"Thunder" 1998 Expedition Build Thread .... fixed pics!!

[Boostedbus]

Very Nice! Great write up

 

[MISTERgadget]

Rear bumper has finally gotten paint matched!

I got some new aftermarket black trim for the bumper to put on at the same time, but I'm not really happy with the fit, you can see they fall short of the bodylines in the bumper, so those pieces will get replaced with OEM ones at some point. At least they should keep their color for a while, they were saturated with 303 Aerospace Protectant for nearly a week before they went on.

 

[MISTERgadget]

Pretty big update now Suspension and brakes are wrapped up! Once again, Danny at South Florida Muscle Cars is behind the wrench



Front suspension got a total re-do with new Stiffler's upper and lower control arms. The upper control arms are fully adjustable and allow for proper alignment of a lowered truck, and both the uppers and lowers have the ball joint angle adjusted for a lowered truck. They are also lighter than stock and take some weight off the frontend, before I add it back with the supercharger





The Stiffler's arms do have a 1" drop, so a Energy Suspension 1" lift coil isolator was added to keep ride height the same. (PN 4.6106)





All put together, ran into a slight issue where the supplied endlinks don't have enough threads for the beefy Belltech sway bars.



Danny of course figured out just the trick



This should be the final or near final version of the suspension. Only other changes on the radar are adding rear helper airbags inside the coils, and upgrading the shocks to Bilstein or similar down the road.

So in summary, the suspension setup consists of:

• Belltech 3" drop coils, front and rear
• Belltech swaybars, front and rear
• Belltech street performance shocks, front and rear
• Custom panhard bar by SFMC
• PMT upper and lower trailing arms in the rear
• Stiffler's upper and lower control arms in front
• Energy suspension 1" lift spacers in front
• All polyurethane bushings
• Energy suspension bump stops front and rear

 

[MISTERgadget]

Now for the brakes! This feels a little silly because I just a few pages back, put all new pads and rotors on along with the hydroboost and at the time, figured that would get me by for a while... but opportunity knocked





I was originally planning on getting just a 14" rotor kit up front, nothing too wild. I came upon a deal on the full TCE Wilwood 16" / 6-piston front and 15" / 4-piston rear kit at a price I couldn't refuse. It was missing brackets, hoses and a few other odds and ends, but luckily Todd at TCE is very gracious and helfpul even if you're not buying a new kit from him, and got me setup with all the missing parts. For just a little more than only the base front kit new, and for a little more than half of what these would have cost all brand new, I got the top-of-line in brakes! I'm very excited to get some road time and really test these.

They were installed and then never driven other than backing the truck they were on in and out of a garage it seems, and after a fire the truck was parted out. The pads had zero wear and the rotors look rough, but upon closer inspection it's actually most of the original black coating still on them, and the regular surface rust where it wore off! They aren't picture perfect, but they are gonna get dirty anywa.





The rear has an iron hat and keeps the stock parking brake too, most kits delete it. Custom rear brake lines were required to make it work, the rest bolted right up!









buuuuttttt..... our first test drive shows a bit of a hiccup... even with the 1" spacer, the Stiffler's arms made it a little lower, and the separate rotor and hub setup of the TCE Wilwoods makes the front track a touch wider... so the tires started self clearancing the fender trim

 

[MISTERgadget]

Some problem solving needed now... when I had originally picked the 285/50-20 tire, I pretty much thought I might just put the wheels on and leave it alone, and it was to give me plenty of sidewall for a nice ride even with the 20" wheels. they're pretty tall (31.2") and much wider compared to the stock size of 255/70-16 (30.1" tall).. but mainly much wider than OEM, and the brakes pushed out the track width enough that with the lowering it rubbed.

So, the easy solution was going to something similar to Lightning sizing, it would give me the right final drive like an 01-04 Lightnings that came with 3.73s, and fix the rubbing. My choice was still taller than the 28.5" height of OEM 295/45-18s on a Lightning, but close enough that with a little more cowbell I anticipate having in the engine compartment they would do just fine. 265/45-20 fronts and 295/40-20 rears went on, by the math they're 29.3/29.4" tall, but as this staggered sizing is an OE fitment that tire companies make with the height matching, also makes it so you can get matched brand/model tire sets.

I do have to admit, my first impression was that it looked a bit awkward, kind of small and it brought down the Expedition another .75-1" all around. I had gotten used to the 285/50 on there and although in hindsight they're a bit balloon-like, the proportions seemed to fit well.





but after getting it home and cleaning her up, I'm really digging how she sits now. Looks more like a Lightning and it feels like it's more aggressive... ready to pounce







and for these brakes and how amazing it stops now... well worth it.

 

[jimbosidecar]

Oh man... I have a 2001 that I want to try and duplicate your build to. Or maybe just drop it off at your place to do it for me ;-)
Just beautiful. I like (and agree) with your Jay Leno look joke.

 

[Tjhoward84]

Pretty big update now Suspension and brakes are wrapped up! Once again, Danny at South Florida Muscle Cars is behind the wrench



Front suspension got a total re-do with new Stiffler's upper and lower control arms. The upper control arms are fully adjustable and allow for proper alignment of a lowered truck, and both the uppers and lowers have the ball joint angle adjusted for a lowered truck. They are also lighter than stock and take some weight off the frontend, before I add it back with the supercharger





The Stiffler's arms do have a 1" drop, so a Energy Suspension 1" lift coil isolator was added to keep ride height the same. (PN 4.6106)





All put together, ran into a slight issue where the supplied endlinks don't have enough threads for the beefy Belltech sway bars.



Danny of course figured out just the trick



This should be the final or near final version of the suspension. Only other changes on the radar are adding rear helper airbags inside the coils, and upgrading the shocks to Bilstein or similar down the road.

So in summary, the suspension setup consists of:

• Belltech 3" drop coils, front and rear
• Belltech swaybars, front and rear
• Belltech street performance shocks, front and rear
• Custom panhard bar by SFMC
• PMT upper and lower trailing arms in the rear
• Stiffler's upper and lower control arms in front
• Energy suspension 1" lift spacers in front
• All polyurethane bushings
• Energy suspension bump stops front and rear

What's up with the 2 sets of lower control arms?

I think I've asked you before, but if not, I'll ask again. Do Stiffler Upper Control Arms fit the 1st Gen 4x4s or just the 4x2s? I'm still looking for adjustable UCA for my '99 4x4 Expy that I lowered using the Ground Force kit.

 

[rjdelp7]

I like everything but the low stance and front bumper. The OEM stance was better. I think the Expedition looked better original. I am not a fan of the 'aftermarket' look. Some the upgrades seem like overkill.

 

[MISTERgadget]

I think I've asked you before, but if not, I'll ask again. Do Stiffler Upper Control Arms fit the 1st Gen 4x4s or just the 4x2s? I'm still looking for adjustable UCA for my '99 4x4 Expy that I lowered using the Ground Force kit.

I think this did come up before. I don't know if the Stiffler's UCAs will fit a 4wd. I know they were originally made for the Lightning crowd and all of those are RWD so I don't think these have ever been tested on a 4wd.

What I do know for sure, the original upper arms are different on a 4wd than on a 2wd.

Now, looking at the pictures, the Stiffler's arms have the ability to rotate the arm at both bushings on the framerail, and one joint that can be adjusted all the balljoint, so perhaps that, along with the fact both sides can be lengthened/shortened, means they might be able to fit a 4wd? I have never tried it or compared firsthand so I can't say for sure. Shoot me a PM, I do have a set on the shelf that I can take some measurements on and maybe if it's close you might decide it's worth ordering some to try it out?

https://www.buystifflers.com/f150LightningAdjustableFrontUpperControlArms.aspx

What's up with the 2 sets of lower control arms?

Well, you get a gift for one, you need to have something for the other, otherwise they get jealous of each other.

I like everything but the low stance and front bumper. The OEM stance was better. I think the Expedition looked better original. I am not a fan of the 'aftermarket' look. Some the upgrades seem like overkill.

I'm not a big fan of the aftermarket look either. Other than the wheels and headlights (which are replicas of OEM parts) pretty much everything, at least that you see from the outside, is OEM. The height is probably a touch lower than Ford's Thunder concept was, but it makes it easier not having to lift my groceries as much to get them in

Curious, what do you think I'm going overkill on?

 

[MISTERgadget]

While the suspension and brake shenanigans were going on, Chris at The12Fast4U finished the seats up with some suede inserts and matching console lids.



Danny magically worked the latches into the floor to make it as if it had rolled off the assembly line this way. This is way overkill to show so many pictures, but it was so well executed it feels a shame to not show the whole process from my junkyard butchered pieces to the finished floor. Most importantly, this is as safe as if they were factory installed.

Separate the two layers





Need to do the same on the other side now...



Use the top layer as a template





Snip snip



Latches are welded in, and primed to keep it rust free.