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1LifeLive J L ZARING's OFF ROAD ADVENTURES
1LifeLive J L Zaring at Last Chance Canyon
1LifeLive J L Zaring's Off Road Rig
1LifeLive Home Built Ford Expedition Limited 4x4 2007
1LifeLive is J L Zaring’s Adventure section where book research is taken to the outer limits of nature (simply meaning not on hard road, but dirt road ;-)
Ford Expedition Limited 4x4 2007 Specs:
Ford Expedition 4x4 Front and Rear Lockers (Non Standard Lockers):
The Ford Expedition comes with 4x4 option Control Trac. Note: Advance Trac traction control needs to be off in order to engage the full potential of Control Trac and needs to be in 4x4 Hi or 4x4Lo and every time the rig is shifted out of 4Hi or 4Lo and back into it, the Advance Trac traction control needs to be turned off.
Ford Expedition Non-Standard Lockers:
Note: These are Non Standard Lockers. What in the heck does that mean???
There are several types of lockers. Some manually activated via air (ARB lockers) others are activated by switches (E lockers) while others such as mine on my 2007 Ford Expedition are a type of electronic software locking system called Control Trac which mimics lockers by locking the center differential and then the front and rear differentials. I simply call them lockers for ease of understanding. However in future videos, I now refer to them as mimic lockers as they mimic lockers once Control Trac is on.
This was explained to me by a Ford tech:
Fords 4x4 off road system Control Trac uses software to lock the center differential and software to control a locked speed and power to the front and rear differentials with equal power and speed mimicking lockers.
Hence why in Ford’s says electronically locked, which in essence is “software locked”. The software mimics mechanical lockers due to the fact of constant equal power and rotational speed to both the front and rear tires when in 4x4 lo or 4x4 hi (Advance Trac traction control button off).
Control Trac center differential locking software works in conjunction with Advance Trac traction control to mimic front and rear lockers.
Advance Trac traction control is comprised of: Engine Traction Control, Two types of Braking Traction Control, Electronic Stability Control (ESC) and Roll Stability Control (RSC).
When Advance Trac traction control button is pressed OFF, It turns off ESC, RSC and Engine Traction Control, and the 1st Brake Traction Control (but not the 2nd Brake traction control) AND..... all of it turns back on when speeds are above 25mph.
Understanding the two types of braking traction control:
1st type of braking traction control: for on road use when the traction control button is ‘ON’ and when tires slip, the slipping tires will be braked and power will go to the non-slipping tire and this is known as, “Standard Traction Control.” The braking is harsh, quick, easily felt and is also accompanied with engine power braking.
2nd type of braking traction control is used for OFF Road use with Control Track when the Advance Trac traction control button is OFF.
This braking traction control, controls the rotational speed of all four tires equally by braking seamlessly to match the speed of all the tires along with the engine power. The braking does not correct traction loss on the ground whatsoever. The braking only concerns itself with helping control equal rotational tire speed to help mimic lockers along with the engine power controlling the same thing. Ford calls it electronic locking as the electronic part is the software part which locks in the power and speed of the tires mimicking front and rear lockers. The braking cannot be felt and there is no engine braking.
The Ford Expedition Locking Center Differential:
The ControlTrac 4-wheel-drive system’s center "differential" is a electronically-controlled electromagnetic multi-disc (multi-plate) clutch pack. Through use of sophisticated control software, the multi-disc clutch imitates a traditional geared center differential.
Ford Expedition (Diffs Not Locked)
• 4A 4-wheel-drive Auto with high range gearing (1.00:1) Full-time all-wheel-drive capability, Electronically adjusted torque split to front & rear wheels, Electronically variable center differential, Front driveshaft & rear primary driveshaft allowed rotational speed difference with traction control enabled
Ford Expedition (Diffs Locked if Traction Control is turned Off)
• 4H 4-wheel-drive with high range gearing (1.00:1) 4-wheel-drive capability,
Continuous 50/50 torque split to front & rear wheels, Electronically locked center differential, Front driveshaft & rear primary driveshaft locked with no rotational speed difference, traction control system needs to be off in order to have locked front and rear drive shafts.
Ford Expedition (Diffs Locked, Traction Control is automatically turned off)
• 4L 4-wheel-drive with low range gearing (2.64:1) 4-wheel-drive capability,
Continuous 50/50 torque split to front & rear wheels, Electronically locked center differential,
Front driveshaft & rear primary driveshaft mechanically locked with no rotational speed difference
Also in the manual Ford doesn’t recommend using 4x4-high or 4x4-low on pavement when locked. Making tight turns will cause torque windup and drivetrain binding, as the front driveshaft and rear driveshaft can’t turn at different speeds when locked.
Big difference between the Control Trac locking system and standard lockers is Standard lockers you can turn off and on instantly. With Control Trac, once engaged sometimes the system is locked instantly and sometimes it takes the tires to slip for 2 seconds, then the systems locks. Once locked it stays locked until shifted out of 4x4 and just like standard lockers the power to all four tires is equal and constant.
I have driven in Jeeps and Hummers with Standard Lockers and compared the difference and once the Ford Control Trac system is locked, you cannot tell a difference once it is engaged.
If driven on the pavement when locked and you slightly turn the front end will start to bind and jump skip, meaning the tires will start chirping on the pavement as the tires are turning equally when turning (this is why you do NOT use on the pavement when turning) and this is the warning Ford issues NOT to do as it can cause damage. This goes for Standard Lockers too and you will have the same effect on the pavement with Standard Lockers.
Hope that helps understanding the Ford Expedition Control Trac Locking system. I know, very confusing. It's confusing to me too! ;-)
Ford Expedition Tires:
35" Nitto Trail Grabbers (35"x12.5"x17")
I actually only had to cut 1" diagonal small cuts behind the 35s at the lower corner with a rotary tool and the splash guards inside the wheel well behind the front tires on the outside lower corner with a rotary tool and reciprocating saw. Very easy to do. The fronts actually cleared fine. The rear I believe I did no cutting for the tires, just for rear approach angles.
Note: Only the driver side tire was barely hitting the lower corner behind the front tire during a particular angle. I cut both sides just to match.
Ford Expedition Wheels:
2014-2015 Ford Raptor Beadlock Wheels 17"
(no spacers needed, fit perfect)
Ford Expedition Spare Tire:
Full size spare 35" Nitto Trail Grabber (35"x12.5"x17") w/ 2014-2015 Ford Raptor Bead Lock Wheels 17" (note: grinding and cutting were needed to make room to fit the spare tire to remove unnecessary metal).
Suspension and Lift Front and Rear and Clearance:
Clearance Front and Rear bumper:
The cutting you see on the front and rear fenders / bumper was NOT for the tires. That is for Front & Rear Approach angles over very LARGE rocks and STEEP inclines & declines. If you notice off road desert trucks, rock trucks and Jeeps, they NEVER have fenders hanging low in front of their tires as the fenders would hit first rather than the tires when going over extreme large rocks or up/down inclines/declines which the Ford Expedition can start with going at an angle then cutting in. I will be doing videos on all the cutting.
4" Lift Front:
ICON Vehicle Dynamics V.S. Series 2.5” thick coilover shocks with adjustable 3" lift. Due to the geometry of the independent suspension it comes to about 4" over stock.
To balance out any binding, ICON Uniball Upper Control Arm Kit was added which corrected the geometry of the lift and removed all binding.
The Icon coilovers are ideal for the front due to the strong tight springs which are small in diameter and the upper control arms do not hit them on full extension if the rig is lifted. With other coilovers such as Rancho front coilovers, the springs are wider in diameter and the upper control arms hit, causing noise and binding! So beware as it is quite frustrating!
Parts:
Icon Vehicle Dynamics 91700 Coil-Over Kit:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ZBB2ZKQ/ref=ox_sc_sfl_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A2MOBBHRX7CB6B
Icon Vehicle Dynamics 98500 Control Arm Kit:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ZB7QCHC/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1
3.75" Lift Rear:
Rancho Quick Lift and then a spacer and a half on top which is a Daystar KF09111BK Comfort Ride 2.5" Leveling Kit
(modifications needed to the spacer, very easy to do with a Dremel tool)
See link:
How to raise rear air suspension and how to install rear spacer on top of rear suspension
Note about suspension: all 4 tires were aligned fine. No issues whatsoever. I originally had rear air suspension and raised the rear air along with a spacer. However, I recently swapped out the rear air suspension to the Rancho Quick Lift Suspension. The reason is because I did NOT want to encounter an air issue while off road in the middle of nowhere, so it was simply proactive prevention.
Current Rear Suspension:
Rancho Quick Lift Coil-Overs with 3.75" Daystar Spacers:
With the rear Daystar spacers I went with 1 full 2.5” Daystar spacer and 1 half (cut in half) 2.5” Daystar spacer. Total 2.5 + 1.25 = 3.75” spacer lift on top of the Rancho Quick lift strut. Note: spacers need the holes cut out to the outside to fit the rear strut bolt holes.
Parts:
Rancho Quick Lift Rear Coil Overs Struts:
Right side: Rancho RS999926 Quick Lift Loaded Strut
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004YJTSEM/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Left side: Rancho RS999941 Quick Lift Loaded Strut
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004YJU3NW/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Daystar Polyurethane Spacers:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001GH1NNO/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Note: spacers need the holes cut out to the outside to fit the rear strut bolt holes.
Rear Suspension Currently being fabricated to replace Rancho:
Icon Vehicle Dynamics 91700 Coil-Over Kit:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ZBB2ZKQ/ref=ox_sc_sfl_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A2MOBBHRX7CB6B
Front Sway Bar:
Is Removed. Once I installed the Rancho Quick Lift Shocks a while back, I set the shock level on the stiffest setting. I then removed the front sway bar. I have done extensive testing, braking, cornering, etc and I have had no issues at all with stability. However, if you are pulling a trailer then I would recommend that you leave it on.
I now have replaced the front Rancho Quick Lift shocks with ICON Vehicle Dynamics V.S. Series 2.5" shaft 3" lift coilovers and I have also done extensive testing without the sway bar and all is good. Again, if you are pulling a trailer then I would recommend that you leave it on.
Or, if you are jumping or doing fast racing, then leave it on. I do none of that and I simply wanted more maneuverability and range of motion which it gave to me for off roading. It also gave me tighter turning.
I have not found quick disconnects yet. If you know of any, please email me as I would love to know. Thanks.
Other Specs:
Paramount Jeep Rock Sliders:
fab attached, welded to frame with disconnect arms if needed to be removed. Perfect Fit with 3 arms to the FRAME of the rig.
Cold Air Intake:
K&N 57-2575 FIPK Performance Air Intake System
Engine Computer:
SCT 7015 X4 Power Flash Programmer
395hp (I round it to 400hp) haha
405trq
Winch:
Warn Zeon 10s Winch multi-mount (front or rear)
Skid Plates:
RCI full underside skid plates for 2009-2014 F150 1/4" Aluminum
Front Hitch Mount (also acts as lower control arm guard):
CURT 31068 Front Mount Trailer Hitch for F-150
Dual Batteries: Optima Batteries 8014-045 D34/78 Yellow Top Dual Purpose Battery)
Spare Tire:
Full Size 35" underneath (grinding mods needed to fit)
Lights:
All LED including headlights and the fog lights were turned into headlights too. All lights come on when switched to high beam.
Roof Rack:
Yakima with the extension. Great rack as it is lightweight and has attachment options with locking abilities to lock your gear up to help keep honest people honest.
Photo Gallery
1LiveLive Mrs J Zaring fun in the sun!
1LifeLive Ford Expedition J L Zaring