2003 Expedition Face Lift Begins

[Vancouver Bob]

Gotta love Youtube for seeing how to do things!

Thanks for that website link... it's got some good information on there. Was just looking thru the installation instructions. Seems straight forward but the list of specialty tools had me worried. I think I'm going to just have them installed by someone who knows what they're doing to make sure it gets done right the first time. Too bad you live so far away otherwise I could help you with yours and once we've done it and learned from our mistakes we can do mine .

 

[scoot0073]

Gotta love Youtube for seeing how to do things!

Thanks for that website link... it's got some good information on there. Was just looking thru the installation instructions. Seems straight forward but the list of specialty tools had me worried. I think I'm going to just have them installed by someone who knows what they're doing to make sure it gets done right the first time. Too bad you live so far away otherwise I could help you with yours and once we've done it and learned from our mistakes we can do mine .

Hahaha.. yeah Brother I'd help ya with yours also if u was closer. And I'm finally ordering my WAM Bumper tomorrow can't wait to get it on. Well n 6 weeks lol

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[Adieu]

Hi Andy...

Just back from two weeks in Malaysia for work.

Not much to report except I did go out to the beach for a camping trip with the kids. Drove over the Coastal Range and she did pretty well. There was only one time where the Expedition needed to down shift one more gear than usual to maintain speed. I took a different way home and didn't have any issues going that way. Based on this, I've decided to hold off on the regearing. Besides, I need to shift dollars to the kid's college loans.

Did great in the sand but I got a little over ambitious trying to pull a mini van off the beach. The guy was stuck just past the entry and was talking to the towing company as I pulled beside him. Saved him a little cash. Didn't take much to pull him onto the beach but then he asked me to pull him back off the beach. Thought I could do it but there was a black pick up on the main ramp (hard surface) helping a Honda SUV driver that couldn't figure out how to engage his 4wheel drive... so I thought I would try going around him in the loose sand. I knew I was going to be in trouble as I started pulling because of the deep ruts I was having to plow thru. Ended up getting to where all 4 wheels were digging in. This is where I would have high centered with the old setup . Got just past the guy with the black truck so he chained up to my bumper and it took the two of us the get the minivan the rest of the way out. Happy to report that the bumper didn't get ripped off the front of the Expedition .

A light, blowing fog... I decided to cut the A frame back off after this trip . I prefer the more "subtle" look.

View attachment 21315


View attachment 21316

You guys got mutliple vehicles stuck in THAT???

 

[Vancouver Bob]

You guys got mutliple vehicles stuck in THAT???

Oh hell no! You don't even need 4 wheel drive to drive on THAT. It's the access onto the beach like in the pic below where people get stuck. Deep, loose, rutted, and a good incline right behind me. In fact, this is the time I high centered trying to pull someone else out. A few others tried but we ultimately had to dig him out. We could have pulled him out if he had something substantial to attach a strap too. The little bracket on the back of his van just ripped off.

 

[Vancouver Bob]

Hahaha.. yeah Brother I'd help ya with yours also if u was closer. And I'm finally ordering my WAM Bumper tomorrow can't wait to get it on. Well n 6 weeks lol

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

AWESOME! Can't wait to see it! Hopefully you won't take as long as I did to get it mounted once you get it . What features are you adding to it?

 

[scoot0073]

AWESOME! Can't wait to see it! Hopefully you won't take as long as I did to get it mounted once you get it . What features are you adding to it?

My own D rings and from the frame mounts outward gonna slope it up more.
And gonna reinforce the backside with 1/4" 2x2 box tubing and 2x8 1/4" box tubing.
And doing a 4 sided wrap with 1/4" flat stock to the horns.
And I wanna delete the piece of the upper front clip that u gotta leave . But can't decide on that till I get the bumper.
Hahaha.. but we will see how it all plays out


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[jim midd]

Thanks for sharing the costs. I really love how yours turned out. I'm in Maryland so shipping is probably a lot more reasonable. Might have to consider this. thanks again

 

[Adieu]

Oh hell no! You don't even need 4 wheel drive to drive on THAT. It's the access onto the beach like in the pic below where people get stuck. Deep, loose, rutted, and a good incline right behind me. In fact, this is the time I high centered trying to pull someone else out. A few others tried but we ultimately had to dig him out. We could have pulled him out if he had something substantial to attach a strap too. The little bracket on the back of his van just ripped off.

View attachment 21495

Im no expert...but aint the usual response to air WAAAY down to like 15 psi and then drive nowhere near a rut????

 

[Vancouver Bob]

Im no expert...but aint the usual response to air WAAAY down to like 15 psi and then drive nowhere near a rut????

Perhaps if you're running dunes. I've never had any issue getting on or off the beach or going into loose sand... ruts or no ruts without airing down. I do try to avoid the really deep ruts, but once you hit them it's like driving on railroad tracks, the wheels drop in the and, if you have any speed, you may as well just stay in them provided their not overly deep. I'm no expert either though so I'm sure I'm probably not doing something right . It's all good if you're having a good time.

 

[Vancouver Bob]

My own D rings and from the frame mounts outward gonna slope it up more.
And gonna reinforce the backside with 1/4" 2x2 box tubing and 2x8 1/4" box tubing.
And doing a 4 sided wrap with 1/4" flat stock to the horns.
And I wanna delete the piece of the upper front clip that u gotta leave . But can't decide on that till I get the bumper.
Hahaha.. but we will see how it all plays out


Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

Wow! That's a lot of customization. Are you going to have them do most of that or are you thinking of adding all the tubing after the fact for more rigidity? Just be careful that you don't accidently have something added that will interfere with the mounting. Can't wait to see it!