2004 Ford Expedition - Second Time's The Charm

The photos you see here of Matt Spence's '04 Expedition are from the second photo shoot we have done on this SUV. The first shoot was on my very first trip as a Truckin' editor, and my experience on the whole could be categorized as a disaster. Without going into too much detail: I missed an entire photo shoot, paid more money for a cab ride (that didn't get me to my destination) than I have for plane tickets, and was swarmed by the thickest cloud of mosquitoes I have ever witnessed. To put it nicely, the photos I managed to shoot of this Expedition failed to do it justice, so Senior Editor Dan Ward picked up my slack on a recent trip to Texas.

Matt's plan for the Expedition was to have it serve his daily driver duties, which it does; he just couldn't quite leave it stock. Immediately after purchasing the Expedition, Matt dropped it off at Kustom Werks in Houston, where Chris Gilbert painted the layered flames and skull graphics with PPG hues from Brault Auto Paint Supply. The flames fade from orange to red at the tips and were striped with a contrasting hot-rod staple, bright blue. Black negative flames give the illusion of layers, and were also striped in blue. While at Kustom Werks, the Expedition was also given an altitude adjustment with the addition of airbags at all four corners. The frame and sheetmetal were left intact-it is a daily driver after all-but it made the 24-inch Foose Lusso wheels and 305/35 Kumho rubber tuck up into the wheelwells just enough. A billet grille and polished Flowmaster exhaust tip keep the rest of the exterior mild, so attention is kept on the paint. While much more subdued, the interior of the Expedition continues the exterior paint scheme in a sub box built and fiberglassed by Mike Swientek. Working on a tight schedule, Mike was able to get the fiberglass ready for Chris Gilbert's airbrush talent with little time to spare.