Hey Guys,

This is my first post and I would like to share with you a project of mine that I have been working on for quite sometime now. This is a project that was inspired by the movie I am Legend, and the Expedition that starred in it.

After watching the movie and seeing the upgrades that were performed, I began thinking.... What equipment and add-ons would be needed to make the ultimate Ford Expedition? One that would be ready to tackle a nasty snow storm or back country roads to get to that awesome camping spot. And if need be, have the equipment necessary for un-expected emergencies.

So here are the upgrades applied to a stock 2007 Expedition Limited w/ Rear Air Suspension:

Toyo M/T Tires LT275/65R20 126P E/10 on Stock Ford 20 inch rims.

Truxx Front Leveling Kit

Grille Guard / Winch Mount from Sterling Equipment & Mfg. Co. of Central Florida, Inc (Winch Mount Grill and Brush Guards for Pickup Trucks and Suv's)

Warn XD900i

Yakima Mega Warrior Basket

Yakima Mega Warrior Shovel Carrier

Yakima Mega Warrior Axe Carrier

Yakima Mega Warrior Light Brackets - 4 sets for Front, Rear, Left, & Right Aux Lighting.

K&N Cold Air Intake (Really sounds nice!!! )

Icom 65 Watt VHF Radio (Ham Only)

Streamlight SL-20X 200 Lumen Rechargeable FlashLight (Vehicle Mounted)

RAM Mount - Laptop Holder

Dell Latitude E6400 W/ Garmin TOPO 2008 / City Nav. 2008 Software. Wireless Broad Band Connections.

120 Volt Inverter

SPOT Emergency Satellite Transponder (GEOS)


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Coming Soon:

Havis Shields Console for Radios, Switch Box's, Map Light, and Aux 12 Volt Outlets.

ICom Mobile 50 Watt UHF Radio programmed for GMRS & 440 Ham - Car to Car or Portable to Car. (FCC Type Accepted)

Icom Portable's & Chargers (FCC Type Accepted)

Master Control Switch box for Aux Lights and equipment. May need 2 control heads depending on configuration.

Sho-Me Air Horn & PA W/ Radio Re-Broadcast & 100 Watt Speaker

12 Aux Lights for Rack. No brand chosen as of yet.

Dual Battery Setup with isolator. (Wrangler NW - Battery Tray, Optima Gel Pack Batteries heavy duty deep cycle.)

Compact Hot Water Heating System with Pump for showers (Can't remember the company name, however, its a very slick system)

Warn Air Power VTC - For pumping up tires or powering air tools.

Upgraded remote start and alarm system featuring wireless surveillance to keyfob

Warn XD 9000i in rear receiver cradle.

Stove and provisions



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This is a really bad photo from my phone, however, I will post more photos very soon. =O)

Thanks guys,

Have a great weekend!!

 

Fearsam, is that the setup you are currently running?? If so, very cool guy. Definately a SHTF vehicle!!

I hope you get some more pics up soon since it really looks like an interesting project!

 

Ok, so I picked up a new digital camera today. Here are some new photos, enjoy!

 

Hey guys, i'm going to try this again. I'm not sure what happened to my 2nd post. So here it is again.

I am working on the coming soon part, however, the list above that has already been implemented on the vehicle.

Here are some new photos that I took today with my new camera. Enjoy!

 

I'm impressed. Very nice.

 

How is the ride with those tires?

 

The ride isn't too bad, the Expedition rides more like a truck now though. However, I wanted much stronger sidewalls for off road adventures in the mountains. A flat tire far away from home isn't fun. I did notice that the M/T's handle better in the corners than the Toyo A/T's. The Toyo A/T's didn't have the sidewall strength for the added weight of Winch setup.

By the way, the M/T's handle very well in the snow. We got caught up in a nasty snow storm on the Mt. Hood Pass late at night. 60 MPH winds with 1 ft snow drifts, and at times, total white-outs. Nasty, nasty stuff. The M/T's proved to be a good performer and took no prisoners!

 

Update - Just installed the new equipment console. Installed the Light Switchbox, Icom V8000 VHF Radio, Icom F221 UHF Radio, and Map Light.

Photos coming ASAP!

 

Nice protect, look into the Fenix TK40 flashligh for an awesome light.

Fenix TK40 Review - NEW beamshots up - CandlePowerForums

We use our expys for pretty much what you're doing and that light is great.

 

Awsome truck,but your missing one important thing on a expedition vehicle. I'd snap a photo of mine but my truck is packed full of crap so here's the link.

Go Light HID


I have the Standard unit with the HID kit on the way. My regular unit goes an easy 1,200 feet from my actual testing. I'll add some photos this weekend once I get my truck cleaned up. This light works great for anything from off roading to trying to locate machines on large empty jobsites early in the AM or late at night. This is really sweet, I scored mine as a freebee so buying the HID kit was a no brainer.

 

Thanks for all the replies!!

Currently I carry a SureFire G2 LED with a drop in LED module from Tactical Night Vision Corp. Its a simple LED replacement. It’s a high output 256 lumen lamp assembly. I'm always looking for brighter flashlight though. The TK-40 looks pretty sweet, I will have to check it out. I don't go anywhere without my SureFire, it has saved my butt on my many occasions.

The Go-Light is a nice piece of equipment. I have been looking at those for awhile now. The control panel would go well in my console. What I like about that control panel is that you have a better understanding of where the light is pointing relative to your vehicle. The HID Upgrade looks awesome! For starters there will be 4 lights on the front of the rack, 4 lights on the rear of the rack, and 2 lights for the left and right of the expedition that act as "Alley" lights. They will be controlled by the switch panel in the console.

Also, I'm fabricating a dual battery tray that will fit under the expedition for a total of 3 batteries. One battery that will remain OEM for the most part as far as electrical connections are concerned (Radios will probably be hooked to this battery). Another battery for the winch, lights, etc, and another for emergencies, such as a dead battery due to accessories being left on. I will need to get some battery isolators and a few 1000 AMP relays to bypass the isolators if need be.

I was going to go with the Optima Yellow Top batteries. However, the majority of people I have talked to are telling me to stay away from them right now as they have had and are having issues with them. So if you guys have any suggestions on Sealed Batteries please please please feel free to put your 2 cents in. =O)

I snapped some photos of the console install, however, they are not posting correctly, and I am curious if anybody else is having issues. I noticed other users galleries are not viewable as well. Sigh...


Hopefully this issue will be resolved soon.


On a side note, I tested out the Toyo M/T's and 4WD Low the other night. I was pulling a trailer full of lumber up a steep dirt hill. In order to make it around the corner with the trailer I had to swing wide thus loosing traction to a rear wheel and front wheel due to the lay of the land. To my surprise, and my buddy (as he was outside spotting me) the wheels caught themselves from spinning and transferred the power to the wheels with traction. This was a good thing, I really didn't want to back-track with a heavy trailer or have to deploy the Warn. I thought this was pretty cool, and a good field test / demonstration of Fords 4WD system in the expedition. Kudos’ to Ford and their engineering team.


Have a great weekend ya’ll!

 

Double Post

 

Great looking Expy. The mods you have done are great and the will dos are also. Did your 07 come with Posi difs?

 

Nice looking truck. One suggestion... get rid of that RAM mount. Please. I hear too many stories of people (mostly law enforcement) officers getting injured by RAM mounts. Here is a video of what it looks like in a crash:

Havis Universal Laptop Mount

 

Sorry guys, I haven't been on here in awhile. Here are some photos below of the console & responses to the latest posts.

Have an awesome weekend everyone!!!

IQ9 - As far as I know the 4WD system in the expedition is smart enough to understand that a wheel is slipping, and that power needs to be transferred. If anyone has more of an in-depth understanding of how the 4wd system works in the 07 Expedition, please feel free to jump in =O) There was no mention of limited slip in my paperwork when I purchased my rig. So it must be the 4wd system that is constantly sensing what wheels are slipping. I must say, it was pretty cool to watch. Also, a few weeks ago we went to Brown's camp, a 4wd recreation area that is near the Oregon coast. We headed down one of the many trails and found ourselves going up a very steep narrow hill that connected to a main power line road. In order to turn on to this road, the vehicle would be in an off camber situation. The 4wd system worked very very well, I wasn't sure that we would make it up, but we did. Kudo's to Ford.


anollmann - Thanks for the info, really good to know. It shows that you guys care. I will look into the Havis Shields Laptop mount. Also, I will contact Ram and suggest that they take a very serious look into this. I must say, that is a pretty sweet crash sled video. I wouldn't want to get nailed by a Dell Latitude or a Tough Book for that matter.


Ok,

So here are the Havis Shields Radio / Switch Box Console for the 2007 Ford Expedition. Fun Stuff!!