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BenS - 1997 Sport 4X4

I have finally payed to become Elite and here is a little information about myself and my Explorer. Scroll to bottom for pics if you don't want to read.

Me:

I live in south-eastern PA. I am a network administrator for a major financial institution in PA. I have been working with computers and networks for many years now and enjoy the work. My interests include wheeling my X, snowboarding, and mtn. biking. I'm 33, married, and have four daughters.

My Explorer:

My explorer is a 1997 Sport. It has the 4.0L OHV engine and a 5 speed manual tranny. The axles have a 4.10 gear ratio. Of course it's a 4x4 (only a nut would own a 2wd X in the northeast). Here is a list of mods I have done to it:

Lift - 2" suspension front via TT and spring over axle rear (SOA) with Warrior Shackles. 3" body lift from Performance Accessories.

Custom front bumper - I fabricated a custom front bumper out of quarter inch plate. It has a Smittybilt XRC8 winch mounted on it.

Old Tires - LT285 75R16 Dunlop Mudrovers, 35x12.5 R15 Procomp Mud Terrains, 35x12.5 R15 BF Goodrich MT's.

New Tires - 36x12.5 R15 Super Swamper Radial TSL's mounted on 15X8 Cragar Soft 8's.

Tow hooks - I installed tow hooks at the end of each rear frame rail.

Lockers - I installed a Detroit EZ Locker in the rear axle and a Powertrax Lockright in the front axle.

Solid Differential Cover - I installed a Solid differential cover. It is very stout and made out of cast iron.

Exhaust/Air - To let my Explorer breathe better I cut off the majority of the air box so that my conical filter is completely exposed. To improve exhaust flow I installed a Borla cat-back system.

Misc - I ditched the sway bars. Cut a lot of the rear portion of the front fenders.

Future Stuff - In the near future I will begin work on a rear bumper.

Current Setup:

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Phase 1

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Phase 2

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DOOD! You're alive!!! How are the girls?

Skunk (LizardTrac) and I live 15 minutes from Paragone if you're ever up this way and want to hit some local trails and have some fun :)
 



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Cool vid! :thumbsup:
 






nice video
 






Here's another angle of the same two trucks going up:




Here's one of me going down. This one really shows the value in being locked front and rear because my line went south.

 






Nice videos, making good use of the rock sliders. Where are those trails you were at?
 












I finally finished my bumper and mounted my new winch on it. The bumper is all quarter inch plate. Enjoy!

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Truck looks good Ben..
 






Nice!! Is that a Pottsy bumper or did you custom make the whole thing?
 






Nice!! Is that a Pottsy bumper or did you custom make the whole thing?

Its all custom BBB (built by BenS). Special thanks goes out to marktaylor69 who gave me the steel plate I used 6 years ago. That was the day we all went to RC - Blee got a flat, and Mark had tranny problems.
 






I remember that :D Are you going to make it to Carlisle/Rc this year?
 












I added a Solid differential cover to replace my leaky stock one and replaced all the shocks with Rancho RS5000's. I really like the diff cover, very stout!

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I finally pulled the trigger on a mod I've been contemplating for some time. I strongly feel this is one of the most effective mods I've made since adding a locker and going to 35's. SOA!

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This $120 mod (Ruff Stuff Specialties 8.8 SOA kit) gave me gobs of ground clearance I was sorely lacking. I was sick and tired of banging my under-carriage and getting hung up on the spring hangers. It also has allowed me to relocate the shocks up out of the way. My rear articulation is the ****.

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Couple more pics from that RC run and some cool vids from Trail 2:

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Truck looks good Ben.. Hows the kids & wife?
 






They're great. We're expecting our 5th - a boy! We'll meet him in November.
 






Good LORD, man! 5?! You're crazy, lol :eek:

You should come wheeling with us for the Halloween run, you could show the newbies how it's done on the trails up here ;)
 



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loks good, but i think it needs a bit of front lift,,

hmmm, maybe a sloped body lift for the front,,
 






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