96 Ford Explorer Ideas.....

[explorer75]

Hi guys, this is my 1st post and also my first 4WD , which was handed down to me by my late grandfather who had the explorer from new, never giving him much problems.

now that i have it i want to lift it, and as its my first time experience i really need some advise, a mate of mine has a few acres that we go down too, i took it there a few weeks back it did well but for some of the terrain the car was too low, its nothing to extreme, a few steep hills, some rocky stuff etc..

will be mostly weekend stuff might drive it sometimes during the week but have a work car so not that much, its completely stock standard.

just something so i can use now and learn.

im in sydney.

thank you guys. :truck:

[steelo]

Hi, good to see another 1 interested in using them offroad. :thumb: There's a couple of threads here with ford info i.e. Explorer, Explorer spec's, Ford Owners etc, etc. Just use "search", just below where your name is.

[explorer75]

Hi, good to see another 1 interested in using them offroad. :thumb: There's a couple of threads here with ford info i.e. Explorer, Explorer spec's, Ford Owners etc, etc. Just use "search", just below where your name is.

thanks mate, but i have no idea where to start, or who to see, looking to speand about $2000 to $3000, not sure if thats enough.

thanks

[steelo]

For starters you'll need to contact a good 4x4 suspension place down there, there should be heaps, & get his advice.
Mine, which is listed below in my signature, cost less than 1000 bucks at Allset Springs up here in Hervey Bay.
It was the best thing I could of done, with a limited budget, & I can now go & do things that before I wouldn't have. Tyre choice is another thing you need to look into, get some good A/T's they'll also make a big difference with grip.

It does make that much of a difference!!:truck:
Good luck & let us know how you go.:thumb:

p.s. an extra rear leaf was added because when we go traveling there's usually 5 or 6 of us + trailer, as it does stiffen the suspension up. Look up some pics in "My Explorer" in Members Rigs

[Green X]

What I have done to my 97 in the suspension department.

On the back
Lovell 40mm lifted leaf springs> Re worked and with a added leaf to give 3-inch lift
Warrior Shackles
RANCHO RS9000’s Lift shocks
Extended rear main brake line

Up front
Moog Upper control arms
Moog Upper ball joints
Moog Lower ball joints
RANCHO RS5000’s
Longer Torsion bar adjusting bolts
New Torsion bars

Riding on 31-inch Cooper ST’s

Total costs don’t know, but probably around 2.5k without the tyres, some parts were brought from the U.S of A.

all up i am running 4-inch on the back and a touch over 2-inch on the front, Cheers.

You can get a 4-Inch lift allround for em made by Super lift in the U.S but by the time you get it hear and have it fitted you would be up around the $4000 mark, Ideally this is what I would have liked to do, but I just never had the hole 4k spear at once

You can also do a SOA in the back and new leafs, that will give 6-inch with the 4-Inch Superlift upfront+ 2-inch TT =6-inch lift all round add front and rear lockers 35's and yor off, sound simple but tyere is a bit of arseing around to get it all workign well on that one.

Depending on how much cash you want to chuck at the thing you can go nut’s Like Rick did, just stick in a solid axle and you off LOL http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAfGCwAZHBU

Cheers.

[steelo]

I WANT ONE!!!!!!
must have a good set of rockcrawler gears in that! Yanks must be allowed to do almost anything to their 4b's.
Bloody Awesome!:thumb:

[BOGGED GU]

Use to have one, sold it 2 my old man coz i couldn't afford the dreams i had 4 it. mite buy it back now i got some money!!! Awesome truck if you want something different, crap truck if u wanna do stuff other 4wds can do but u got no money! Check out Ford Explorer Sport Trac Mountaineer - Enthusiast Community (http://www.explorer4x4.com) theres some pretty insane explorers in the US. Stick extractors and sport exhaust on it and notice the amazing power increase 2!

[steelo]

Hows it going xplorer 75, haven't heard for a while, got any of the mods done yet? interested in seeing what you've done so far so put some pics up eh.:thumb: :D

[MeatyCrab]

Hey guys,

I've had my Exploder since new in 1998. Here's a pic of how she sits now and a link to the mods and more pics...

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/441340

http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/9/web/441000-441999/441340_14_full.jpg

2" Torsion twist up front
2" Add-a-leaf in the rear
3" Body Lift
33" Yokohama Geolandar Mudterrains

Totalling 6.5" over stock height.

[MeatyCrab]

One more...

http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/9/web/441000-441999/441340_16_full.jpg

[steelo]

Great lookin 4b, I'm bloody jealous, does the chip make much of a differance. Got any pics of it out & dirty, be good to see.:truck:
Seems like there's a couple of good xploders (GreenX is 1) over there in Gods country. :thumb:
p.s. check out the Ford Owners & Explorer? threads.

[MeatyCrab]

Chip was a great addition. It was hard to notice the difference at first, but I had to pull it at one point because it stopped working (Powerchip were great about this, free replacement AND free upgrade to 98 Octane programming). Going "backwards" is much easier to notice the difference than going "forwards". The lack of responsiveness and general lack of power accross the rev range can really be felt. A worthy mod if you have the funds (it's about a grand) and the need - it drives so much better.

I've seen your posts about other chips from the states, but my opinion is that Powerchip are an Australian company (I like supporting local industry) and the product is tuned for an Australian model car and local fuels (US cars are tuned to run on incredibly crappy 87 octane fuel).

Also, being an Australian company, the after sales support is very efficient. I was most impressed with the way they handled a warranty issue with my chip - which is a plug in chip for our models, by the way...takes about 15 minutes to install.

If you want a real performance kick though, nothing gets you going like a re-gear. I put the 4.56's in to compensate for the 33's and the old girl still boogies off the line like she hasn't put any weight on (those muds are DAMN heavy).

I haven't had the chance to get it muddy yet - just got the new mods done this month (3" lift and tyres). Used to go off-road every week when I was back in Uni, but these days a spare moment to go wheeling is very rare.

Any questions about anything, just drop me a line. Same goes with the rest of you guys with Exploders.

BK

[Green X]

Nice Explorer Meaty cab> The 33's make all the difference in the Looks department, fill the guards in nicely as well, I wanted the Body lift and bigger tyres too, but then I couldn't fit the dam thing in the garage, I have 1” of clearance between the garage door and my roof ATM and that's with the 2 "Roof Rails" removed LMAO.

I have a few shots of us out the other weekend just need to rattle of the rest of the Film so I can get it developed.


Cheers

[Green X]

Hay mate you are in Perth hay??, I swear I have seen your explorer somewhere before.

[steelo]

MC just out of curiosity do you have 15" or 16" rims, also what was involved with putting in the 4.56. :confused:
I have 265/75/16 & I think thats around 32.5" & I think it would make a difference. I'm going to look into crawler gears as well soon to.:D
Did you do any line extensions at all with the lift?
Sorry for the thread hi-jack Explorer75 but you might be interested to.

p.s. Hey GreenX & MC, you guys should get together & put some pics of the 2 together up on the "Ford Owners" thread. nudge nudge wink wink

[MeatyCrab]

Green X,
You'll see me tearing around pretty much all of Perth during the week, I'm always out and about sourcing parts and this and that for work (run a factory and soon a nightclub in Mount Lawley). But generally I'll be around Mt Lawley, Northbridge, Subi and the Western Suburbs "Golden Triangle" in general...where are you?

It'll be at Cott and City Beach most of this summer...

Steelo,
15x8 rims...can't remember the backspacing - but it was more than the stock 16" rims I had...gives the truck a better, wider stance...

As far as the 4.56's go - take out diff, crack open diff, dump out old gears, plonk in new gears, shove diff back in. There's a great step by step write up on explorerforum.com for the front IFS Diff in our trucks.

I removed and reinstalled both front and rear diffs myself, but got a guy to do the regear for me - he was an absolute ACE at it...did it in his back yard during his time off (does contract stuff for bigger companies on site) and took him about 90 mins each pop. Installed the Detroit TruTrac in the rear 8.8 at the same time. Saved me an AR$ELOAD too instead of going to a diff place - seriously saved over $1000.

The best thing about the tire change to 33's was that it put the speedo absolutely 100% spot on accurate. The ADR compliancing gives a HUGE margin of error and with my old 31's I was still about 5 km/h off through the whole speedo. I have verified this with 2 GPS units.

Explorer75 - $3000 into an old Explorer will do heaps (as long as it's not just for repairs). They're such simple cars, I've done most of the mods myself.

[Green X]

Yeah i am sure i will see it around somtime then, im just round the corner from Mt Lawley myself. Thou i am normally driving my XR6T most of the time, the Explorer lives in the garage most of the time, just comes out for towing the Bike around and Trips and 4WDing and other some other dutys.

Firly obvouse car, It's a Green and Silver one, alloy Bullbar, lights, White CB arial and got a Big RANCHO Decal across the windscreen

[chikoroll]

Nice Explorer Meaty cab> The 33's make all the difference in the Looks department, fill the guards in nicely as well, I wanted the Body lift and bigger tyres too, but then I couldn't fit the dam thing in the garage, I have 1” of clearance between the garage door and my roof ATM and that's with the 2 "Roof Rails" removed LMAO.

I have a few shots of us out the other weekend just need to rattle of the rest of the Film so I can get it developed.


Cheers

lol don't over inflate the tyres;)

[steelo]

Well explorer 75 there's some good tips & pic's of a pretty full on xploder here. You should be able to get something happening for a reasonable cost out of all this, let us know what you do eh.:thumb: :truck: :drink: