Leave it to a fellow Lousiana boy to want to lift his Expy. I was born in West Wego (suburb of NOLA). Going from a Bronco with 31X10.50s to an Expy is killing me. I don't want to do that whole lowering thing with big wheels. They look nice, but won't do me any good. I bought a 4X4 for its intended purpose. I just got it two weeks ago and haven't had the opportunity to crawl under it and check everything out. Who makes that brush guard on yours bigapple? I need to redneck mine up a little. Want to put a safari rack on top with lights and get a little bigger tires. Not gonna go muddin, but at least need to look and feel like I can.
haha louisiana.. thats what im talkin about... well at the time i got my guard on ebay but now the site is
http://www.dealsofsteel.com... go to brush guards... get the 3 piece modular... and the price for a black one should be 279 with free shipping... if u want details on where to run wires thru the firewall to mount lights, just refer back to me and i can get some pics of my wiring to let u kno the best way
and as far as suspension goes, all u can really do with purpose is the front... if u get lifted springs for the back also im sure it would be decent but it may be bad wear and tear on ur main CV shafts... maybe if u talk to a suspension expert about it then u can get some more details on the best way to make it work on the rear.. also keep in mind, i used my stock shock absorbers and just replaced the springs.... it hasnt seemed to have done much damage to my suspension in the front, besides a very miniscule amount more of stiffness, and my steering is good after i got my wheels realigned and my camber and toe properly adjusted... with all that in mind, do wut u feel is the best for wut u plan to do
and for tires, the max u can get is a 265/75/16... i think a 285 may be able to squeeze in the rear and maybe on the front with the added height but chances are, the tire wont fit properly and im sure it would look way too crowded..
and u had mentioned u wanted to change the color of the flares and the trim... if u noticed, my explorer is an xls and ive replaced the front bumper with an xlt to add the fog lights... in that first picture compared to the second one u can see the difference in bumpers... if i was u, look for some bumper coating paint, and if u would rather go with something more reliable, get the pieces pre-primed and mailed to u and u can get the paint codes from a local paint shop to match the color u want... then go to a local paint shop or find someone with a paint gun... if u want gold trim, i suggest getting my color which is B2 Harvest Gold... good luck
