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Sk1er17's 98 Sport

Sk1er17's 98 Sport (2"TT/BL & 35's!)

Jeez ive been on this site forever and decided to do a little exploring tonight in the "un clicked" parts- I never knew there was actually an Elite Explorer Registry... so I figured Id put in my thread for those of you who dont know me.

Im 20 years old (well will be on March 29, 2004; close enough). Currently an auto technician at STS in central NJ. Also a full time Mechanical Engineering student at Rutgers University. Graduate in 2006!

This explorer was my first car. By the time i had my car for about a year, i had done all the "cosmetic" stuff to it basically because in small steps its cheap and easy.
No need to add a long list of items to this thread- you can see pretty much everything in the picture:
12637matt3a.jpg


Next I started feeling ambitious. My truck really needed to start fullfilling the name "truck". So I installed 4 door leaf springs, WAR153 Shackles and did a Torsion Twist up front. It was alright, but not quite enough..
12637newpic.jpg


You could tell it was lifted while comparing it to other explorers, but it "felt" like a stock explorer while i was driving it. And being by then I had discovered some new places to offroad, my thirst for a 4x4 monster convinced me to take the plunge. My initial plan was to sell it, and buy a Sport Trac. I actually had a buyer for $10K but i backed out and realized with what i owed on it, id be paying off a stock sport track for 5 more years.. So instead I went into a little debt and bought a 2" body lift, 32" tires, (my girl got me the rims for xmas :D ).

I did the body lift by myself! Took 27 straight hours (some of you might remember seeing a thread in the middle of the night when i needed help) But either way it got done, I got my tires, did a few minor mods and whalaaaa:
12637003.jpg


Ive been tweaking it ever since!
12637coolshot.jpg

EDIT************************************************
:bounce: :bounce: :bounce:
Arnie- I think i am now Un-Surpassed! :D
12637DSNEW.jpg

12637DSNEW2.jpg

12637DSNEWSIDE.jpg

12637DSNEWREAR.jpg


Those would be Perry's Fiberglass Fenders. 33x12.50x15 Xterrains.
Eventually im going to get the fenders painted to match and have the whole truck sprayed to get rid of a lot of my scratches... but not anytime soon due to $$$
:D :D
Done Editing!

Now for a few of my own touches:

My Bracket to mod the brush guard to fit my BL:
12637bracket.jpg


Havent made a skid plate YET. So i installed this steel to protect my tranny cooloer lines:
12637snow_007.jpg



Theres PLENTY of off-road shots in my photo album. Not to mention some GREAT ones of me stuck as hell!
like....
12637stuck_pose2.jpg

SO CHECK IT OUT!! :bounce: :bounce:

And finally; Some mods that arent as obvious from the pictures:
- Flowmaster 50 Series w/2.5" pipe bent back
- Upgraded to Bosh +2 and Jacobs wires
- K&N filter and Cut out the front of my Air Box
- i have 4.10 gear stock .. na na na na na :p
- Throttle Cable $0.05 mod
- Extended all breather lines for water protection
-

BTW: my goal is to OUT- WHEEL LIZARD... someday..... a very very long time from now.... but someday :burnout:

Update: 2 Recent pics from April 04.
12637MattPullJay.jpg



Can't forgets some interiors:
Anyone lookin for some waterproof/ sweet seat covers.. look no further! X-Bound seat covers. $20 each from wal-mart or $55 after shipping online. No reason to spend $300 for fancy ones. My dad thought i had my seats re-done at first! PM me if you have any questions..
12637SeatsA.jpg

12637Interior.jpg

Cant forget about the all important OBA:
I have a 2.5 gallon tank and 200H compressor. Fills all 4 33's from 0-35 in roughly 10 minutes.
12637VIAIR_OBA-med.jpg

NEW ADDITION!!!
On Friday, July 30 I hydrolocked my engine for the SECOND TIME!....
So i got ambitious and this is what came out :D
12637Snorkel1-med.jpg

12637Snorkel2-med.jpg

12637Snorkel4-med.jpg

12637Snorkel5-med.jpg

________________________________________________________________

Someone Got 35's....
September 04' ->Let the pictures speak for themselves :D
126371rear.jpg

126371cool.jpg

126371side.jpg

126371front.jpg

To Answer some questions:
1) 35x12.50x15 BFG AT's
2) 15x10 rock crawlers with 3.75" backspacing
3) No Rubbing
4) Will rub if i flex a lot (but only in the rear and that can be taken care of)
5) 4:10's seem to be a good gear for em so far.. no doggin
6) Snorkel is custom made. Used 3" PVC and the safari snorkel head from ARB.
 



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As always....an inspiration to all!
 






Thanks !

Its like a chain.. lizard inspired me... then I inspired this;
PassWRack.jpg


too bad i cant call you "mini me" anymore because it seems you have surpassed my X by doing the 3" BL and 285/75 tires... but im getting MT's this summer :bounce:
12637001-med.jpg
 






Well, when one surpasses, there are always other to teach/inspire

Like me for instance

MyRedX.jpg
 






well, now you got my PM and email accessible anytime you have any questions. dont hesitate to contact me if you cant find what you're lookin for on the site- chances are ive researched it or done it (twice... ive had my explorer and my friends 97 sport in pieces numerous times :D )
 






So any new mods coming in the future?
 






my next mod has to be a skid plate- with the wheeling i do its kind of a necessity.

1)this summer im also investing in some Mud Terrains- right now im torn between the Dueler MT and the BFG MT. (and a little spot in the back of my mind wants me to get the 32x12.50 Mickey Thompson Baja Belted tires..)

2)snorkel is still in the future. not because i enjoy going through water but its innevitable.. and ive choked out my engine once already. thank god it didnt hurt it at all.

3)apten chip. had one but need to send brian my EEC to get reflashed because my service port was closed.

4)been wanting to do something like you did with my cargo area.

yea dude, the list goes on and one... :D
 






oh yea, how bout this one:

guy from work has a 69 Ford Cobra. Just replaced the engine so theres his 302 block sitting at work that he's not gonna use. They guys at work want me to buy it and get the 302 to 347 stroker kit for it ($1400), the bell-housing adapter, a 5.0 explorer computer and get that re-written so i can keep my tranny and t-case and have a 347 in my sport. dude id be able to spin all 4 tires!

of course #1 i dont have that kinda money

#2 id be replacing my tranny once a year :cool:
 






Sounds like you've got it planned out well! I like to keep mine more to the street though....I have a different vehicle for my off roader :)
 






Originally posted by sk1er17
dude id be able to spin all 4 tires!

That would be sweet! Nothing is more intimidating than smoke rolling off 4 mud tires. :burnout:
 






Originally posted by Arnie897
That would be sweet! Nothing is more intimidating than smoke rolling off 4 mud tires.

lol, and i cant think of anything more expensive than burning more rubber off already over-prices off-road tires ... and blowing my tranny apart... id have to do it once though - maybe put a crap tranny in at first so i can play :D
 












Damn....That looks awesome! Did you have to lift it anymore for the 33's or did those perty fenders take care of that?

PS - My Explorer's in the shop, but I'd be willing to bet you can't guess what for...
 






didnt need anymore lift. im able to go full flexing w/o rubbing thanks to those fenders..

trucks in the shop.. aww man do i even want to know?
 






So how much do you think you'll have into the fender/paint project by the time you have it the way to want it? I wish I could fit some wide tires like that under mine but I just don't want to trim too much.

I dropped mine off tonight for some 4.56's and a Detroit EZ-Locker. I'll have mine on it's first off road trip ever to the Sand Dunes here in a couple of weeks. You should make the trip out here for it...I have a friend from New Jersey that's taking his Toyota out with us.

I'm thinking you have me beat though....you have one of the meanest looking Explorer's I've ever layed eyes on! :chug:
 






Thanks for the compliments dude.

Im dying to get a locker! i want the ARB though so i have onboard air.

you're puttin in 4.56's? isnt that going to be a little high for 33's? My 4.10's seem to handle them very nicely- id figure 4.33 max but its not worth the money to go from 4.10 to 4.33..
 






I finally fixed my Jeep so I went with the 4.56's so I can flat tow it around more easily.

JeepExp.jpg
 






sk1er17, where did you get your BL? I just ordered my 4" susp but cannot seem to find a body lift for the '98. Was it custom? how much if so... I was thinking I could try a Ranger BL and see how it goes...
 






sk1er17 said:
you're puttin in 4.56's? isnt that going to be a little high for 33's? My 4.10's seem to handle them very nicely- id figure 4.33 max but its not worth the money to go from 4.10 to 4.33..

just an idea, but if u do think about regearing that beast, i'll buy those stock 4.10's off u in a sec. i'm planning on doing 4.10's and lockers end of this summer. keep it in mind, and pm if u get serious bout it

btw: Your truck is B@D@$$, ever get that rear spare tire holder done, figure out
 



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haloXpert:
I used a body lift for a 1994 Explorer. IF you want to do a 2" body lift like me EVERYTHING you could want to know is in THIS THREAD .. and trust me, i asked every question possible- Lifted95X was gracious enough to answer all my questions w/0 telling me to just "search".. i was young at the time :chug: . If you want to do a 3" body lift you need to use a kit from a 98+Ranger. Im not sure what else you need to buy but there's a lot of threads on that out there.

JPA:
Thanks for the offer.. but my system still isnt fully sold yet and money's tight. Gotta replace my steering rack next week too.. and my 4.10's are doing awesome with the 33's so i think they'll be staying in there. If for some odd reason i change my mine you'll be the first to know!

And that tire carrier got cancelled.. not sure why but JCWhitney cancelled my order and never contacted me :fire:
 






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