showing off my x want to see what yall think

[MountainMonkey]

hey guys, i just want to show off my explorer and see what you all think. i've gotten good and bad feedback about it from people around here so ya.

heres whats i've done.
balljoints
front coils
breaks front and back
power stearing pump/ gearbox
spark plugs
starter
alternator
battery
pulleys and belts
front fenders
front passenger side door
flow master exhaust
knn cold air intake
3" bodylift
2"coil spacers
aal
warrior shackles
fog lights
paint
replaced front seats
and im sure theres more that im forgetting

more mods to come, i have 3 months of this winter and im going to do either a 4" or 6" lift and possibly a chop top to have a little truck. and getting a winch front and back and 35"s and 37"s.

and this is by no means a large budget build to this point besides replacing all the stock parts i have less then 1500 into it including the tires

 

[MountainMonkey]

35"S or 37"s****** not both lol

 

[MountainMonkey]

wow, didnt even get a "your trucks a ****box"

 

[OffTrac]

I like where this is going. Chop tops have always scared me; I know I don't have that ability...yet. How do you plan to lift?

 

[FIND]

wow, didnt even get a "your trucks a ****box"

I'd hose it down and drive it anywhere. You are off to a good start.

 

[MountainMonkey]

ya choping the top is kinda a bit of a scary thing to start. i can weld pretty good so i think i could do it but i havent totaly desided on that yet. as for the lift im just going to by a typical kit with an ttb brop brackets. i've bin looken at one thats cheap on ebay for a few days now. i dont plan on doing any hardcore trails so i think it should hold to to what i'll put it through. anyone else have any experience with a lift like this? http://www.ebay.com/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=360402839553&viewitem=&sspagename=ADME%3AX%3ARTQ%3AMOTORS%3A1123&vxp=mtr

anyone know of a place that sells winch bumpers for the explorer? i've found lots for the ranger. im thinking the bumpers for a 90-94 ranger should fit right?

 

[OffTrac]

If you're going to chop the top, you might as well put a roll cage in there while you have the top off. You'd be able to do it a lot easier than trying to fab one inside the cab. But then, getting the top to fit on just right would probably become more difficult.

 

[FIND]

There are a couple guys on this site that fab bumpers for pretty reasonable prices. Have a search, you will be impressed.

 

[Mr. Blue]

Check the classifieds, some1 is selling a 1st gen winch bumper "front" and it looks fantastic, i believe hes asking 400 for it.

 

[MountainMonkey]

hey guys, i just ordered a 4 inch rough country suspension lift and it should be delivered within the next couple of weeks and should be installed within a few days after that. so im wondering what size tires i should go with that will fit with the 6" of suspension lift and a 3" body lift? i was thinking 35/12.5/15's would be nice. and will i need to get new rims? i have 8.5" wide rims right now. and with 35"s will i need to get my trucks gears changed from 4.10's to something else? if so what gear would be good to go with that will make it feal like its on stock sized tires? and if new gears are needed is there a vehicle i can get them out of to save cash cause from what i've seen gears are relitively expensive. o and one more thing, i should be able to use my coil spacers with the lift i ordered right?

 

[Baddecision93]

Hey, check out Jamscal here on the forum for a winch bumper. Great looking product and everyone that gets one seems happy with it.

As for the coil spacers with the lift I'm not sure you'll want to do that. The brackets (I believe) allow for some wiggle room on lift however I don't know if you will be able to get it aligned. Even with extreme angle camber bushings I don't know if there will be enough adjustment left.
Maybe someone with more knowledge than me can weigh in?

Otherwise nice build so far!

 

[MountainMonkey]

i think it will work with the spacers. cause the lift has 4" brackets and 4"coils so it should align like stock without "extreme angle" bushings. and right now with just the spacers for front lift i got it aligned perfectly without different bushings.
but only time will tell, im going to keep them in and if needed i will get the better camber adjuster bushings (or whatever there called) and if the align still ends up out a bit thats fine i'll just go through tires really fast lol. and ya i seached and saw some of those winch bumpers on other members rigs and that look really nice. im defidently going to get a set sometime after xmas if the shipping to canada is a reasonable price.

 

[MountainMonkey]

hey guys, still wondering what gears to go with running 35's? i tryed searching but i didnt come up with anything. i though i saw a thread once that was just about tire size and gears but i couldnt find it again.

also anyone know of any lights that are really bright and have a really long range?the baja lights i have right now work ok but they dont shine any farther then my headlights so i'de like to get something better. i have a set of pia lights on my fj and they work great but they were close to 300$ for a set, and thats a bit to much for lighting up a bush buggy.

 

[mr cribb]

Lift and tire sizes:
Dead Link Removed

lift and re-gearing (read post #4):
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=314698

This is the best I came up with.

 

[MountainMonkey]

thanks, next question is do any x's come stock with 5.13 or 538 gears? would be nice to pick them up at a junk yard.

 

[MountainMonkey]

so my lift came in today, so i started to get into the install a bit this afternoon and it seams its alot more work then i anticipated. also i think the guy i baught the lift from didnt send the ttb drop bracket for the passenger side axel i know the peice for the driver side is there but the one that connects on the driver side for the passenger side ael seams to be missing. i could be wrong and just over looking it cause the lift has so many parts. but i'll find out when i get to that side.

 

[CodePoet]

thanks, next question is do any x's come stock with 5.13 or 538 gears? would be nice to pick them up at a junk yard.

No. And if you're going to be driving it a good deal on the road 5.13's won't be great. I have them in my rig (with 35"s) but it's 99% trail. If you're gonna use it primarily on the trail then they're awesome. Also if you chop the top you really must build a cage as there will be very little structure holding the roof up in case of a roll.

 

[MountainMonkey]

ya i decided against the chop top. what gears would you recamend for pretty much equal use on and offroad? also gears are a total blind spot in my mechanical knowledge so what would be the problem with 5.13's on the highway? also what problems will i have if i have my stock 4.10s with 35s?

 

[mr cribb]

ya i decided against the chop top. what gears would you recamend for pretty much equal use on and offroad? also gears are a total blind spot in my mechanical knowledge so what would be the problem with 5.13's on the highway? also what problems will i have if i have my stock 4.10s with 35s?

for a 50% offroad/ on road truck... I'd say 33's and 4.56 gears.

5.13's would make the truck deathly slow to accelerate, then you add the mass of the 35's on top of that I think you'd be almost like driving a semi-truck that just took off from a traffic light.

4.10's and 35's you'd have zero ass to accelerate with.... meaning the mass of the 35's would over compensate the gear ratio giving you a truck that doesn't really WANT to move.

 

[corkey]

5:13 gears and 35's would feel like stock
4:10's would be slow and sluggish,,
i ran 4:10's and 35's and know this to be true,,