The truck came with pathetic little P235/70R-16 Firestone (exploding) tires. Needless to say, before I took posession of the vehicle, I had a plan to replace those little guys in a hurry. In fact, the day I took posession of the vehicle I drove the vehicle off the Ford lot, down the road one mile, and right into the local tire center.
I'm currently running Yokohama Geolander AT/II
Polk Audio EX357 speakers: www.polkaudio.com We replaced all four original factory speakers with a set of four Polk EX357 speakers. There was nothing specifically wrong with the factory speakers; they just didn't sound very good. The EX3's are crisp, precise, and sound great.
Uniden LRD-6599 SWS radar detector: www.uniden.com We don't want speeding tickets. The neat thing about this part of the truck is how it is installed: it is mounted just over the rear-view mirror, where it can't be seen from the outside of the vehicle. I also wired power in from the upper console, so there aren't any weird wires running all over the dash.
CodeAlarm Surestart alarm system: www.code-alarm.com Barely three weeks after purchasing the truck, I graduated from college and moved to Portland. So, I was a little concerned about protecting my shiny new vehicle. CodeAlarm makes a great product, and I was sold on the fun (but somewhat useless) remote-start feature. Installed by JKS, Inc.
Smittybilt Outland grille-guard:www.smittybiltinc.com The story of the grille-guard goes back to April of 1994, when Nicki and I were in a rather nasy accident. See, the "Big Green Machine" had a predecessor: a 1985 F-250 work truck. To make a long story short, a fellow high-school student failed to yield the right-of-way at a stop sign, and I T-boned her at about 40MPH (her fault, not mine). Both vehicles were totaled. Anyway, I knew that when the vehicle was replaced that I would fit it with a grille-guard. I call it my "idiot-driver protector."
Catch-All floor mats: I don't understand why new vehicles don't come with floor mats. If you ask me, it's really rather ridiculous. Having said that, Catch-All floor mats are fantastic: enough said.
off-road lights: We had the grille-guard installed, but it looked kind of bare. So, it was time to accessorize the accessory! We added two Hella Black Magic lights and two PIAA knock-off fog lights. The truck looks boss with all the lights turned on.
custom center console: The center console project was long and somewhat arduous, but in the end worth the effort.
The idea started rather simply; every self-respecting truck needs a CB radio. I also wanted to install a hands-free kit for my cell phone, and I needed a few switches for those extra lights. So, why not create an all-in-one solution? While we're at it, let's toss in a scanner, so I can listen to interesting things while driving around bored. Everything came together in a relatively small package, wrapped in carpet that matches Ford's medium grey. In the end, it pretty much looks stock. Assembled and installed by JKS, Inc.
clear side markers: If you look closely at the "original" truck photos, you will notice that the side markers (just outside each headlight) have an orange reflector. Well, the vehicle looks better if that reflector has no color tint. It's all about the details.
SnugTop XV Canopy: Yep, I finally broke down and got a canopy. It's a SnugTop XV (Xtra Vision), as seen at the right. Our primary purpose for it is going to be dog transportation. So, we got the model with the big, sliding windows.
clear side markers:
