I'll be in Laguna Beach sometime this spring, june maybe. I know it's pretty far south but if I have a couple days of vacation then driving up to the rubicon wouldn't be too hard. Just catch a flight out of there. I know it's prolly 9-10 hour drive but it's a lot close than Indiana!!

Not too concerned about weight on the explorer no. I could do a mix of material. DOM for the main hoops for example. I'm considering an exo. My explorer is obviously different than this lol. But something "similar" to this would be ideal. It would require me to chop the roof (not a big deal). I'd also have to tie it into an internal structure of some kind as well like a main hoop behind the seats. I like the general idea of this though. It's tight to the roof and doesn't stick out on the sides. Who knows at this point....all up in the air and prolly will be for a while

 

More similar to this...cept angled down more in the rear and I wouldn't cut the entire roof out. Kind of a hybrid between this explorer and the ranger. Prolly won't happen this year. I have to get a better tow rig. My 4.6 isn't happy towing the explorer as is on the trailer lol. Just gonna save a couple grand and buy an older rig that I can fix up a little and run it.

 

Right on. Laguna's a bit of a drive for me. But if you do end up going to the Rubicon, maybe we could plan something. Just a thought. You'd be looking at one long drive up though.

I love when cages are built with different sized material. Not just different stuff. But main hoops maybe 1.75" .120 wall and then some 1.5" .120 wall as support tube. Then maybe some misc. 1.25 or smaller tube for "cool" stuff (tire mount).

Anyway, thinking out loud. I'm sure it'll come out slick.

 

Yeah i'm sure i'll figure something. Can't wait to get it started but I have to get a few more tools before I start.

Whats some stuff closer to your area as far as wheeling goes? Hmm...Hollister hills. Think i can get a rental through the tank trap LOL

 

If not, someone can get it out!

You also got Big Bear down there. Johnson Valley is the "be all" IMO. You are close enough, that's where I'd head.

Could head out towards Vegas. They have tube rock crawler rentals. Never done it before, but might be fun!

Dusy Ershim is great fun

Swamp Lake.

Just some that come to my mind that are somewhat south for you.

*tons more. Can check pirate and other sites. I have a trail guide around here somewhere too.

 

Been awhile since i updated my little thread here. I found that my track bar was hitting the diff cover. I just finished up a new track bar from the orig. 79 f150, shortened, welded and sleeved. I will be trimming the k member more this weekend. ALSO i have started building a wristed arm for more flex up front. I'm following this writeup http://www.broncoii4x4.com/wristed-arm/wristed-arm.php. Here's an example of an explorer with a wristed arm

 

I had a wristed arm on mine. It helped quite a bit and you'll like the extra flex.

 

Last club run I went on. Had to go have a baby then so not much time to go wheeling since

Around 5:58 for the explorer.
http://youtu.be/SavNdg1xeC0

 

New developments! I'm going to be working on a 78 full width d44/9" swap for my cousin. In return I get an NP435/NP205 combo. The np205 will get twin sticks so i can control the front and rear axles independently.This will be going behind my 302 basket case lol. This summer i'll be pulling a set of gt40 heads, find a cam, and begin a mild build (gasket match port/polish job, maybe megasquirt and a couple other tweaks). Hopefully i'll get around 300hp at the crank. all to go in the explorer or an project which has not been named...but most likely the sploder

Even though the np205 has a crap low range with the granny gear i'll have a 67:1 crawl ratio compared to a 43:1 with the stock drivetrain. I'm researching a doubler setup as well.

It won't be finished this year but it will be in progress

 

Big Smo and the lacs

 

Had a few issues with not being locked in the front last time out. Spool works great in the rear though. Anyway...you can see the issues in the video lol
http://youtu.be/81s5L5JHSFs

So, last night i ordered a spartan locker for the front. Will be here in a couple days and will throw it in. Went with the spartan over some of the other lunchbox lockers because the spring/pins are a bit better designed (from what i've seen) and has a hardened crosspin.

 

Welp, locker is in. It was very simple. Just make sure if you do it you get your bearing caps in the same way

The locker pretty much just dropped in, If you do get one don't use the factory thrust washers between the spiders and the case. I went ahead and used the supplied cross pin as well, it's hardened so it should be a bit stronger than the stock one. Other than that it was a level 4 (totally subjective and has no meaning) job. Hardest part was taking the axle apart but even that's pretty simple when you're dealing with a 34 year old front end

 

Locker worked quite well this past weekend. I only show up twice in the vid (little past 6:20) I got to my own party late though LOL

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/GsWNVA6nzII" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

looks like the locker made a big difference from your other video!

are you still going to backhalf the explorer?

 

Good chance I will when I do a cage. I'd LIKE to get started on that next year sometime. My daughter won't be old enough to go with me next year but she will the year after and I want some extra protection when she hits the trails with me.

The locker made a huge difference, it was point and click all weekend. With it and my gearing, even though I have a manual tranny it was like driving an auto all weekend