New member!!! (Long time lurker)

[Phil V]

Hey everyone, I'd like to introduce myself. My name is Phil and I am from Canada. I've owned my 2005 Sport Trac XLT for 4 years now, and will be keeping it til its death day. It has been great to me, never left me stranded. I highly regard it as one of the most durable vehicles since it consistently withstands full throttle and never breaks down! (maybe because I repair things before they're broken, but that isn't the point. Haha I love my truck, and I think it shows...

( PICS IN FOLDER! )



I just want to thank everyone on this forum. I have used alot of projects and searched for information shamelessly for these 4 years. It is way past time I post and give my input. If anyone wants to know anything just message me and I will help you out. I would also like to give a special thanks to swshawaii! He helped me out when I was lowering my truck. The custom poly endlinks are performing very well!



Now , the good part. Here are the mods:



EXTERIOR:



-Bi-xenon projector headlights in black housing, 6k mini H1s, white LED halo, and amber demon eyes

-Tinted tail lights (professionally, turned out alot better than when I used VHT niteshades on the stocks)

-Recon smoked 3rd brake light ( Zabteck )

-Black billet grille ( horizontal cross member removed on bumper cover )

-Fully debadged / shaved

-Roof rack delete

-LED bulbs from V Leds (V3 triton amber front signal, 6k fogs, 5k license plate, 5k 20smd reverse.

92 SMD red for brake lights (MORE LIGHT OUTPUT THROUGH SMOKED HOUSING THAN STOCK BULBS/HOUSING) just a note for anyone that hates smoked lights, I did it right.

-Stubby antenna (no loss of reception)



Performance:

-S&B air intake ( 75-2529-1 ) with 4 inch velocity stack into fender

-Y pipe ( Zabteck )

- Custom 2.5" dual exhaust with magnaflow 11386 ( internal X muffler )

- Bored throttle body (Zabteck )

-SD Coil / livewires (Zabteck)

-SCT tuner, 91 octane performance tune (Torrie)

-Superior 5r55e shift kit



Audio:

-Kenwood head unit / speakers

-Kicker comp RT 10" under the rear seat

-JL audio 500/1D amp



Interior:

-Painted radio bezel / gauges black

-Aluminum HVAC knobs

-Weathertech floor mats



Suspension: (my favourite)

-EE lowering kit 2/3 inches

-EE rear sway bar

-EE rear bumpstops, removed front bumpstops

-Doetsch tech Nitro slammer shocks in front

-Monroe load adjusting shocks in rear



(Had rancho rs5000 on stock, sucked once I lowered)

(Had Nitro slammer in rear, prevented most of rear bottoming out but were obnoxiously stiff)



-Poly swaybar bushings, front greasable



Shoutout to SWSHAWAII for these:

-F250 rear endlinks

-Custom energy suspension polyurethane on MOOG front endlinks



Thats about it for mods. More to come. I want to finally tint the front windows and I think the Trac will be complete. I have a brand new (from 1991) eaton M90 sitting downstairs. Waiting for a Moddbox supercharger kit.. Hopefully I get to do that before she gets too old.



More about my truck. I bought it for $16000 with 90000 KMs 4 years ago. Now it has 180000 KMs. Still holding up, no signs of anything failing anytime soon. It was a great deal at the time, or so I thought until I started seeing signs of it having been in a pretty serious collision. Came from Quebec where aren't required to list that. Anyways, I have since backed into a piece of concrete and needed a new rear bumper. Another fortunate day a man in a 1992 Plymouth Colt 2 door coming towards me decided to turn left and I T-boned him (Don't worry he was okay). The Sport Trac held up surprisingly well. Didn't look like much damage, ended up being $4500. His car was written off. 0% fault of mine of course and the insurance paid for it, but its never been the same since. Point is, this is my truck and will be keeping it forever because it is a part of me. I don't see anything I've done as wasted money even if it is worth next to nothing on resale.



In addition to the mods I have maintained everything to a high standard. I change the oil every 5000 kms with synthetic. I've swapped out the diff and tranny fluid several times with synthetic. Power steering, coolant, and brakes have been flushed a couple times as well. I'm not going to get into standard repairs. One note though, if anyone is confused from the pics.. The catback has been done a couple times.



So here it is, I've let out 4 years worth of information in one post, hopefully it isn't overwhelming. Once again, pics in library

 

[swshawaii]

Wow Phil! :supercool:



I'm amazed you could wait to unveil your rebuild this long. Awesome, definitely worth the wait. Phil and I have been exchanging emails since 1/13, this is the first time I've seen the completed truck. The ModdBox SC will definitely put your Trac over the top. Looks like you went with the Monroe 58617 spring assisted shocks. Did you keep the flattened rear leafs?

 

[Phil V]

I know I don't have a reason as to why I haven't unveiled it until today other than me putting up my own roadblocks. There was always one more thing I was doing to it and there still is. The headlights were just the other week. Anyways, just to be clear I meant the M90 is waiting for the Moddbox kit, not me. There is only so much that can be done. I really do hope to get to it sometime this year. I did go with the monroe load adjusting shocks, and it is a night and day difference. I should have just listened to you last year, but I loved how low it was sitting. The shocks raised the rear up about 1.5 inches, enough to notice aesthetically but I think I like the "raked" look now. I did keep the flattened springs... my priorities for ST repairs / upgrades are all over the place. The next thing without a doubt is going to be re-doing the control arms, ball joints and tie rods. Then perhaps I will re-do the leafs if these shocks start to wear out. At this point in time they definitely band-aided problem. I haven't bottomed out once since I installed them, whereas before it was a daily occurance, especially with the ridiculous road heave in this Canadian winter. I have tested it also with 5 people inside and a few things in the bed. No bottoming out whatsoever! Not to mention you can see the arch is back in the springs.



I recommend them to anybody who has the 3 inch lowering blocks and is having problems with bottoming out, even with modified / EE bumpstops.

 

[EddieS'04]

:welcome:



Nice color, Nice work. Did you dual it from the y-pipe back. Or just dual out muffler?

Is the Superior 5r55e shift kit. Meaning you modded the valve body? I would like to see a pic of the air intake set-up.

Steve is a good man. He has helped me also.:supercool:.He is the best researcher on the site..



I have a plan to rebuild my exhaust. With true duals from the rt-y-pipe to the rear. I have the parts list. The $$'s for the parts will be aproxamitly $600. Labor and tubing $$$$..? I also question my sanity about it...LOL. Presently mine is single 2 1/2" magna-flow cat back.



Glad to have you on the site.:supercool:

 

[Phil V]

Don't even get me started on the exhaust. This is the second cat back, the first one was not good with 0 performance gain. 2.25 from the cat to the muffler, then dual 2.25 out. Solo muffler since that's what this particular exhaust shop pushed on everyone. I found a better one and they did this for half the price...I am in Ontario I have strict emissions. Basically I have my RT y pipe, goes into the stock cat, then there is an aftermarket high flow cat with a 2.5 inch exit, right into small y pipe ( 2.5 in, dual 2.5 out ) then duals until the muffler and dual out again. It flows nicer than I ever expected. Mind you I haven't dyno'd but somehow I feel this increased horse and torque because it climbs hills easier. I can just feel it. I wanted to do the duals from the RT Y pipe back but then I'd need 2 new cats and couldn't justify it. If I do get to do the supercharger I likely will make it full duals. It sounds great. Very deep and rumbly. Not buzzy like it used to be. It's close enough to sounding like a v8 at lower RPMs. I feel true duals would ruin low end torque with NA. If you do it you may end up regretting it from loss of performance! But I'd love to see if you do. I can post more pics soon. Of the exhaust and definitely the intake. It at the time was listed for the sport trac and actually fit pretty well!

 

[Phil V]

Ran out of room since that was from the phone. The S&B intake box is great. Much nicer than the old exposed cone filter I had. That thing ruined performance in the summer. I'm also not afraid to idle for more than a few minutes haha.



Regarding the superior kit yes it mods the valve body. It was actually the tranny shop that did that. I asked them to after I had a 2-3 flare. It went unnoticed for a long time since the increased shift pressure from the tune covered it up

 

[Paul Hillenaar]

Nice truck Phil !

 

[EddieS'04]

I feel true duals would ruin low end torque with NA. If you do it you may end up regretting it from loss of performance! But I'd love to see if you do.

Phil,

I thought about that. I was thinking that 2" or 2 1/8" tubing would work for TQ and HP. I will have a magna-flow bullit style, offset in & out hi-flow cat on each bank. Stagered to equalize the rt-pipe diference. After that a magna-flo X-pipe, to equalize pulse and the O2 bung in the middle. Then for clearance, flo-master hushpowerII mufflers stagered. Hoping that will equalize flow. As the tailpipe around the spare for the left bank. Will be longer than the right bank.



What are your thoughts on that set up???

 

[Phil V]

I think that is a great setup Eddie. Appropriately sized pipes, even flow. Sounds like you have definitely put alot of thought into it already. I bet it would be a worthwhile venture performance wise. The x pipe is a great addition. I don't even have the true duals and I noticed a difference. As for the sound aspect, you never know what it is going to turn out like until you do it. Without a doubt it would be unique and awesome. By the way I really like your Trac too! Nice and clean silver, great wheels too!

 

[EddieS'04]

I really like your Trac too! Nice and clean silver, great wheels too!

Thanks phil!!

IMO, We all have nice Tracs. Whether lifted,lowered, custom or stock. Ford did us dirty by trying to put everyone in a F-150. Not everybody needs a large truck.



Have a good weekend..

 

[Phil V]

I hear you on that! I am just glad there is a place where everybody loves their Trac as much as I do. Although I recently saw a brand new F-150 Tremor parked by my house and it was beautiful.



Anyways Eddie, I added pics of the air intake setup since you were interested. I modded the S&B box by adding a sheet of ABS onto the side (to cover up a rectangular hole), then drilled a 4 inch hole. Put my tube through and used a 4 inch rubber coupler to semi-seal it and hold it inside the box. I may also seal off the front at some point. This S&B box required slight modifications to get it to fit with my truck.



Enjoy your weekend as well