on the trails.

What did you like about this build?

What would you have done different?

What are you going to do next?

 

[lifttruck2008]

excellent build so far, congrats. I have a couple of questions for you. I have a 2001 2x4 sport trac auto. I am very interested in doing a sas on it. But i would also like to do a manual swap. Was the ex a manual to start with? I think ideally I would want to make it manual first, then sas the front, finally add the tcase. If it started as a auto do you need a different computer to swap in the manual trans without getting a dash full of lights? Does the manual and auto use the same starter? Any help would be greatly appreciated.