Toddious become's elite!

Well, i've been on this board for over a year now, and decided it's about time i become an elite member. when i first stumbled onto this page, i had just become owner of my 1996 Explorer Limited. since then, a lot has changed. I got the bug, and have been unable to stop modifying my explorer. A little about myself: I am 23 years old, and am finishing up my bachelors degree in two months. I am currently working for a company in Orlando designing, selling, and installing Home Theater systems.

About my truck:
STOCK:

I bought the truck stock with 97k miles on it. It is a "limited edition", so it has leather, 6cd changer, sunroof, blah blah blah. It has the 4.0 v6, 3.73 gears, and a limited slip rear end.

NOW:

It has gotten a 3" Body lift, 2" Torsion twist, custom leaf pack (from Dent Spring in Cincinnati). It also has the "air ride suspension" system, which has been modified to provide an extra 1" of lift. I am using Pro-Comp MT's, on 15x10 Rockcrawler rims. I have an SCT flasher with 2 programs (87/93) made by brian at SCT in orlando.

I have a Milemarker Electric 9,000 lb winch. 6 Pro-comp 55w lights (the two on the grille are triggered from the high beams, 4 on the roof are triggered by the fog light switch in the dash).

The light bar is drilled through the roof, and the roof rack attaches to the factory track bars. Both are custom built.

Custom side steps/sliders are welded to the frame, and are strong enough to use as jack points. The rocker panels have also been coated with herculiner.

And thats just about it!
All the metal work was done by Gabe Simpson (aka Buchvilleman) out of northern florida. He is a great guy, please see him if you need any work done. (thanks soo much gabe!).

Future Plans:
Regear, Intake and Exhaust, Lockers, eventually a SAS for a D44.

THANKS TO EVERYONE ON THIS BOARD WHO HAS HELPED GET MY TRUCK WHERE IT IS!!!

 

[FROADER]

Who knew that much good would come out of bad front end parts...

 

[toddious]

haha, thats exactly how i feel. i mean, i knew it was coming, but i had hoped that the front end would hold up till i did the SAS, which i had planned for around christmas time. this just moves my time table forward a little bit, which is alright with me! todd.

 

[bmxking5]

If you hadn't already found a good deal on the dana 30 and plan on doing this so soon, I'd say get a d44. But since you seem to have it all figured out, I can just say please post pics when you have that IFS torn out and in the garbage. So are you gonna stick with the 33s for now?

 

[toddious]

well, the plan was definately to do a d44, for long term use. I plan on going no bigger than 35's, with 4.56 gearing. Due to the need for immediate action, i have decided to rely on the dana 30 for now. it will be simpler due to matching width and bolt patterns, and because i have a source for one. I am still definately planning on using a dana 44 for long term, but i figure if i put the dana 30 under there for now, then i am most of the way towards putting a d44 under there later. I am going to stick with my 33's for now, at least until they're bald, or i can trade them towards some 35's. I plan on buying the 4.56 gears now, however, so for the mean time i will be using 33's with 4.56. todd.