supercharged 5.0 true fire 98 explorer sport

[vroomzoomboom]

eric, i am hoping that i don't have to up grade the brakes at all. i know if i do, its going to cost bug $$$

 

[techieman33]

eric, i am hoping that i don't have to up grade the brakes at all. i know if i do, its going to cost bug $$$

Haha yeah. I just paid $450 for the calipers and bracket, used. And still have another $350 to spend for pads and rotors, and $100 on braided lines. The previous owner said he was running with some some friends in cobras and they had to stop because the brakes were overheating, but this setup was still fine.

 

[kevinandyolanda]

beautiful....

 

[vroomzoomboom]

so today, it happened...........

last week i was off work and decided to call around for tires. because of the many trucks i have sold over the last few months, my local goodyear dealer has gotten to know me very well (to the point they almost know my voice over the phone). i gave them a call and said i needed some tires for these rims, and a ball park of the size. low and behold, they had some goodyear wrangler hp 245/50r20's on sale for (wait for it) $144 a tire! needles to say i jumped on them! today they came in, and like i kid with a new toy on christmas morning, i couldn't wait. had to put them on. once again, with spas and ExplorerSport77's help (that and they both along with Turdle have helped me figure out if she will be lowered, and the answer is....) i now have them on.....and to say the least the ride is now....um firm lol. but not to bad.

um, yea, big difference between the stockers, and the 20's

lindsy had told me i would need wheel spacers in the front to clear the ball joints, and also said she needed to re route her e brake cables in the back. yup, the fronts now have some space (enough for me to get my fingers between the tire and the ball joint) using a 1/4 inch spacer, but got lucky and didn't have to do anything to the cables. how ever, i think i will space the rear tires out. to me it looks funny with the fronts sticking out more then the rears. but that is something that wont take to long to do, so i'm in no rush.

 

[GRNMACHINE]

Nice!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[vroomzoomboom]

today i got a package from humboldt, ks.

some spiffy crinkle black powder coated lowering blocks thanks to out own mod, Turdle. now i have to find time to put them in, as well as do a reverse TT, and shove the camber adjusters in, and evil will be set.

 

[vroomzoomboom]

well, these last few days have been very rough to grin and bare it. last week, my beloved little dachshund (i have has since she was 2 months old) Zena, was put down due to a generic problem with that breed. long story short, she became paralyzed almost over night in her hind quarters. she would have been 5 in june

that hurt big time to do that, and truthfully, i am still a little upset about it.

the next day my grand mother turned 98 years old. two days after that, she was hospitalized with respiratory problems. two days later she passed. now if that wont drive you almost over the edge, i am not sure what will. rest in peace to the both of you

thankfully i have another truck that i am picking up that needs a trans, and corkey was nice enough to give me one. so, once again, off for a drive i went to get it. thanks again pete for the trans, and for where you live. the drive there will clear your mind of any problem you may have.

so needless to say i needed some kind of release. well, evil needed to get shorter, so luck would have it, i was able to borrow another buddy's place and do the deed.

now that the back was done, it was time to do the front.
hoversploder! did i mention he has a hoist?

we even had is 2 year old girl helping us. this must be what spas looked like back in the day! LOL

and buddy joe (ya i was a #####, and stuck him with the aggravating side)

um....me saying WTF?!

she needed ball joints. i ordered some moog uppers from rockauto. WAAAAAY cheaper then from here thats for sure!

so after a few hours of grunting, got her done. was lucky, nailed the tt in the second shot. still have to cut the bump stops a bit, but it isnt sitting on them. just want a little more travel. that and i never noticed it before, but there is a lot of lean on the drivers side (hold the fat guy jokes!). will have to swap springs from side to side, or replace them. no big deal, have two parts trucks at the moment. once again, i have to thank spas, and explorersport77. i must have drove them nuts with the questions i had. they are the only two people that i know that have lowered ex's, and have seen explorersport77's truck hotness this summer. thanks you two, you are a world of help!

i will get some more in the next day or two after the alignment is done, and i clean her up

there are a few people around here who must think i am nuts. when i took it for a drive after the first tt, i was ripping around a parking lot in circles, and not doing it slow either.

 

[Glen4X4]

Truck looks good man but the whole dog and grandma thing is depressing :/ hope your doing well Tim....

 

[techieman33]

The explorer looks much better tim, and I'll just take not mentioning me to mean that you didn't want to group the mighty mountaineers in with the lowly explorers

 

[lynchy wa]

Look's great mate, still the best duco I've ever seen.

 

[Joe Dirt]

Bravo, Tim- looks stellar!

Sorry to hear about your Grandmother and Zena though. Condolences, sorry for your loss...

 

[vroomzoomboom]

Thanks joe. Who know, I just might make it to your place before heading to AFN this year, so you can see it in person.

 

[Spas]

I wish I looked like that as a kid! Neither of parents had any sort of mechanical skill whatsoever (as my brother says, further proof that I must be the milkman's kid, lol). Sorry again to hear about your Gran and weenie dog, but you're pretty tough. Eventually you'll be able to think of them and smile instead of being sad. That said, it's hard for me to look at the lowered pictures and not be sad, as I am having some massive Blackjack flashbacks. (Say that 5 times fast!) Evil looks excellent! Can't wait for the afn's .

 

[vroomzoomboom]

I also forgot about this. want ironic? When I was driving to my buddys pace to finish lowering her, what song starts playing on my ipod?????
Low rider by war. Want more ironic? When I was finished and heading home, I had to comfurm this with lindsy (spas), what song starts playing? boot scootin boogie by brooks and dunn (I also hardly listen to country, its about one of four songs that I have that are country on my ipod), which is the song she named her truck blackjack after, which is also the same truck I have used some idea's from, aaaaand the same truck that evil got her wing from. True freaking story..... And a little spooky to.

 

[Spas]

Yeah, definitely creepy! Not the first time I've had certain songs pop up at seemingly concidental times, though!

 

[vroomzoomboom]

Gives me the wilies thinking bout it however.

 

[corkey]

it being shorter makes you look taller,,

not like when you stood next to Roller,

which by the way could easily mount her now,,

lmao,,,

 

[vroomzoomboom]

Haha pete! Yay, taller, now gotta work on the thinner thing.
Well now I'm a little pissed. The shop that's aligning it just called. According to them it needs lower ball joints as well. When my buddy looked her over (and only to weeks ago at that, and is licensed, and a former ford shop foreman) saw no play, these guy say otherwise. Grrrr! I told them to do both, and if my new tires have any wear at all after I come back from afn, somebody's going to die! I don't like other people or should say shops working on anything I own. Especially when I can do it on my own.

 

[blueka]

where did you get that rear diff cover from?? I want one!!!


Si

 

[vroomzoomboom]

simon, its actually a ta diff girdle. i bought it used locally a few years ago for $80, and had john powder coat it for me. it was supposed to go onto my 81 mercury capri and was just laying on the shelf. i put it on for AFN last year, but it looked so good, i decided to keep it on.