Cut the Bumper or Get a Lift--Advice Needed

[Brian McElhaney]

Hi, all. I have a project Expedition going and could use a little advice. I am the original owner of this 2000 Ford Expedition 4x4 XLT/Sport. I want to make it look a little more aggressive. I have tuned up the mechanical, will add rims/tires, and paint last. This is my first time doing a project like this.

Black rims with 33" BFGs are going on next week. I tested the rims/tires and there is a minor rub at the front bumper (video). So I have two questions for you.

Question #1: Cut the bumper ($50 at auto body shop next door) or spend the money on a lift/level of some sort?

Question #2: Do I have enough room on the back/inside of the front? The tire does no touch, and there is about 1/4"-1/2" clearance.

Question #3: Will this modification cause mechanical issues (someone suggested this will cause gearing issues)

I don't use this SUV for sport or going off road. It is 99% on a paved street or freeway.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Brian McElhaney]

Hi, all. I have a project Expedition going and could use a little advice. I am the original owner of this 2000 Ford Expedition 4x4 XLT/Sport. I want to make it look a little more aggressive. I have tuned up the mechanical, will add rims/tires, and paint last. This is my first time doing a project like this.

Black rims with 33" BFGs are going on next week. I tested the rims/tires and there is a minor rub at the front bumper (video). So I have two questions for you.

Question #1: Cut the bumper ($50 at auto body shop next door) or spend the money on a lift/level of some sort?

Question #2: Do I have enough room on the back/inside of the front? The tire does no touch, and there is about 1/4"-1/2" clearance.

Question #3: Will this modification cause mechanical issues (someone suggested this will cause gearing issues)

I don't use this SUV for sport or going off road. It is 99% on a paved street or freeway.

Thanks in advance!

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[Killer Ride]

How about you raise the front? Just crank up the torsion bar keys? It would take about 10 min and cost nothing

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[Brian McElhaney]

Thanks, KR.....I will ask about that. Newbie question: How does that NOT make the front end tilt up? Or, is it that a couple inches is not noticeable?

 

[brcknrdg Rob]

Thanks, KR.....I will ask about that. Newbie question: How does that NOT make the front end tilt up? Or, is it that a couple inches is not noticeable?

It levels it. The adjustments are easily controlled

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[Brian McElhaney]

Okay. Thanks, KR.

 

[craig sargood]

Hey, built a 4x4 off road expedition recently, you can easily trim the bumpers yourself with a sawzall with a fine tooth blade or a jig saw. That would also cost nothing. The more you crank the tortion bars the tougher it rides. I had a tortion loft and hated it. If you do decide to lift, do a suspension lift. This is mine if you haven’t seen it on here before.

 

[Brian McElhaney]

Hi, Craig. Your truck looks great. Thanks for sharing the advice. I decided not to lift it for now. I had the body shop give the bumper a little haircut. It rubs a tiny bit still, so I am going to scoot the bumper forward. It has been at the painter’s for the last two weeks. I’ll post before/after pics when done. I really appreciate the responses.

Do you know what kind of headlights you have? Are you happy with them?

 

[ExplorerTom]

How about you raise the front? Just crank up the torsion bar keys? It would take about 10 min and cost nothing

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Except for the alignment afterwards.

 

[scotthere]

I hate to say it but none of the above. the rims do look aggressive as do the tires even more so but I think a tire that fits that is of the same design will look every bit as aggressive. Big tires are used to raise the differential ground clearance (not HYW driving) which no one except rock crawler folks need. If those are 20" rims trade those back in and get some black 17 0r 18 inch rims and tires of the the same design that will give clearance and you wont look like the folks who put 24 inch rims on impalas. It will look aggressive, your speedometer will not be so wonky and your girlfriend might be able to get in the truck.

only other choice is to put a 2-3 inch lift to gain clearance, and get your girlfriend a ladder. Oh and pay for the speeding tickets due to SPEEDO error. smaller agressive treads will still give you the wonderful tire howl on the HWY too.

 

[joethefordguy]

scotthear is correct. if you're not going offroad, you don't need taller tires to increase ground clearance.

 

[Brian McElhaney]

Scott and Joe, thanks for the input. I do appreciate it. Those rims are 17 inch rims and the tires I picked are a just a little less than 33 inches. I was going to do the BFG's (shown) but I ultimately chose a new line of Toyos (ATIII). The Toyos are lighter than the BFGs, and I am hoping that lighter weight will reduce the potential of drama to the mechanics of the SUV. The Toyos (285/70/17) are 3.5% in diameter larger than the stock tires (265/70/17). I am going to have a friend pace me and see what the impact to the speedo is. Mostly for future readers with similar questions, I will post the result along with final pics when I get my Expy back from the paint shop. Again, thanks for commenting.

 

[scotthere]

The toyo's are a good choice a little oversize but within reason and look good too. Plus is they have good tread warranty.

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[craig sargood]

Cut the bumper, be a man. You can trim them easy with a sawzall or jigsaw with finer tooth blade( I use metal blades). You can see mine are cut, makes no difference. I promise it won’t take away from resale value.

 

[craig sargood]

BTW, you could also get a edge evolution to help with not getting speeding tickets. It has a digital speedo and allows different tire sizes. I’ve only had 2 police chases since bigger tires.

 

[Brian McElhaney]

Craig is man-shaming me. Thanks for the advice and the laugh, Craig. I really appreciate the input.

"Cut the bumper, be a man."

 

[Brian McElhaney]

For the next person wresting with some of the questions I had, here is what my expy looked like before/after and what I did-with costs. Finally, the impact of the tires/rims.

New rims: 17 inch Level 8 Slam rim with -24mm offset, 5 x 135. The tires don't stick out. They are flush with the flared fender, which was exactly what I wanted.
Tires: Toyo ATIII (285/70/17) are 3.5% in diameter larger than the stock tires (265/70/17).
Tires + Rims installed/balanced-$1450.

New paint-$2500. Two coats of Pros Spray + clear coat. Body AA4 Phoenix Gray (Kia color), Trim-NH675M Magnesium Silver (Honda color).

As far as I can tell, the new tires at 3.5% larger than stock are causing my speedometer to be 1-2 MPH off. I have tested it on up/down grade and flat. It is always within 2 mph.

As for gas, I have taken three mileage measures. In one, I had better mileage than usual by about 2 mpg (14.9 mpg). In the second test, the mileage was about 1.5 mpg worse than usual (11.5 mpg). In the third, I was a hair below where I usually am at 12.5 mpg (busy day with freeway, city streets, A/C, and some idling). Historically, I get about 13 mpg depending on freeway vs. streets and A/C usage.

The feel of the Toyos is different than my prior tires. The Toyos are just a little rougher and noisier. But, not the least bit bothersome. I got used to the difference after a few minutes. I would not consider the Toyos "loud" or "rough" if I wasn't comparing them to the prior tires.

Next steps are to replace the headlights and to explore a two or three inch body lift.

Last thought...I did not man-up on cutting the bumper. I paid $40 to have the guy at the body shop cut it. After seeing what he did, I agree that I could have done that myself. Good luck to all of you out there with a project truck.

 

[Brian McElhaney]

Forgot a pic of the "poke."

Also, I took a fourth MPG measurement.....13.5 miles per gallon from a combined city/hwy. That is basically where it was pre-Toyo.

 

[JVinOlathe]

While there is no offcial speedometer tolerance, manufactures here adhere to the 4% rule which inidcates that the speedometer can read as much a 4% higher than actual speed but not lower than actual speed. So, if you are going 60 MPH, the speedometer could read 60MPH + 4% or 2.4 MPH or 62.4 MPH but in no case less that 60 MPH so in most case you would be driving slight slower than the indicated speed o you don't risk a ticket. European rules are more flexible and allow a much higher reading so a car that is going 100 MPH, the speedometer could real 113MP and still be in compliance. European sports car manufacturers are known for high reading speedometers with BMW and Porsche being the worst offender, perhaps owners feel good abou thinking they are going faster then they actually are.
As far as figuring your actual speed. GPS unit are now very accurate and you can use one to compare your speedometer reading; there are also cell phone application that do this but be sure you are on a flat, straight section of road. A better way (police uses it for their own cars) is to drive in the Interstate, preferably when you can drive with cruise control and no changes in speed, there are mile markers with mile number clearly marked for even miles and smaller markers every 0.10 miles. Use a timer to time how long it takes you to go 1 mile at 60 MPH and compare to your reading and you can easily calculate the speedometer bias. At 60 MPH it should take yu exactly 60 seconds, if it lakes you less then you are driving faster than 60 MPH and need to be careful about speeding and if it takes you more than 60 seconds then you are driving slower than the speedometer indicates and you should be safe.

 

[George Salazar]

With a 3" body lift, I have run 315/70/16 MTs on my '97 4WD XLT. There was extremely minor rubbing on full lock of the wheel. My mileage really sucked, so I'm currently running 285/70/16 BFG ATs. I plan on switching back to 35s, but will be re-gearing to 4.56