What did you do to your 5th Gen? | Page 8 | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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What did you do to your 5th Gen?

I bought it from an old safety supply warehouse a few blocks away from home, but they are no longer in business. It could be 3M brand, but looking at most of the 3M products currently out, the 3M logo is printed repeatedly on the inside of their rolls--mine has no logos or brand, so I'm not certain what brand mine is. The roll appears to be 100ft, and the width is 4 inches. The tape itself is not clear; it is dark gray and has a satin/matte finish to it. It also has an application tape material/film on top that is supposed to be removed after applying the tape. It is very reflective and responsive to light during the day and night. I decided to use it since I've applied it to several marine vehicles and other safety applications 8-10 years ago, and the tape has withstood the elements of heat, cold, and moisture and looks like I applied it yesterday. And removal is no problem with a little bit of heat from a heat gun and goo gone. Other safety applications with the tape:

Excellent! Many TYs for the information.
 



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Wow that reflective tape is great!

What did I do? Prepped for a roadtrip, including fluid checks, top off washer fluid, tire pressure (including spare), reapplied Rain-X. Ready to go!
 






Installed ford bumper gaurd...for 60bucks I was unimpressed..it's a sticky piece of rubber..i mean it looks good, just thought it was thicker...still gotta get a few bubbles out.

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Installed ford bumper gaurd...for 60bucks I was unimpressed..it's a sticky piece of rubber..i mean it looks good, just thought it was thicker...still gotta get a few bubbles out.

Nice stripes!
 






We got our 2015 Explorer Sport in June, used with 17k miles on it. Since then I've added:

Husky Weather Beater floor mats for the Front, 2nd, and 3rd rows, as well as for the cargo area behind the 3rd row. (I may still add a full-length cargo liner to fit behind the 2nd row -- haven't decided yet if I'm going to need it.)

OEM rear bumper guard (added today).

OEM roof rack crossbars.

Tekonsha Primus IQ electronic trailer brake controller. (We have the tow package, and needed the controller to run the brakes in our 3200 pound PopUp camping trailer.)

Forged ball mount for towing the trailer.

We also have a Thule Ascent 1600 cargo box that fits on the factory crossbars, as well as a couple of Yakima roof top bike racks. (Can't use the bike racks at the same time as the box, though.)

Future improvements planned: Front and rear mud guards, and probably a full-length Husky cargo liner.
 






Today I took my wheels off and wash and waxed the inside of the rims. I started cleaning the wheel wells then realized I needed to take my OCD medication. (which is a XL Dutch Bros Annihilator) I stopped at using the rubber/plastic cleaner shine spray on each of the drive shaft rubber boots.
 






Today I installed an OEM hitch, 7-pin and 4-pin cables, and tow button to my Ex. Took about 4 hours to do it all. First time ever having to remove a bumper and am glad to say that it was easy to perform. Very glad about the outcome!
 






Today I took my wheels off and wash and waxed the inside of the rims. I started cleaning the wheel wells then realized I needed to take my OCD medication. (which is a XL Dutch Bros Annihilator) I stopped at using the rubber/plastic cleaner shine spray on each of the drive shaft rubber boots.

Whoa... :eek: hope the Coffee helped! :D
 






So we took a roadtrip to the Hatch Chile Festival in New Mexico with 4 adults and all the stuff including the additional stuff coming home. Did well overall, bulk miles on I-10 at 75-85 MPH - pleased with the overall MPG with the backroads thru Tombstone on the way out and back thru Safford on the way home.

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Indian School at Litchfield, North West corner, but you probably knew that!

I know it all too well, MUCH closer to me than you. :)
 






Washed her up and put the black overlays on emblems..like the look of it..not a bad 20bucks.

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Washed her up and put the black overlays on emblems..like the look of it..not a bad 20bucks.



Where did you get overlays? Do you have any close-up pics? Thanks.
 






Haha, nothing happened. It's a car I'm putting together for SEMA so it's apart so it can be painted a new color.

So how's the SEMA project coming along? Can you share any more info or pics on the Ex?
 






Upgraded my mufflers to FlowMaster 40 Series. No change to the rest of the exhaust system, yet. So far, it was money well spent. It's obviously louder than stock, and there is some noticeable drone noise inside, but not too bad.

All other mods are listed in my signature block.

BEFORE: (completely stock-mufflers)

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BEFORE: (completely stock-resonator and cats)

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AFTER: (new FlowMaster Mufflers) Sorry for the blurry pic.

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Changed the muffler bearings today, very easy job.:thumbsup:
 












Just be sure to fill the blinker fluid after changing the bearings. ;)
 






Just be sure to fill the blinker fluid after changing the bearings. ;)

Thanks for the tip. I haven't heard of that before.:D With all the free time in the day, that's a no brainer lol.
 



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