zonianbrat

Ok am I the only one who has 31" tires (BFG AT's) and has absolutely no rubbing. Even in full lock in reverse? everybody always say you will have slight rubbing. Well I have 0. And I am pretty sure the truck does not have a lift on it. It looks stock. Maybe someone with a lift can measure from the ground to the bottom or their fender or something for me. so we can compare. I do not have flares either.

Hard to tell from the angle but is it sticking up higher than the hood? if so that might be awkward for us people that have the steering wheel on the correct side. Just kidding! Anyway it is great news to hear there is actually one designed specifically for out trucks. I will be lookin into one down the road.

I think it's going to get pricey. If I remember correctly XplorX got then when he was overseas somewhere and still paid a bundle for them. Either way I think it is a good call trying to get a group buy on them. Maybe we can find someone who will get them to us for a decent price. I am not saying I am difinitely in on the group buy but let me know the price and I will make a decision. I already need to replace my passenger headlight unit so I might as well check on the price of the upgrade while I am at it. Now we also need to talk to XplorX because I think they might need a ballast or something like that. I would look for his thread but I am at work and kinda busy.

I would imagine you could just SAS it but you'll be peeing blood when the race is over.

97 R50! Maroon baby! As far as differences off road from new pathies. Not much in IMHO. Yes the older ones look more rugged. ( I love it) main thing I see with the new ones are the bumpters and all the plastic begging to be ripped off on a serious trail. I think the older ones have a bit more clearance in certain areas too. all models have pros and cons so it just depends on what your planning on doing with it. Will you be off-roading alot? or mostly city and highway driving? I know you said something about wanting to lift it I am biased because of my sweet girl "constance" but I love they way it looks and how badass she will look once I can finally get a lift under her. Congrats on your first born!! We will be having our 2nd in April. And thanks for all your doing for us in IRAQ.

Since you or your cousin is already going to be in there I would change the t-belt, t-belt tensioner, water pump, coolant bypass hose, cam and crank seals (if they are leaking), thermostat and your drive belts. And yes you should take out the radiator. And while your radiator is out you might as well clean it out and clean the fins then replace your hoses and drive belts. I did all of that with the exception of the tensioner and the cam seals and I also changed my plugs too. That way it is all done and you know you done alot as far as maintenance.

Make sure you get the right puller!! I did not and used a jaw-type and ruined my harmonic balancer. Other than that regular tools like a breaker bar air tools if you have them, a 27mm socket and plenty of beer and your good to go.

Not always, if it gets dirty it can just mess with the fuel/air mixture and run a little rough. Your Maf is just after your air filter box on top. It has like 3 or 4 screws on it. You just unscrew them and gently take out the sensor. Then take some Isopropyl Alchohol and a cotton swab and "very gently" clean the metal contacts. I emphasize gently because if you break the contacts you need a new MAF and I hear they run like 4 or 500 bucks. First time I cleaned mine it idled smoother and I think it actually ran better on the highway. Hard to tell about the highway driving though.

Eagle, if your belt hasnt been changed in 150k you should really think about changing it ASAP. While the 3.3 will run for a very very long time, if the t-belt goes it pretty much usually destroys the engine. That gets pricy unless you swap out yourself. I am not a mechanic I understand how an engine works and absolutely love cars and trucks but never really did a whole lot of work on them besides maintenance, replacing carbs etc. (easy stuff). So I was nervous when I decided to change the t-belt myself but after getting advice from here and writeups etc it turned out to be a pretty easy job. I do not know your mechanical skill but all it takes it time and the right tools.

There probably is one somewhere but I wouldnt waste my time trying to find it. Might as well just discuss it now. I dont know what the engine life is on the 3.5 VQ but I hear that the 3.3 VG will last for like 300,000 or more if you change the T-belt and basically take care of it. As with any engine it depends on how you treat it IMHO. My 97 3.3 has 139,000. I changed the t-belt at 118,000 along with the usual water pump t-stat drive belts etc. I realize that my truck is about as fast as a turd in the wind so I dont run her hard unless I have to. That's about all I got

Not that I doubt anybody here could answer all your questions. But just for added intellect on the subject you might try heading over to Roninwheelers.com. The people there are great and very knowledgeable as far as suspensions go.

I say drop a crate 350 witha trubo 400 tranny with a shift kit .in her and be done with it. Or do what people have said above and go with a fronty motor. Either way you will run into some headaches. It is simply the nature of tinkering. I am sure a 350 would involve more fabbing and possibly some suspension modification to compensate for the extra weight. So it is really up to you. I say go balls out or get the f$%k out!! Just my .02. And not do be an ass eglaisi 91. But I doubt 1/2 of the people that do engine swaps involving ECU's actually know off the bat what all it controls. Most of them just know to wire it back up the way it was in the previous vehicle or how to follow a schematic in order to do so.

XplorX has done a complete HID switch I think. If I remember correctly he had to run ballasts for them. I could be completely wrong here but I thought I saw a post about it on here or on AC's forum. I put in some Xenon brite white lenses I bought off flebay for 13 bucks I got 2 pair. They were brighter than stock and had a white/blue light to them. I liked them and they were brighter when in complete darkness but then you got into lit areas the headlights would disapear. They would also disapear when it rains. So all in all for the $ I liked them but I put 2bulbs in storage and kept the two in my headlights then about a month ago I was on a rig and one burned out so I just got some silverstars from Wally world. I got two so as not to look like a jackass with one brite white and one dull yellow lens. I will be putting my other bulbs back in when I get home. Silverstars are good but I like the brite white look better.

Man that video is really fu#$ing weird.

Bet the electrical gremlins started to come out too. I was just about to point out and say the same thing about if he was able to drive out it would have been cooler. But in the pic it appears he had to be pulled out.

Gotta love those Ford's

Well without knowing specifics I guess it would work. Like what csutke said before your bumpers and fenders would need to be trimmed more and the inside of the fender well would probably also need some work. Geebus you going ot end up getting like 8 mpg. Do it up kid. Like I said it's not my style but it would still be cool to see. That's funny cause my rims are 15" so your would literally be twice as big.

It impress's me because no other floatation vehicles made it.

sounds great just get some pics of it!!! I so wanna do something to my truck. It has sat stock for too long. I gotta birthday coming up!!

Well if you say you needed it then I dont doubt ya. I just think it is weird you needed 4-lo for the power even to get started. I pulled a tandem axle dump trailer that was fully loaded and inturn was too much to be pulling with my pathy and she did it fine with 2wd. Even going up hills. But I am not questioning you or your motives. You got the job done and that is what is important. did your buddy find out what was wrong with the fuel system on his ford?

damn I'd like to take it off your hands but I dont know if it is in my budget right now.

Why did you need 4-lo?

Looks good Alex. I like it. Have you sold your lift yet?

So what is your plan exactly? Are you wanting some 37"'s with those same rims? I did not even know they made such a tire. Or are you going to get smaller rims with the 37"s? The thing I wold be worried about is the IFS and when you turn you might rip off your fenders.

I agree with you on the Monster Garage 88. They never have to pay for the engine or turbos or whatever other high dollar items they put on.