Long story short, this project comes about because "we" have horrible tastes in vehicles.
This started out when Babe, the big blue Suburban, decided to use lots of coolant when cresting 275k miles. It was time for a new family hauler/work vehicle to crisscross Michigan. We finally decided to downsize as we just didn't need the same amount of space as the kiddos grew. Lots of talk and online shopping lead to a silver 2023 Explorer ST from a friend of a friend, who owns Varsity Ford in Ann Arbor, after a test drive.
Shortly, after a family trip to Dirty Myrtle, Ford ST driving experience at the Biltmore, and generally driving it, 32k miles came and went, right along with $1000 for a fresh, new, and much larger Whipple intercooler. But before that it was entered into the National Mustang Racers Association True Street class at Martin MI. True Street is the "true" streetable car racing class as they have to drive a whole 30 mile "cruise" then hot lap 3 times down the strip without opening the hood. It seems easy but many fail. She drove it to a best of 13.87@100 bone stock and 4800# in winning the 14 sec overall class.
Fast forward to current times and now 49k.... it's tune time! Phoned up a buddy of mine at Palm Beach Dyno, provided cash, and got an amazing tune of awesomeness. It's easily up some HP. 😉 Given the new HP, it was of best interest to do a trans fluid and filter change. Picked up some motorcraft ULV fluid, a 10r80 filter, and made a big mess in the driveway.
Next steps are to do a wheel and tire swap with my Mustang wheels, put on downpipes and fab up an awesome exhaust. Then hit up the same race again before hitting DragWeek in September. Hoping to be 11.5-ish then.
Random pics:
And FYI- the thread title is a spinoff of a FB group where guys post up it's their wife's ride and say it's not theirs. Which normally gets a supplemental picture of some sports car or brodozer to establish dominance. LOL...
Awesome! We did the ST Experience last summer and hit Tail of the Dragon on the way home. Here is my (current) wife's car on the Tail:
In reply to Tom_Spangler (Forum Supporter) :
We did it too.... 3 times in fact. Lol.
What did you do with the black "ST" badges they gave you at the school? We decided against putting them on the car because we liked the contrast of the red badge on the dark blue. I put one of them on my tool box.
In reply to Tom_Spangler (Forum Supporter) :
They got installed yesterday. LOL.😂
They work well on the silver. Nice and subtle.
Once I find my 12mm Allen socket...
Diff bolts upgrade plus some additional measuring for solid mounts because phuck NVH.
And foiled by service parts information. Purchased bolt is 30mm short. We shall try again when correct sized bolt is procured.
Nordlock is perfectly sized. Won't need a different/extra washer.
New longer bolts purchased. Brown Santa will deliver tomorrow.
Finally had a chance to have a dry but cold day to work on this thing, as it also stayed still for a few hours.
I was able to use m14x120 bolts, a small washer on top of the nordlock. I couldn't find any information that said I couldn't use a washer above the lock. The illustration I have seen only says to not use a washer under the lock to the work surface.
I think I lose like maybe a thread of engagement only because the oe bolt has a bullnose on it for quick starting.
One installed.
Both installed and torqued to 100ftlbs. I've gotten some grief in the land of FB because others are saying it isn't torqued down far enough saying I need like 150, but the nordlock is only for 115 max dry. Besides, much more will crack the diff housing mounting boss. On top of that the company I copied the idea from only says to go to 100ftlbs with the same bolt but a regular split lock and flat washer.
Now, that this half step is finished, it is time to get a replacement bushing and some scrap aluminum and steel to make the $1400 worth of Ford special tools and the bushings I want.
Figured I've give an update...
I went and retorqued the rear diff bolts I installed after some mileage just to see if they had loosened up. They did not and I torqued them up a bit more to 105 ftlbs. I also rechecked the trans fluid level as I combined all my previous bottles and shortfilled the trans by about 1/2 qt.
Today was the first open track day of the year in the frozen tundra of Michigan. Oh was it so glorious. I got a pass while she got 2. She beat me by .001. I carried a few extra pounds tho.
Its also very very very svelte....
More shenanigans to come....
Additional shenanigans achieved....
Online calculators say 50x hp based on et and 52x hp based on mph at this weight... Still rocking only an intercooler, Palm beach dyno tune that's not aggressive yet, stock OE junk pirellis at 54k.... stock 2 1/4" exhaust, stock cold and hot sides to the turbos, stock OE catted downpipes, parts store oe replacement air filter....
Given the 60', I should maybe get down another tenth. I'd like to lose about 250#, then I'd be knocking on the 11's. I should put in some fresh plugs too....
Finally did some figuring out shenanigans with some wheels and tires. I'm hopeful to end the round robin of finding something that actually fits for not a lot of money.
First up is a weld racing Ventura in 17x10 +50. It "fits". It doesn't rub on the caliper or brake shield by about a hair. What it fails in is rubbing on the strut mount. I think a proper offset or just running an 18" wheel fixes this problem.
Next up, the stock OE 19" wheels from my '21 Mustang GT. Overall, they "fit" too. Problem is that the front is a 9" wheel and the rear is a 9.5". Given that and the tires themselves have about an inch of overall difference, it looks funky.
So, since I had the time, I put the rear Mustang wheel on the front. Oh my... I think that's the winner. The 275/40's really give the look as they are closer to the OE explorer size. Needs maybe a 1/8 or 1/4" spacer as it's really close to the strut.
Now to ponder some more and maybe change the lug stud size from m14 back to regular 1/2".
Got new rubber for the front. Hanging with the bald Nitto DR's for the strip.
Basically been driving it as is, currently @76k. Did get an oil separator from a friend for free and installed that.
Rewrote the tuner program with something I home brewed up while sitting on nightshift and loaded it into the pcm... Woooooo dooooogies... stout low-midrange. Like will definitely spin the rear tires before a nanny kicks in and you lose drive. I have another tune I need to prove out that is even better I think.
Next stop: Hot Rod Drag Week.
Those first wheels are the shiznits. Love that style.
Sweet ride! I have a 16 Focus ST. I wish I could just add a tune and drop some 12s. As is, I am happy. Love the ride, and the teamwork y'all have. My wife could care less, but supports me none the less. Take care!
