Okay so a few updates in the last month and some general maintenance.

So first off I finally wired up the Explorer Visors I put in back in July. Still need to get LEDS for them.


Next was just represent our Florida Ford Rangers group. Not usually one for window stickers but figured I should represent


Finally put a hitch receiver on since it has never pulled a trailer. Got it off of an 04 edge that someone was parting out for only $30! Been working great have pulled a trailer a couple times with no issues. Little note when adding the Hitch receiver. You do NOT need to remove all 4 bolts that hold on the bumper. You only need to remove 2 of them. I kind of made that mistake, oh well!



Also Came the Christmas Mod! Decided to get a little Festive!


Got some 6K HID Bi-Xenon headlights. They are great! Also did some angry eyebrows just for a little fun. Gonna swap my 5K hid Fogs to 6K to match. cant stand the color difference.



Did a transmision flush and filter change yesterday. Was a bit of a pain with the catalytic converter in the way. While we were doing that we saw that we were missing a bushing on the front sway bar end links. So today I ran picked up a pair and swapped them out. Easy 10 minute job and made a huge difference in the body roll. Pretty bad that I overlooked it.



That is pretty much it for now! Have a bunch of little things I still want to get done here soon. List in order of whats wanted to get done is:
New Head unit with backup camera,
Window Tint,
Fog light change to 6K,
New Fog light Housings,
06+ Power Mirrors,
06+ Tail lights

 

Got a lot more done and have a lot to come in the very near future!

First off got a new Fog light housing and lens for the Driver side. Still have to do the passenger side but the driver side was out 10x worse then the passenger.




Also I finally have alll 6K LEDs and HIDs on the front of my truck. I can officially say that my entire truck is either HID or LED accept for my gauge cluster! Very happy about that!


Also so far the most expensive item I have put on my truck so far is my new Pioneer Headunit with a reverse camera! So far I really like it. No major complaints!


I also sanded and painted my radio bezel a gloss black. Looks much better but dont have a picture of it.

Attended my first ranger meet! Had a great time and got to see a bunch of awesome rangers!


Got an 04/05 grille insert from Dewey at the meet! Just the other day however I found something better, but i still held it up to see what it would look like back to stock.


Put some super bright LED's in the Explorer visors! They may actually be a little to bright.


Also I sound deadened all of my door inside and out. Took a few hours but i really like how it came out! Still have to do the roof and floor eventually.


And now last but not least! I finally got the truck tinted! Dark as legaly possible. Turned out very nice! I am very happy with it!


Other little things that I don't have pictures of is that I took out the stock amp on my little center console sub and replaced it with a small Boss amplifier and it sounds really good! I am very pleased! also wired in a 750watt power inverted stashed under the passenger seat.
I have a lot planned here in the next month or so. Lets see what all happens!

 

Bout time you got something done.

 

It's called actually being home and having a much better paying job.

 

Okay so a few more small mods done with some larger ones in the works.

First off I restored by TBL with cargos by sanding and clear coating them. They were never terrible but I figured it would be an easy project and will just make the truck look cleaner.
Top picture is before, bottom is after.


I also put on a new fog light housing and surround on my passenger side to match my driver side. Didn't take any pictures but you will see them in some pictures below.

After that I thought id have some fun with some LED strips I had and installed some footwell lighting. It is RGB controlled and comes on with the dome light or controlled with a switch to be on even when the dome light is not. It was a lot of fun wiring but wasn't to terrible.


Now the start to my 06+ conversion.
First off were some smoked 06+ Tail light housings. I really like the look of these and the darker lens is still easy to see through while also blending in more into the truck.


Next was swapping the aftermarket grille that came with the truck for an 06+ grille. This grille was something I was never a huge fan of but I was never sure what I wanted to do instead. I was able to swap this 06+ grille for mine with another friend! Its pretty newly painted and I LOVE the way that it looks on the truck. I plan on getting some gray/silver lettering to put on the logo.


So this is how she sits right now. I am very happy where this is going. Need to get some 06+ mirrors in and then going to do either one of 2 large steps. Not sure which will happen first.
I'd love to get your opinion on some more ideas for the truck. Thanks!

 

looking good! I think some nice black or gunmetal wheels would really set it off. But I've always been partial to that.

 

I completely agree. I'm wanting to put some black or gunmetal mustang wheels of some sort on the truck here eventually. Have a couple of other projects I need the money for, but I figure once my tires need to be replaced then I will just replace the rims too.

 

right on!

 

End of Year 1

Well this is the end of year 1 of owning the truck. I'm quite happy with where I have gotten so far. Here are the few last updates that I have so far.

First I completed my 06+ look with some painted power mirrors (Yes I know 06+ had different badges but I'm going to de-badge it eventually anyways). Wiring was pretty easy and I am very happy with how they came out!


However... Not everything was so excited about my new mirrors. After only having them on for a week, the car wash decided that it was not to happy about them and decided to break my passenger side mirror... (yes they were folded in, Yes I should have washed it myself, I have plenty of excuses on why...)



So then came the zip tie mod... Hopefully I wont have to ride around like this for too long..



I got a steal of a deal on a 2006 transmission with only 9,000 miles on it! So of course I picked it up and she threw in the grille too, which I have already parted out the emblem to a friend, took off the honeycomb vents and painted them for my truck and gave the grille to someone who drove an hour to get it even though it is cracked at 3 places.



One clean bell housing! Now I just have to find time to swap them before mine goes...



So then today just for fun I decided to "flex" it on a root in my front yard. I am quite surprised for how she did being stock and only 1wd. Can't wait to see what this next year holds!

 

Mini Update time!

So first off yes I got my mirror fixed. Wasn't that bad. Had to wait a little over a week but the car wash did pay for the replacement.

Every time I turned my fan on speed 3 or 4 I had a really bad noise. I figured that it was just leaves in the fan. However after week I opened it up and found out that my fan has somehow gotten off balanced and started to rub on the inside of the box and melt itself too it... That was not fun. So I bought a new fan and had to chip the melted plastic off the inside of my fan box.


After that I finally decided to put some LEDs inside of my Explorer OHC. When I first got it I tried twisting out the old bulbs to put some leds in that I had and it broke the old brittle cable that goes to the lights. I ended up trying some Bolt LEDs inside the housing and they work wonderfully! I was very suprised how perfectly they fit. I only had to use one washer on each just to hold it on the back side and then cut and solder to the correct wires. Here are a few pictures of the process and how it turned out.

The Front of the Bolt LED:


The back of the LED bolted straight to the Explorer bulb housing:


A quick test:


Fully installed:


Now I have finally started my next big step! I picked up a 31 spline Explorer 8.8 Limited Slip with 3.73s to replace my current ranger 8.8 open with 4.10s. Working on a refresh of it and plan to have it installed by the end of May! This is something I have wanted for a while and hopefully before the rainy season.

 

Deja Vu, I swear I saw all of this yesterday.

 

So this is my biggest step so far. Installing my Explorer rear axle.

My Last picture with the old rear end in the truck.


Rear end out of the truck.


New Rear end sitting in! Disks look pretty!


First time sitting on the new axle! Also took of the step bars on the sides. Drove around on this for a few days and about 100 miles and it was unbearable!


There was 0 wheel gap.




Found out that the Edge model shocks are 2" longer than the xl/xlt shocks which were bottoming out over the smallest of bumps. This was taken while sitting on the flat driveway... no flex.



So I ordered some 2" lift shackles for the back and got a pair of xl/xlt shocks. Here are pictures of the install and after.




How she sits now with the 2" lift shackles and new shocks. I also cranked down the Torsion bars some to try and even it out a bit. Rides so much better now! Almost as good as stock, just a tad bit stiffer.



Still got some flex to it!





I would still like to get the rear up another inch. Thinking about putting in some explorer springs. Any other ideas on ways to bring up the rear some more?

Next step is wheels and tires!

 

Did you leave it spring under axle, or did you move the spring perches?

 

Also I switched out bed liners for an over the side bed liner, and got some parts for a future build project!

 

I left it spring under axle.

 

Are those the clear corners blacked out?

 

I bought the set off EBay. But it's the same thing really. Clear lens with an all black painted inside.

 

Lewks Gewd! So at which height do you really want to be at? The way the rear is, or the way the front is? In other words, what is your final goal for the height of the truck?

 

I like the hight of the rear end. But I still hit frame in big bumps. So either need to notch the frame or raise it another 1".

 

I want to see the frame notched!

 

Sometimes I can't tell if you are being nice serious or not.

 

This!

 

You just have to hope for the best. lol.

 

I want to see you lay frame with an Edge. Bag it or go home.

 

Haha no, AAL is looking better and better