I guess to avoid this I shouldn't have started with a diesel Excursion.:smiley_drive:
mods you wouldnt do again ...
- Thread starter jeffryscott
- Start date
I guess to avoid this I shouldn't have started with a diesel Excursion.:smiley_drive:
southpier
Expedition Leader
that's my question, too.
edit: I did a bit of an interweb search because it think it's an important improvement (helped in the Tacoma anyway). I could find a bit of controversy regarding the different brands of sound deadening, but save for all of them being difficult to remove if need be, couldn't find anything inherently discouraging about their use.
http://www.sounddeadenershowdown.com/
edit: I did a bit of an interweb search because it think it's an important improvement (helped in the Tacoma anyway). I could find a bit of controversy regarding the different brands of sound deadening, but save for all of them being difficult to remove if need be, couldn't find anything inherently discouraging about their use.
http://www.sounddeadenershowdown.com/
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digitaldelay
Explorer
SiliconTi
Stuck in the Mud
Hmm, I am usually careful on purchases, but three come to mind:
1) The cheapo (from a "famous brand") 4" lift. That was such a dumb idea - it was bad all around and even caused damage.
2) Rocker armor. Not rail, the metal plates above them. A PITA to install, I just know they will cause rust behind them and they are ugly.
3) A portable compressor instead of true on board air system. The compressor is a very nice unit, but it is simply in the way.
1) The cheapo (from a "famous brand") 4" lift. That was such a dumb idea - it was bad all around and even caused damage.
2) Rocker armor. Not rail, the metal plates above them. A PITA to install, I just know they will cause rust behind them and they are ugly.
3) A portable compressor instead of true on board air system. The compressor is a very nice unit, but it is simply in the way.
Arclight
SAR guy
Most of the mods I didn't end up liking were on my old Bronco:
-Rancho 9000 Shocks (with factory dual shocks up front): Way stiff, even on the low settings. Also, the finish was thin and they rusted.
-BFG M/T tires: Nice off-road, but made a loud truck even louder on the highway. In the desert, the more aggressive tread didn't see much use.
-Sound proofing with a roll of "Ice Guard" material. The truck smelled like tar for a long time, and it ended up trapping sludgy water under the carpet
-Ripping out all of the carpet and going with Herculiner - While this made the truck hose out, it was LOUD. I really should have put another carpet kit in. Also, bed liner surface traps dust and is hard to clean unless you pressure wash it.
-Sun roof: Installed by previous owner. Always leaked and made noise on the highway.
-Tailgate-mounted spare tire. Only go with a solution that mounts to the frame. I ended up with a 4" crack in the sheetmetal.
Things I liked on that truck:
-33x12.50 tires on a full-size truck with a V8. This is a good size for a larger truck used in the desert
-Detroit Locker: I actually like them on a full-size vehicle. You have to be careful on turns, and you can break things much more easily if you have lots of torque.
-Manual transmission with a very low first gear - I rarely needed 4-Low with that 6.67:1 gear available on the shifter.
On my new truck (Toyota T100), I did a few things differently:
-Bilstein HD shocks (love them)
-Goodyear Silent Armor Tires (very quiet on the highway, wear well, good in dry climate off-roading)
-Eaton Gear True Trac rear diff (Rides like a more aggressive limited slip, no need to think about it)
-Automatic transmission (Good for taking off in soft sand/etc, easy to drive in Winter)
-Buying a quiet, easy-to-drive vehicle in the first place. Now my wife isn't terrified to drive!
-6.5' Bed that I can actually sleep in. The Bronco had surprisingly little usable room for its size - lots of things sticking out, floor at 3 levels, etc.
Arclight
-Rancho 9000 Shocks (with factory dual shocks up front): Way stiff, even on the low settings. Also, the finish was thin and they rusted.
-BFG M/T tires: Nice off-road, but made a loud truck even louder on the highway. In the desert, the more aggressive tread didn't see much use.
-Sound proofing with a roll of "Ice Guard" material. The truck smelled like tar for a long time, and it ended up trapping sludgy water under the carpet
-Ripping out all of the carpet and going with Herculiner - While this made the truck hose out, it was LOUD. I really should have put another carpet kit in. Also, bed liner surface traps dust and is hard to clean unless you pressure wash it.
-Sun roof: Installed by previous owner. Always leaked and made noise on the highway.
-Tailgate-mounted spare tire. Only go with a solution that mounts to the frame. I ended up with a 4" crack in the sheetmetal.
Things I liked on that truck:
-33x12.50 tires on a full-size truck with a V8. This is a good size for a larger truck used in the desert
-Detroit Locker: I actually like them on a full-size vehicle. You have to be careful on turns, and you can break things much more easily if you have lots of torque.
-Manual transmission with a very low first gear - I rarely needed 4-Low with that 6.67:1 gear available on the shifter.
On my new truck (Toyota T100), I did a few things differently:
-Bilstein HD shocks (love them)
-Goodyear Silent Armor Tires (very quiet on the highway, wear well, good in dry climate off-roading)
-Eaton Gear True Trac rear diff (Rides like a more aggressive limited slip, no need to think about it)
-Automatic transmission (Good for taking off in soft sand/etc, easy to drive in Winter)
-Buying a quiet, easy-to-drive vehicle in the first place. Now my wife isn't terrified to drive!
-6.5' Bed that I can actually sleep in. The Bronco had surprisingly little usable room for its size - lots of things sticking out, floor at 3 levels, etc.
Arclight
Maverick1701
Adventurer
I would not put herculiner down in my vehicle interior without putting something over it.
I had a 1996 F350 CC 4x4 diesel. The carpet was terrible from the previous owner. I thought I would be cool...pulled the carpet, put down herculiner. I did not reinstall new carpet (and should have). I was trying to help with sound deadening, rust proofing,and insulation.
good: tough as nails, could now hose out floor after 4x4ing, excellent traction (for persons as well as stuff), looked awesome!, easy to maintain/clean.
cons: made cab smell, made truck VERY hot from the transmission/engine heat coming through the floor (because remember...no carpet), when exposed to extreme heat (like we have here in TX) the herculiner would get tacky.
I would not do this mod again without reinstalling carpet/vinyl..which defeats the purpose of applying bedliner.
I had a 1996 F350 CC 4x4 diesel. The carpet was terrible from the previous owner. I thought I would be cool...pulled the carpet, put down herculiner. I did not reinstall new carpet (and should have). I was trying to help with sound deadening, rust proofing,and insulation.
good: tough as nails, could now hose out floor after 4x4ing, excellent traction (for persons as well as stuff), looked awesome!, easy to maintain/clean.
cons: made cab smell, made truck VERY hot from the transmission/engine heat coming through the floor (because remember...no carpet), when exposed to extreme heat (like we have here in TX) the herculiner would get tacky.
I would not do this mod again without reinstalling carpet/vinyl..which defeats the purpose of applying bedliner.
BigSwede
The Credible Hulk
If it is asphalt-based, try WD40 to get it off of your tools and whatever.
Mod I would never do again. Putting a High Angle Driveline front driveshaft in a Dodge I built. Drove the truck in 4x4 for less than 10 miles and threw the front driveshaft. The thing I most regret though is having that truck built instead of building it myself. I gave them a ridiculous budget to get an 02 Dodge 3/4 ton 40s and done right. Drivelines were never done right even though there was a driveline place literally 3 miles away with an incredibly talented builder in shop. They installed wedges on top of blocks. On top of all that bs they only managed to get 38s on it and they weren't even E rated tires like the truck requires. I had a one ton shortly after that same year and make. I stuffed 38s under it on with just fender trimming and no lift.
jimi breeze
jimi breeze
Fender flares.
I installed Buskwacker OEM type, took them off and then purchased the Bushwacker Extend-a-Fender, now I wish I Just bought the cut out flares and went with a taller tire.
I installed Buskwacker OEM type, took them off and then purchased the Bushwacker Extend-a-Fender, now I wish I Just bought the cut out flares and went with a taller tire.
NMC_EXP
Explorer
1. It's the Almighty's way of telling you humongous tires are a bad idea.
2. The vehicle gross weight, not the vehicle model determines the correct tire load rating.
Jim
gwittman
Adventurer
I can't think of any regrets on the last two off-road vehicles I have owned since 1989. However, back in the late 70's when I started serious off-roading I made some bad decisions on my FJ55 Landcruiser. Those mistakes helped me to learn to think out mods before implementing them.
I really liked the FJ55 capability but thought it would be nice to have a little more power. I discovered a company called Man-A-Fre that made add-ons for Landcruisers. I bought their trick Rochester carburetor and header. The carburetor ran like crap and I ended up taking it back to them. Fortunately, they were good about giving me a refund after a little grumbling. I took the original FJ55 carburetor to a good rebuilder and they did there magic to it. That was a good decision.
The header didn't seem to do much to increase power but dropped the low rpm torque. Fortunately, the header did me a favor and cracked after a couple years use. I ended up putting the original exhaust manifold back on it and realized how much low end torque I had been missing. It worked so much better off-road with the stock exhaust manifold. Headers on those low rpm, tractor type engines are not good.
Not all of the stuff from Man-A-Fre was junk. I installed one of their auxiliary gas tanks. It was not 100% trouble free but was a great mod.
I am somewhat baffled by all the haters of K&N. I have never used one of their intakes but have used their drop in filters on almost every vehicle I own (except the FJ55) since around the early 70's. I have put at least 600,000 miles on these filters combined and have not had a single problem with them. I put almost 200,000 miles on one of those vehicles with the K&N air filter and the engine showed no sign of wear. That vehicle was used a lot off-road in very dust conditions and pulled my race car all over the country. I had the oil analyzed when I changed oil and there was never any indication of excessing silicon, which is an indicator of dirt getting past the air filter. That vehicle was bought by a co-worker and has around 250,000 miles on it now and the engine still runs like new.
My current off-road vehicle is also running a K&N and it has an MAF system. I never have a problem fouling the MAF with oil from the filter. I even put, what I consider excess oil, on the air filter the last time I cleaned it to see if I could trigger the problem. It is still running good. I also wipe down the inside of the intake tube between the filter and throttle body with a white cloth to check for contamination. I have not found any contamination yet with near 163,000 miles on it. I guess I am just lucky.
I don't use the K&N filter to get more power or better gas mileage. I use it because I am a procrastinator. I usually go to around 50,000 miles between cleaning and a paper filter would be totally plugged well before that. I don't mind cleaning the filter and waiting for it to dry. If I need the truck for something, I drop in the original paper filter that came with it when new. I am not telling anyone they should use K&N air filters, I am just explaining my experience with them.
I really liked the FJ55 capability but thought it would be nice to have a little more power. I discovered a company called Man-A-Fre that made add-ons for Landcruisers. I bought their trick Rochester carburetor and header. The carburetor ran like crap and I ended up taking it back to them. Fortunately, they were good about giving me a refund after a little grumbling. I took the original FJ55 carburetor to a good rebuilder and they did there magic to it. That was a good decision.
The header didn't seem to do much to increase power but dropped the low rpm torque. Fortunately, the header did me a favor and cracked after a couple years use. I ended up putting the original exhaust manifold back on it and realized how much low end torque I had been missing. It worked so much better off-road with the stock exhaust manifold. Headers on those low rpm, tractor type engines are not good.
Not all of the stuff from Man-A-Fre was junk. I installed one of their auxiliary gas tanks. It was not 100% trouble free but was a great mod.
I am somewhat baffled by all the haters of K&N. I have never used one of their intakes but have used their drop in filters on almost every vehicle I own (except the FJ55) since around the early 70's. I have put at least 600,000 miles on these filters combined and have not had a single problem with them. I put almost 200,000 miles on one of those vehicles with the K&N air filter and the engine showed no sign of wear. That vehicle was used a lot off-road in very dust conditions and pulled my race car all over the country. I had the oil analyzed when I changed oil and there was never any indication of excessing silicon, which is an indicator of dirt getting past the air filter. That vehicle was bought by a co-worker and has around 250,000 miles on it now and the engine still runs like new.
My current off-road vehicle is also running a K&N and it has an MAF system. I never have a problem fouling the MAF with oil from the filter. I even put, what I consider excess oil, on the air filter the last time I cleaned it to see if I could trigger the problem. It is still running good. I also wipe down the inside of the intake tube between the filter and throttle body with a white cloth to check for contamination. I have not found any contamination yet with near 163,000 miles on it. I guess I am just lucky.
I don't use the K&N filter to get more power or better gas mileage. I use it because I am a procrastinator. I usually go to around 50,000 miles between cleaning and a paper filter would be totally plugged well before that. I don't mind cleaning the filter and waiting for it to dry. If I need the truck for something, I drop in the original paper filter that came with it when new. I am not telling anyone they should use K&N air filters, I am just explaining my experience with them.
1. The 38s were not the problem I was not in a bind or under hard load I was driving at speed and the truck decided to go pole-vaulting.
2. The tag in the door says E-rated so as I said the truck requires E-rated tires.
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