Thanks!

You should defiantly get a tube bumper, looks 100x better then stock not to mention having the skid is such a peace of mind
I do plan on cutting or something to those brackets asap and superslash is our car wash at our shell gas stations haha

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Last night we drilled a few holes through the skid and painted it black, the bright silver wasn't something I liked but I'm not sure about the black either. Guess we'll see as time goes on

Also added led reverse and brake lights, its about back to how it was before the nightshade and the white reverse lights looks much cleaner

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The black skid plate with the holes looks 10x better IMO

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'02 Edge, 4x4, Ext. Cab

Another picture of the black skid plate, its growing on me and I think once I get my zinc coated D rings on each side of the skid and the chrome winch fairlead in the skid breaking it up I'll be much happier. Not a fan of the front license plate though but its law here

The plans of right now
-Install 4.56 Gears(Happening Feb.4th)
-Smittybuilt 9500 Synthetic winch
-Build rear bumper with dual swing outs, one for tire and the other for a jerry can and water jug
-Build rock sliders
-Make mounts on the roof basket to attach my rear facing led pods, shovel,axe and traction aids etc
-Led strip inside camper shell and seperate led strip on the cap rear window to light up tailgate area when camping at night
-Sound dampen entire cab
-Powerdome
-New Explorer Leafs(Remove Oem 4x4 Blocks)
-250 Amp alternator
-Dual battery setup


Gather parts for a D30 Sas, This won't happen for awhile but my friend that built me the tube bumper has 2 Xj's with dana 30's so I'm going to be picking one up then slowing gathering parts/building it up for the swap
-Matching 4.56 Gears
-Detroit Tru trac
-All new brakes, u joints etc
Basically have it a whole new axle before it even goes into the truck, then find figure out what to do with the steering box and t case etc. Long term planning but it will happen

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After a rather crappy week I feel the urge to spend some money! Thinking about either ordering this - http://www.ruffstuffspecialties.com/catalog/R2126.html with an extra spindle and latch for dual swingout style
OR
I buy a winch...I'm still on the fence about getting steel or synthetic. The steel Smittybilt 9500 is about $200 cheaper so I'm not sure. What's your guys suggestions?

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Nothing like a little retail therapy. Lol.

I've got steel line on my Badlands (HF special). It does its job. And for someone like me, who's only really had to use the winch twice in the 4 or 5 years that he's had it, the steel line is fine. It is heavy and hard to work with though. Kinks can also be an issue.

I have no experience with synthetic line, but I hear great things about it. I imagine it would be lighter and easier to work with. Probably safer as well.

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Well I know I'd be using mine a decent amount of the time, Between the steel and synthetic its a 30 pound line difference so not the end of the world but still decently more. The issue with Synthetic it seems is always having to clean the line after using and it holding water in winter and freezing up...

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Would you be permanently mounting it or putting it on a removable cradle? Rust/corrosion could become an issue with steel line.

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permanent behind my skid plate, already have the winch cradle mounted etc just waiting to install the winch onto

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been a while since I stopped in here, skidplate looks far better black with the holes in it. I like it.

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Last weekend I got the 4.56 gears installed, so far I'm extremely happy. The truck feels pretty much back to how it was with stock tires, it can actually hold 5th down the highway and doesn't downshift the second a breeze goes against me and it doesn't feel like such a slouch getting moving off the line


However in the process of doing the gears and being under the truck we did find some issues, rear u joint is on the way out, rear transmission seal is leaking, both brake calipers are starting to seize and causing pads/rotors to wear super weird and both upper ball joint boots are gone so they're now a ticking time bomb. This thing is cursed

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Sounds mostly like general maintenance type stuff, aside from the trans seal leak. That kinda sucks.

Nice to hear the gears are working out for ya though!

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That rear trans seal seems to be a common problem, both my transmissions leaked from right there. I'm guessing it's just from dirt and water making it's way up there.

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2007 Regular Cab - 2.3 DOHC - 5 Speed Auto - 4.10 Gears - Maxtrac 7" Lift - Fiberwerx 3" Fenders - Bilstein 5100 Series - 15x10 Ultra 164's - 35x12.50x15 Red Letters - Custom dents

Got a new seal sitting in the garage just need to get around to doing the effort

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Hey you've got explorer rails on your cap right? How did you go about attaching them? I want to get some sort of roof rack/basket setup on mine so I can toss my spare tire, hilift etc up there for camping trips when I need the sleeping space in the bed.

just bolted in? never dealt with roof rack systems before lol

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Drilled through the cap roof and used a lot of silicone. Been great so far

Out of curiosity you coming to the big Seddons Mega run on saturday?

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