My introduction to wheeling

[LBarr2002]

This is what made me catch the bug. When I graduated high school in '02, my dad gave me his '91 Explorer XLT 4x4 (which was basically mine already).



I drove it basically stock (intake and exhaust only) for a couple years and played with it a little. In '04, I bought a '92 for $250 from my girlfriend at the time (now wife's) sister. It had been sitting for two years because 'something was cracked' and they didn't want to fix it. I was getting it for parts only...





I came home from my summer job one day and my dad was driving it around the yard... stopping every few minutes to refill it with water. We tore the top end down, replaced the blown out intake gasket, and started driving it. The transmission started leaking badly from sitting so long, and it went in for a rebuild. I came home from work one day and my dad met me in the yard laughing and said I had to go to the shop - this is what I saw:





The shop dropped it from 6ft and totalled it, $2000 damage. They had a body shop that owed them money, so they fixed it and repainted most of it, and did the tranny seals for a total of $100 cost to me .

 

[LBarr2002]

By the end of 2005, I had collected used parts slowly and it was on 2" spacers in the front, AAL and shackles in back. I bought a set of Keystone cyclones from a buddy's Ranger for $40, and hand me down 32x11.50 BFG AT's.







Somewhere in there I swapped out the spacers for 2" lift coils.
In spring of '06, I bought a set of 33x12.50 Mastercrafts



At this point I was driving this one more than the original tan one, and it was my primary back and forth to Clemson vehicle.

Summer of 2006, I was set to go on a trip with Serious Explorations, so a couple friend's helped me throw on a body lift to keep the 33's from rubbing and we put an Aussie in the front. Drove it to Virginia and it broke a hub on the first rock (didn't have spares).

The trip turned out ok though, because we got engaged that weekend.

 

[LBarr2002]

My best friend worked in a trailer shop at that time, so we'd go in on Friday's and build stuff. This was around the time we made our first trip to Gulches.





I swapped in a disk brake 8.8, 5.13 gears, still with the Aussie in the front and welded rear, and was running Warn hubs at that point.



I loved everything about this rig at this point, except that the rear spring hangers got caught on everything. So, I found a 5.5 inch lift kit in a junkyard, got it for $50, and did the rear SOA to match.



And I ruined it...

It wasn't fun to drive any more, was too tall and top heavy. I planned on removing the body lift and putting in on 35's, but then the Samurai bug bit...



And I sold the Explorer to my friend that helped me build it. Its still rolling around up in the Walhalla/Seneca area.

 

[irmoxj]

love the sami! i think i saw your explorer at save the gulches ride or one that looked just like it.

 

[LBarr2002]

love the sami! i think i saw your explorer at save the gulches ride or one that looked just like it.

It wasn't there. I tried to get him to come but he didn't. There were two white first gens from Serious Explorations there, and one rolled...

 

[Steve97tj]

Always liked explorers that get wheeled. And always loved your samurai.

Hijack: How come you ditched the h3 wheels? was it because they were 16s?

 

[LBarr2002]

16's, aluminum, and required spacers, and I got a good deal on mounted 35's from Hunter. Bacho is using the H3's on his new build.