“Thunder” 1998 Expedition Build Thread

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Adieu

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Finally, last update for now is the wings west spoiler! I had it painted by a local body shop and mounted it with 3M double sided mounting tape. I also switched back to a stock style 3rd brake light, the LED one I had has the LEDs aimed straight back assuming a stock mounting position, now that the 3rd brake light is angled, that wasn't going to be visible anymore at the new angle. I used Diode Dynamics LED bulbs inside the 3rd brake light.

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and a few glamour shots of the truck with the brakes and all that for good measure :slight_smile:

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If it acts in the least bit like a spoiler, aint no 3M tape gonna hold that

BTW, what's the point of dropping her like that? I hear ford has an off-the-shelf solution for your tastes, called Ford Flex
 
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MISTERgadget

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If it acts in the least bit like a spoiler, aint no 3M tape gonna hold that

BTW, what's the point of dropping her like that? I hear ford has an off-the-shelf solution for your tastes, called Ford Flex

Well, being frank about the spoiler, it's really just for vanity and not likely to generate any sort of downforce. The same 3M tape holds the Cervini's spoiler on my Lightning at over 140mph... and its used for a wide variety of OEM and aftermarket trim pieces on many makes and models. It won't be an issue. It's not an off the shelf product from the autoparts store either, it looks similar but has a much stronger adhesive and uses an adhesion promoter, had to order them from an auto body supply store.

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The drop has transformed how the Expedition feels on the road, so I'm thrilled with it. I'm honest with myself that it's used as an everyday driver on smooth roads 99.9% of the time, so I might as well make it good at that - better road manners, braking, handling, much more stable. The worst weather we see in Florida is heavy rain so no real downside to being lowered, win-win in my book.

On your other point, aside from having 3 rows, dig a little under the surface and the similarities with the Flex dissappear. I wanted a Lightning with seating for 7. The Flex is a great ride, and I would actually love on of those in the stable too, but even in it's best, AWD, Ecoboosted form, it's a unibody car with a tinny sounding V6 and the engine turned the wrong way, and the direct injection limits how much power you can make. I like the power delivery and sound of a supercharged V8 turning the rear wheels how Jesus intended.
 

Tjhoward84

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Well, being frank about the spoiler, it's really just for vanity and not likely to generate any sort of downforce. The same 3M tape holds the Cervini's spoiler on my Lightning at over 140mph... and its used for a wide variety of OEM and aftermarket trim pieces on many makes and models. It won't be an issue. It's not an off the shelf product from the autoparts store either, it looks similar but has a much stronger adhesive and uses an adhesion promoter, had to order them from an auto body supply store.

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The drop has transformed how the Expedition feels on the road, so I'm thrilled with it. I'm honest with myself that it's used as an everyday driver on smooth roads 99.9% of the time, so I might as well make it good at that - better road manners, braking, handling, much more stable. The worst weather we see in Florida is heavy rain so no real downside to being lowered, win-win in my book.

On your other point, aside from having 3 rows, dig a little under the surface and the similarities with the Flex dissappear. I wanted a Lightning with seating for 7. The Flex is a great ride, and I would actually love on of those in the stable too, but even in it's best, AWD, Ecoboosted form, it's a unibody car with a tinny sounding V6 and the engine turned the wrong way, and the direct injection limits how much power you can make. I like the power delivery and sound of a supercharged V8 turning the rear wheels how Jesus intended.

Nicely stated. I love everything about what you are doing. I get the same comments from people; why did you lower a 4WD? Why drop so much $$$ in the drive train? My response - Because it's mine, it's paid for and anyone can go drop $60K+ on a new Expy, Tahao, Escalada, Navigator, etc... I don't like driving something that those people have.

Keep up the great work!!!
 

5starChad

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The JC customs plate just makes it sit at the right angle. You can mount it either direction with their plate. The plate is the same as the hydratech kit, but it's not $900 for some lines and a painted hydroboost. After doing the hydratech in my Lightning this made much more sense.



I used the same lines as most of the lightning guys, I posted the part #'s in an earlier post, here's a direct link. “Thunder” 1998 Expedition Build Thread

Thanks for the reply man. I actually found the post about the lines and decided to just see for myself how to mount it and got it done last month. I used the stock mounting plate for now but will switch to the jc customs to clean up the look. Also still need to get the adjustable rod. Where did you get the tool to remove the old one? Looks like it has to be custom made. Since then the stock motor took a dump so I've decided to follow in you and TJ's footsteps. Got a lightning motor with 20k on it just gotta get some odds and ends. Biggest thing being the dang pulley bridge and throttle/cruise cables. Patiently waiting for them to pop up on LR. Mine is a 4x4 like TJ but I've lowered it down using Belltech springs in the back and belltech torsion keys with torsion bars from a f150 7700 to keep it from being bouncy. It's also sitting on a set of 99-00 20" lightning reps in chrome. Still a lot to be done in the suspension l. Still have to do work to the rear end as well and I plan on buying a built trans from monster transmission to throw in with it. Having a lot of fun with this build and want to thank you guys for inspiring me (and apologize in advance for all the questions I'll be asking along the way lol).
 

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Am I looking at the pictures correctly?

Did you remove the centre bench and replaced it with two captains seat with a custom console between the two of them.

Is the console mounted to the floor??

To get into the rear bench do you just fold one of the captains seat?


The buckets and rear console went in, I still need to finalize the console brackets and put the trim piece in, but it looks fantastic so far. Can’t wait to do the front seats to match! Thanks to Chris for the great looking seats and Danny for the OEM level installation of the floor latches, it works just how Ford intended.

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Definitely needs some black carpet as well to complete the look :D



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MISTERgadget

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Am I looking at the pictures correctly?

Did you remove the centre bench and replaced it with two captains seat with a custom console between the two of them.

Is the console mounted to the floor??

To get into the rear bench do you just fold one of the captains seat?

Happy to say your eyesight is perfect, that's what I did. The seats and console are from a Lincoln Navigator, and I had the center sections of the seats replaced with black suede. The console mounts to the floor, and the seats fold and flip forwards on both sides to get into the 3rd row, just like the "40" portion of the bench seats.
 

acolic

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Great idea two questions since you’ve inspired a winter project.

1. What year/model of Navigator?

2. Are the seats in the exact same location as the bucket seats? I am just wondering if you had to reposition any of the seatbelt parts?

Great idea.


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z168

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Now more than ever you need to fab and extend Lightning Side skirts to fill that missing piece

Love what you did. More stance pics please :banana-mario:
 

5starChad

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Now, a little bit more exciting stuff. In keeping with the idea of doing this right from the start, with a clear goal and the whole package in mind, next step was to make sure the rear was up to *****.

Our starting point is a 9.75" rear axle with the OEM limited slip and 3.73 gears. Very nice place to start, same as an 01-04 Lightning, so the plan was to replace the OEM diff with a TrueTrac, as the original units are known to wear out the clutches pretty easily, throw a prettier cover on, and take advantage while it's all apart to freshen up the bearings and put new seals on, fixing a leak the driver's side axle seal had.

With a TCE big-brake kit in the future plans (only available with 14mm studs), the idea was to put 14mm studs in the rear axles as well at this point, so in the future it has the 14mm studs all around.

Danny Fernandez at South Florida Muscle Cars handled the wrenching, fabrication, photography and put up with the smell of gear oil that was probably nearly 20 years old, so a heartfelt thanks for the attention to detail and passion that went into this.

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So, the first hiccup was evident right away - the rear axles at some point had been damaged, and axle saver bearings installed. On an NPI 5.4 probably making a blistering 165rwhp, it's not an issue. For a performance setup, this needed to be addressed.

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The solution was to go with new Yukon axles for a 2002 Expedition - this killed 2 birds with one stone. Fixed the axle problem and simplifies the 14mm stud upgrade, as the 02 axles are already setup and there wouldn't be any drilling required.

One thing to note, the diameter at the outer edge of the axles is smaller on the early 12mm stud axles compared to the later 14mm stud ones, so the outer bearing has to be for a 2002 model as well.

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Truetrac diff went in along with the new axles, bearings and seals. Thank you Trac Loc, it's been a good 19 years!

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Now, all buttoned up with the TA Girdle and a full-size spare (31.2" tire diameter), real estate is getting tight in the rear. No room for the OEM panhard bar, which can be seen is very tight to the diff cover looking carefully at the first picture of the rearend.

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Danny to the rescue! A new custom chromoly panhard bar gracefully routed around the differential fixes the issue and makes everything cleaner and easier to work on.

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The custom panhard not only fixes the clearance issue, but it looks downright fantastic and gives the rear a great feel with the detailed axle, TA cover and Belltech swaybar,

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Any chance we could get some dimensions of the panhard bar or maybe the guy who made yours could make more. Maybe a little mini run if enough people were interested. Really want to run the TA cover as a lot of the others leave something to be desired but dont really know any shops around here that could make such a nice solution to the pqnharf bar not fitting with it.
 

98eb5.4

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Any chance we could get some dimensions of the panhard bar or maybe the guy who made yours could make more. Maybe a little mini run if enough people were interested. Really want to run the TA cover as a lot of the others leave something to be desired but dont really know any shops around here that could make such a nice solution to the pqnharf bar not fitting with it.
+1, first alternative to stock i've seen, mine is shot/rusted out & bet tons more out there,

nice touch also for ease of diff cover removal
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