2005 explorer sport trac

[ForOffRoadDriving]

heres some pictures of my weekend adventure with my girlfriends truck. with the truck only being 4 years old, the rims looked like shit and something needed to be done about it, so we painted them black and then tinted the lights to match. the next upgrade will be changing the grille and tailgate emblems to pink.

 

[atlanta-bmx]

How do you like that VHT Night Shade stuff and where did you get it? I might have to get me that..

 

[BlackBII]

I lika the headlights!

 

[That Baker Guy]

now you just need to change the other ford ovals to pink and youll be set.

 

[Toms01PSD]

What'd you use on the rims? They look pretty good. May have to do mine like that. Now it needs bigger tires!

 

[ForOffRoadDriving]

the VHT sprayed down awesome, but i definately recommend removing the lights and spraying them laying down, as this paint is THIN and has a tendency to run. on the wheels we used a 90 deg. die grinder with scotch-loc pads to cut through the clear coat. then we wet sanded them to smooth the aluminum out and then wiped with wax and grease remover. i used 2 cans of self etching primer, black implement & equipment enamel, and cut in clear for stitching panel repairs together. ive got her looking at either 31" BFG all terains or or good year wrangler MTRs. i have been trying to find a soprt trac of even and explorer in the junkyard to take the badges off so that incase i screw up the emblems when i take them apart i will still have something to put back on there.

 

[PaleBlue90]

that looks good. post pics of the rest of the changes

 

[DRIFTGOD187]

looks awesome, good job

how does it look at night with the lights on ???

 

[ForOffRoadDriving]

the marker lights look sweet at night, theyre highly visible, but not overly bright. i did realize the next day that we didnt tint her 3rd brake light, and when i had her step on it to see if it was any brighter and nothing happened. so aparently i need to change the bulb and tint the red portion so that the lens colors match. ive got a few extra badges im going to practice separating incase i cant find any in the junkyard, that way ill be praticd up and not break her badges. (there was an article in the new magazine about changing emblem color, but now i cant find it to provide a link)

 

[cargs]

nice work, looks great!

can i get some more info & pics on what you used to prep and paint the wheels?

 

[DRIFTGOD187]

i think it was casper98 (the guy with the badass red lowered ranger) who painted the emblems.

edit:

here is the link you were looking for.

http://www.therangerstation.com/Magazine/Summer2009/blue_oval_color_change.htm

 

[DRIFTGOD187]

sorry double post

 

[goldxlt]

at one time i was going to paint my emblems and i was told that it is easier on new badges, something along the lines of the blue seperating easier.

 

[ForOffRoadDriving]

yeah i could see new badges being easier to separate than some old crusty ones that are 10 years old. does anyone know if the blue ovals are made model specific or if they go by size only? the blue on my ranger tailgate fell off and it says 4.5 which i assume is 4.5" so if i find out how big the emblems on the sport trac are i could just get one of apropriate size and try on that?

 

[goldxlt]

well im sure many cars used the same size but im sure if you went to the dealer and told them what you were putting it on, they could get you the right size.