My 2000 5.4l Eddie Bauer 4x4

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ExplorerTom

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Not using premixed coolant. I mix my own 50/50 with distilled water.

I looked into the possibility of electrolysis killing my radiators. I think I ruled out structural failures. And it can’t be just horrible luck.

Electrolysis isn’t a super common failure mode, but it does happen. Read about one particular poor soul who was replacing heater cores at a much faster rate than I’ve been going through radiators.

The good news is that you can test for it. I followed this procedure:
http://ve-labs.net/electrolysis-101/how-to-test

.3V is the bogey. I was at .4V. Bad, but not SUPER bad.

I decided that a good thing to do would be to install the Big 3 Upgrade. This upgrades the battery cables that go to the starter solenoid, the alternator and ground with MUCH larger cables- 0 AWG in most cases, up from 4 AWG.

I could have sourced my own wires and connectors but I decided to buy a kit from HD Circuitry LLC:
https://m.facebook.com/hdcircuitry/
He makes a kit specifically for 10th gen F-150s. He owns one himself.

The kit comes with nice instructions that were easy to follow. I also got to buy a new tool: a hydrualic wire crimping tool. Part of the procress is to repurpose existing cables for something else bu cutting off the ends and reterminating them with ring terminals. I only have hand crimpers and they didn’t even open large enough. And to get a really good crimp, my basic hand crimpers aren’t enough. The hydraulic crimpers are a jack that smashes the wires and connector.

My negative cable from the battery to the frame had seen better days. I was supposed to reuse this cable but instead I replaced it.
B6B4A920-120E-4B89-AD6D-FB1570ECE644.jpg

All said and done:
ED9DFAB8-8439-453C-BA93-805429CAA491.jpg

It’s a little messy and I need to clean up my aux wiring (especially since I have a fun new crimper!).

Redoing the electrolysis test after the Big 3, it dropped me down to .2V. Better, but not great.

But oddly enough, my radiator isn’t currently leaking. Weird.
 
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ExplorerTom

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Today marks 4 years of ownership. I just rolled over 250k miles about a week ago- I missed it by like 18 miles so I didn’t bother with a picture. In that 4 years, I’ve driven it a little over 76k miles, it’s been to both coasts and 26 states in the process. I’ve spent a little over $13,000 in gas alone with an average of 12.9 mpg. Other than a few issues, it’s been a pretty solid rock. I think I’ll keep it for awhile longer.
 

Gr4ck3L

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Hi Tom,

Thoughts after some running time with the Mevotech parts? I picked up a 2010 SSV with 125k, and its gonna need some of those bits replaced. I would like it to be a capable off-roader in the same sense as what you've used yours for, and I didn't know if I was splitting hairs on the Mevotech Kit160 (supreme?) from RockAuto or if I should go for the upgraded Mevotech TTX pieces.

Amazing thread man. I fell into this rabbit hole while trying to find more details about the Mevotech parts.. lol.
 
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ExplorerTom

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I’ve been happy with the TTX lower so far. I think the uppers are beefier than the lowers. I haven’t upgraded those yet.

The TTX is supposed to be their heavy duty line meant for offroad. I’d stick with those. Moog..... I just don’t think they are as good as they once were.
 

JExpedition07

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Have you replaced the starter at any point? I’ve pondered doing mine ahead of time.
 

Trainmaster

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My experience with Mevotech is that it's cheap Chinese junk. Had one break due to a poor casting (gas porosity) after a week.

Forensic examination of the casting found flow marks all over it also. Could have been killed by this garbage.
 
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Doing something about the noise level inside the cabin has long been on my list of to-do. I finally did something about it.

For the longest time I was really leaning toward using the Lizard Skin line of products: their sound deadener and thermal insulation. But the application process seemed pretty daunting. Plus it seemed like you needed to do it all in one shot. Then I ran across Noico Sound Deadener on Amazon. It got great reviews and seemed inexpensive. I ordered 4 boxes (actually I ordered 5 but only used 4). It’s very similar to Dynamat- although maybe not as thick. I also got some Reflectix heat insulation from the local big box store.

I first started with the doors. Removed the door cards and cleaned up the metal.
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Then applied the Noico as best I could to the inner and outer metal skins.
F0A3C7FD-0BD2-4541-B48A-3DE0CEC14E20.jpg

And then on the inside of the door card, I cut the Reflectix to fit and taped it in place.
0862D6F5-229A-4DB7-9CD5-28800F1A5228.jpg

I did the same thing to the hatch. What I noticed on the hatch was that it had several L shaped feet that went from the inner door skin to the outer door skin and were supposed to be “glued” in place. Well that glue was no linger sticky and that L was free and wiggle and vibrate. I applied the Noico in such a way that the L was being held in place to the outer door skin. Doing this really helped to deaden the panel.

About a month later, I stripped the interior to start on the big chunk.
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Similar to the hatch, the roof’s cross beams were no longer bonded to the roof skin. This allowed the entire roof skin to vibrate like a drum head. Again, I applied the Noico such that it joined them back together.

On a road trip one summer my wife commented on how warm the floor was getting. As you can see here, the factory sound deadening would get soft and the jute backing of the carpet would get stuck to it over time.
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Noico applied. I pretty much did only a single layer with as close to 100% coverage as possible.
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And again, I applied the Reflectix to the floor and ceiling:
87F754CF-4C6E-4F2A-BD50-7190E7DF535F.jpg

I did drive around before I started with a decibel meter on my phone to get a baseline. I haven’t repeated the test exactly the same since I’ve been done but I’d say the results of the project are positive. It might not be a huge decrease in decibels, but everything seems to feel very solid now. It hasn’t been super hot out since I’ve been done, but even coming back out to it in the parking after awhile, the interior seems like it’s cooler than what it would have been normally.
 

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I've had 2 cargo vans that I had spray foam insulated inside.
Tightens them up, insulates of course, and sound deadens.
And you only need body heat from 2 people to keep the inside warm (sort of).
 

Wal92tt

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I've had 2 cargo vans that I had spray foam insulated inside.
Tightens them up, insulates of course, and sound deadens.
And you only need body heat from 2 people to keep the inside warm (sort of).
Sorry, but the first thing which came to mind was how silent your victims screams would be as you drove away with them..... :van::secret::superhack:
 
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