Custom 1997 Ford Expedition SUV - The Mistress

Erik Harbour has had many loves in his life, and they were show vehicles. During that time, he bought an SUV to keep the miles down on his other customs. He's the type of individual who is brave enough to drive all his vehicles no matter how custom they are, but if he can limit the use of them by cruising a stock roller, then that's the way to go.

In his teens, he got ahold of a 25th anniversary edition 5.0L Ford Mustang. Erik started messing around with this car, before he could even legally drive. Of course, the next step was to get his license so he could be square with the law as he cruised his baby around town. Then, he went to town on the 'Stang with custom paint, audio components, interior style, and a lowered suspension. The car was clean and hammered down low for that mean stance. He ran the car all around the show scene and made some lasting impressions.

Erik is a true-born Southerner from Union City, Tennessee, which is on the outskirts of Memphis. Music is a big part of life in the area because famous musicians like Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash made their start in that same region of the country. Since he was introduced to good tunes early on, it led him to appreciating other forms of music and wanting to do it justice by having the right audio equipment to play it on. He got into the audio electronics side of cars so much that he started his own shop called Audio Etcetera in Union City. This would later lead him to the corporate side of producing audio equipment.

During that time, he got a twin-turbo Nissan 300ZX. He beefed it up to a Stage 7 engine-style setup. It was tuned up and cleaned for show. At that time, Erik bought this '97 Ford Expedition to drive around when he wasn't showing off his beloved Z. Eventually, he gave into the Expedition's need for loving and started to accessorize it with big wheels and a nice stereo.

In the meantime, Erik was planning to move to California to further his career of making audio electronics. He decided to leave his old job to work for a buddy of his who was starting a company called Kinetik Audio. The benefits were more appealing, and the change was inevitable. Once he made it out to Southern California, Erik started talking about ways he could customize his SUV. He hooked up with American Racing Wheels, since the company needed an SUV to use for an upcoming SEMA booth. Erik's Expedition was the perfect candidate, and he agreed to finish it in time for the show. During this time, he hooked up with WXP video gaming company, which wanted to unveil its new "Greg Hastings Tournament Paintball MAX'D" Xbox game. They made a plan to set up the truck for kids to be able to play the game and compete with each other inside of this luxurious SUV. The completed task was to have bucket seats in the rear and a big plasma TV for all the action.

The truck was dropped off at Winning Edge Customs in Buena Park, California, to get assembled for SEMA. While there, the suspension got the addition of Air Lift 'bags to get the truck down over the 24-inch American Racing wheels. Then, it was off to building the mobile entertainment-friendly interior. This included custom door panels, a huge center console, a shell for the plasma, and amps in the rear. Then, just a little over a day before its SEMA debut, it was painted.

Once it was shot with a clearcoat and allowed to dry for just a few hours, it was loaded up and hauled out to Las Vegas. Erik rolled it into the American Racing booth, and the project came to a glorious end. Even though it started out as a fling on the side, it turned out to be the main focus of Erik's life.

The 411


Owner/hometown: Erik Harbour / Huntington Beach, California

Year/make/model: '97 Ford Expedition

Engine/drivetrain: 5.4L V-8 Triton / Secret Weapon chrome intake / three Kinetik HC2000 batteries that hold more than 6,000 amps

Installers: Todd Faulkner of Winning Edge Customs in Buena Park, California

Wheels/tires: 24-inch American Racing Cryptic / Cooper Zeon 295/35R24

Suspension: Toxic shocks 1/2-inch chrome Air Lift Easy Street valves / four Air Zenith compressors / clear switch box with nine switches and lock / (Front) DJM front control arms / Air Lift Easy Street 'bags / Toxic shocks / (Rear) factory four-link / Air Lift Easy Street 'bags

Fabricator: Todd Faulkner of Winning Edge Customs in Buena Park

Body Mods: Modified Ford Lightning bumper and support section / Stillen Lightning Storm bumper cover / Street Scene urethane roll pan and bumper grille / DJM flamed grille / APC Euro taillights / matrix-style one-piece headlights / shaved emblems, front and back

Bodyman: Todd Faulkner, Dave Smithly, Jose Villiagas, and Scott Seratta of Winning Edge Customs in Buena Park

Paint: House of Kolor Oriental Candy Blue, Ice Pearl Green, Copper, and Chameleon

Painter: Todd Faulkner, Dave Smithy, Jose Villiagas, and J.C. Poulsen of Winning Edge Customs in Buena Park

Interior: Navigator bucket seats up front and Continental Limo buckets in rear, in gray suede with blue inserts and piping by Joe at California Auto Upholstery / smoothed and painted dash / suede door panels with painted speaker pods / custom center console that fits six subwoofers / billet American Racing steering wheel / gray suede headliner

Installer: Ramses Sanchez and Todd Faulkner of Winning Edge Customs in Buena Park

Audio/Video: Star Vision touch-screen head unit / MA Audio HK-series 5-1/4-inch components, two pairs of 6-1/2-inch components, one set of 6-1/2-inch coaxial speakers, and a set of 2-inch tweeters / two HK2000D and two HK598 MA Audio HK series amps / six 8-inch HK80XC MA Audio subwoofers / three 15.7-inch VIVO electronics flip-down screens / 42-inch Samsung high-definition plasma TV / Alpine Blackbird navigation system / Sirius satellite

Installer: Erik Harbour, Todd Faulkner, Ramses Sanchez, Barrett Siddel of Winning Edge Customs in Buena Park

Club: Relaxed Atmosphere