I am looking for a mechanic in the Philly area that I can trust and use as my go-to. I don't have a garage nor anywhere for me to work on the car. Any suggestions?

 

Where in the Philly burbs are you?
I'm in Delaware County, Media/Aston area and I have a local private shop that has always treated us pretty well. Let me know if a place in this area will work for you.

 

I live in roxborough. Media is close. I know the area well. I would love the contact info. I am taking the car to ford to get the spark plugs done and transmission fluids done as I want to make sure that if there is any issue with the plugs I can be covered by them. That being said I plan in the next two months to get a front and back sway bar out on, exhaust, cold air intake(I will do this) shocks, suspension and so on. I love this car!!! How long have you had yours? What year? What engine? What have you done modification wise? Okay....enough questions. Ha. Thanks

 

OK J, I'll shoot you a PM with the shop's contact info, it's a small shop with 3 guys and like I said before, they have always treated us very fairly.

Now onto the other stuff you mentioned. Your EX already has a front sway bar, the rear sway bar was not included on most EXs, so either a Super Duty take-off or the popular Hellwig bar is a good option to add to the rear, I have the Hellwig.
How far into the exhaust do you plan to get? I went with the Banks headers on my V-10 with the rest of the factory mandrel bent 3" exhaust still n place, only just recently swapped out the factory muffler for an Aeroturbine 3030XL.
Save your money on the cold air intake, the factory cold air ox on the EX is a decent unit that can outflow the motor, aftermarket kits will add noise but no noticeable power from the reports of members here that have tried them.
Suspension is a whole world unto itself, set your goals first then work your way towards the goal a step at a time in a logical order. I did my spring mods and swap first, then I did the swap to deeper gears and finished up with the 35" tires. New Rancho shocks were added somewhere along that progression too.
I love my EX also, we adopted it in August 2010. It's an '05 XLT V-10 4X4 with 110,000 miles that currently serves as our dedicated tow rig for our 41' 11,000 lb travel trailer.

Now for the good part, I have a big driveway, like to spin wrenches and every so often find myself with some free time to play with the tools and I just happen to be pretty familiar with V-10 EXs...........I think we may need to meet up. . At least then you can check my EX out that already has many of the mods done that you are dreaming of.

 

Hey Brotha. I am not sure why it is not letting me write you back through PM, but thank you!! I really appreciate it. Do you think I should go to Ford to get the spark plugs done? They quoted my around $500.00, which I know is high, but at the same time i feel like if there is an issue it is easier to deal with. I agree with getting things done. I was told to get an additional front sway bar, not sure why. With the rear, I am going to get the Hellwig sway bar. I'm not sure about the exhaust. I want to do so much but like you said I need to prioritize. I use this as my daily driver (yes I am crazy, but love it) I have two pitbulls, and do sales so am constantly having a ton of stuff in my truck plus we go camping and road trips so it makes sense. And.... I just wanted it.

I am all for us meeting up. It would be great to see a tuck that is in the stage that I am trying to get to and to be honest I would love to learn how to work on the truck myself. I appreciate it. have a good night

 

Keep posting, there is a certain amount of posts/time needed to enable a few things such as PMs and the ability to add a signature below your posts. My Moderator super powers allow me to PM folks who aren't enabled yet.


Your call on the plug change, it's not a bad job and can be knocked out in an afternoon, it's just very important to follow a few certain steps to ensure a good job with no issues. If you decide you want to do the plug change and save some money here are the parts you will need. Spark plug boots and springs - Denso 671-0001 (set of 10), Spark plugs - Motorcraft SP-479 (set of 10), and if you want to have an extra COP (Coil On Plug) or two or if you have a failing COP - Denso 673-6000. You only want to change COPs when they fail, and they tend to last a looong time, but I picked up 2 just to have on hand if one craps out while on a trip. Everything is available on either Amazon or RockAuto. The tools needed are pretty simple (the Gearwrench swivel socket 80546 is very handy for this job) and compressed air is needed to blow out the holes, dielectric grease for the boots/springs and a little bit of never-seize for the plug threads and COP bolts.
My schedule is pretty full with work and trips through the first week of Nov, but we can work something out I'm sure.


You really don't need a different front sway bar, there are other options out there for it like the Hellwig, but I'm not sure if it would be a big enough difference to notice. There are a million things you can do to one of these wagons, and most have been done by folks here, but take your time and do plenty of reading up on the various mods before you jump too quick into something that may not be the best choice for your rig and use. What year is your EX? And don't forget that we require pictures here!