2003 Expedition Face Lift Begins

[Vancouver Bob]

Finally got around to getting the driving lights installed on the bumper and getting the paint scheme to where I like it. Had the ends of the bumper modified a while back so that they tie in to the rest of the trim. Not too thrilled with the gap difference between the left and right sides but the mounting scheme doesn't allow for any adjustment up/down or in/out. It's a little tight on the driver side and a little wide on the passenger side. I tried jacking the left side of the bumper up to see if I could bend it up but that didn't do much. Oh well... for now I'm pretty happy with how it looks.

 

[ExpeditionAndy]

Finally got around to getting the driving lights installed on the bumper and getting the paint scheme to where I like it. Had the ends of the bumper modified a while back so that they tie in to the rest of the trim. Not too thrilled with the gap difference between the left and right sides but the mounting scheme doesn't allow for any adjustment up/down or in/out. It's a little tight on the driver side and a little wide on the passenger side. I tried jacking the left side of the bumper up to see if I could bend it up but that didn't do much. Oh well... for now I'm pretty happy with how it looks.

WOW, WOW, WOW!!!!

That looks fantastic!

Did you get the bumper painted or is that still from the spray can.

Probably the only thing that you can do to have some adjustment is make the holes in the frame bigger so you have some wiggle room to move move the bumper up and down.

 

[scoot0073]

Finally got around to getting the driving lights installed on the bumper and getting the paint scheme to where I like it. Had the ends of the bumper modified a while back so that they tie in to the rest of the trim. Not too thrilled with the gap difference between the left and right sides but the mounting scheme doesn't allow for any adjustment up/down or in/out. It's a little tight on the driver side and a little wide on the passenger side. I tried jacking the left side of the bumper up to see if I could bend it up but that didn't do much. Oh well... for now I'm pretty happy with how it looks.

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I really like how the outer ends of the bumper slope up to expose more of the front tires for that beefy mean off-road look.


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[jim midd]

That looks great. You have a great eye for detail. I'm afraid to ask the final cost of that front bumper after it's all said and done

 

[Vancouver Bob]

That looks great. You have a great eye for detail. I'm afraid to ask the final cost of that front bumper after it's all said and done

Thanks!

The bumper itself wasn't too bad. Ended up cutting the A frame off so could have saved myself $95 but I didn't know how I'd feel about it until I got it on the Expedition. The shipping was almost $300 so that was a big chunk plus the cost of the lights.

I then paid about $200 to have the mounting plates designed and welded on and another $150 to have the ends welded up so that they tied into the existing trim better, although that included welding the A frame back on after I cut it off just so that I could cut if off again

 

[Vancouver Bob]

WOW, WOW, WOW!!!!

That looks fantastic!

Did you get the bumper painted or is that still from the spray can.

Probably the only thing that you can do to have some adjustment is make the holes in the frame bigger so you have some wiggle room to move move the bumper up and down.

Thanks, Andy! Yes, I did try to enlarge the holes a bit but the mounting brackets essentially wedge the bumper onto the frame and the vertical plates of the bumper slide in between the two frame beams pretty tightly so it essentially gets held in position. I can pull it forward but then the upper and lower mounting plates pull away from the beams. I really just need to lift the passenger side up maybe a 1/4 inch at most, and drop the driver side maybe half that.

Oh, yes... this is still just the rattle can paint job. I want to try and see what I can do to get the gaps to match before having it painted. It's really not a big deal and I probably shouldn't worry about it .

 

[Vancouver Bob]

I really like how the outer ends of the bumper slope up to expose more of the front tires for that beefy mean off-road look.


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Hey, Scoot!

Yea, I really like that too! I'm pretty jazzed with how it turned out.

By the way, I was going to ask you about your gears... in the other thread you mentioned your 3.73 gears giving you some grief. I have the same gearing in mine... and so far it hasn't been too horrible. For around town it's been good and only when I drove over the cascade mountain range did I feel like it was geared a bit too high. Plus it's dang expensive to have them swapped out! Wish I could do it myself.

 

[scoot0073]

Hey, Scoot!

Yea, I really like that too! I'm pretty jazzed with how it turned out.

By the way, I was going to ask you about your gears... in the other thread you mentioned your 3.73 gears giving you some grief. I have the same gearing in mine... and so far it hasn't been too horrible. For around town it's been good and only when I drove over the cascade mountain range did I feel like it was geared a bit too high. Plus it's dang expensive to have them swapped out! Wish I could do it myself.

Yeah I got 35's so I need 4.56 gears.
The rear gears are $580 and the front is $270.
I'm pondering on doing mine myself I feel confident enough to do the swap.
But that's gonna have to wait till tax time so that I got the $$ to buy them.
I live n North Georgia alot of hills n mountain and it struggles going up them .but n Town it does great but anything over 55 mph u can forget it..hahah

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[Vancouver Bob]

Yeah I got 35's so I need 4.56 gears.
The rear gears are $580 and the front is $270.
I'm pondering on doing mine myself I feel confident enough to do the swap.
But that's gonna have to wait till tax time so that I got the $$ to buy them.
I live n North Georgia alot of hills n mountain and it struggles going up them .but n Town it does great but anything over 55 mph u can forget it..hahah

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I was thinking the same gears.. 4.56's.

Would be great if you can install them yourself. I don't remember the exact numbers but I think the one place I called quoted me about $800 for parts (gears + bearing kit) and then another $800 to install them... per axle! Yikes!! And I figured if I was going to go to the trouble to do this, may as well throw a locker in the rear while everything was apart. Would almost be a free install at that point. Definitely can't afford all the right now .

 

[scoot0073]

I was thinking the same gears.. 4.56's.

Would be great if you can install them yourself. I don't remember the exact numbers but I think the one place I called quoted me about $800 for parts (gears + bearing kit) and then another $800 to install them... per axle! Yikes!! And I figured if I was going to go to the trouble to do this, may as well throw a locker in the rear while everything was apart. Would almost be a free install at that point. Definitely can't afford all the right now .

Yeah it's my understanding that the rear I will need a pumpkin spreader a tool that spreads the housing open more to get the gear out.
Which I have seen the tool on a YouTube video and it would be very easy to make vs paying $80 something.
The only video I could find showing someone doing the ring n pinion gear swap was on a 04 or 03 I think Explorer 4x4 he was doing the rear which most part is the same as ours . Not the best video by far but it was good enough to c what is involved.
Yeah the $580 was the 4.56 that was equal to OEM grade and with the bearing kit n shim's and stuff . And it includes lifetime replacement if the gears mess up by me installing them wrong months down the road they will replace them free he said..
Man I got to find the website again or remember the company name.
Hahaha.. found it
https://www.ringpinion.com

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[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.

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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

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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.

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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


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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!