The story of my 97

[bigtom88]

My parents bought the ex in 99. Many years later and thousands of miles later, it was handed over to me. I have had now for right at 6 years. Sadly I have no pictures of what it started as. This is the most recent before the bed liner paint 2 weeks ago.

I have really very little money in it. 3 inch body lift, factory torsion bar twist, rear spring shackles from a 68 land cruiser. Crystal vision headlights, custom front and rear bumpers, winch, rock lights around the winch 33 inch tires on 10 inch wide wheels. I had true dual straight pipes on it but installed a full walker setup when my son was born. Factory 8.8 rear axle with locker. Keep in mind this truck is only 2 wheel drive. With the added tires I did swap the front steering knuckles with a 4wd sport. I made a set of stub axles to retain the bearings. Right now the truck has 340,000 miles on the factory 5.0 and still going strong. So here we are to a photo dump. Please leave feedback, I'm always open to ideas and new changes

 

[1997XLTRollover]

Cool looking rig. 340k huh, my 5.0 in my 96 took a dump at 145k... I think due to a leaky injector that washed out the cylinder wall.

 

[bigtom88]

Yeah she has been really good to me. We'll sorta. Two rear end swaps, two water pumps, a timing cover and a torque converter. Really for the most part is I've just been really lucky I think. I'm starting on her roll cage this week and will be finishing out the winch mount soon.

 

[1997XLTRollover]

That's not bad in 340k miles haha. Most 5.0L Explorers go 200k without major issues, some get up near 250k before needing an engine or trans. Things are pretty rock solid. Almost every 5.0 I see in a yard has well north of 200k miles.