Explorer Sport "little blue" buildup

[Hahnsb2]

Yeah the 3.73 and 4 door leaf swap was on the top of my list for it before I sold it.

 

[jaymegriffiths]

i'm parting it out & scrapping, and the tires are off of my truck. I'm not driving on them to spare the tread during the summer & get the lost mileage back. whenever I get rid of the rest of the vehicle the tires will go back on my truck.

darn. they are cool.

 

[fordxranger]

FINALLY.....

ultimate street queen! I finally scrounged up some extra dough and got the hurst kit, the old stuff was pretty torn up. right after I pulled it out and away it just imploded and shat everything into a few pieces. I eyeballed the shifter length and I added that spacer that comes with the kit to have it sit right. it took longer to trim the boot for a good fit with the factory ring than it did to install the mechanism itself. the only gripe I have is that it does transfer a lot of noise into the cab, I can hear the tranny gears whine in every gear louder than it did before. I have read about it from almost everyone who put one of these in and I thought that they were being too sensitive about noise but I was wrong. I'm definitely going to change the trans oil and might do the freeze plug fix if I feel like taking out the seats and console. maybe then it will quiet up a little.

I pulled a overhead console from a 96 explorer at PAP last week and I got everything I need for $8! the only downside is that I have to tear it apart and paint the trim piece either black or tan to match the interior since the one I got is grey. unless someone has a tan one they'd like to trade? I have on the way a set of center caps for the wheels, but I have to cut the holes for the hubs in two of them. I also came up with this idea for a set of shackles:

i'll probably make them 1" to 2" longer than stock to give it a little lift(I know the shackle length rule), but how does everyone think they will be? I have heard from people recently to not bother with a center support if they are going to be less than 1" to 2" longer than stock, but before I was told that running shackles without a center support in most cases is an absolute no no. who here has made their shackles and can input on this design?

 

[RacinNdrummin]

Hey Man, Ill make you a killer deal on a 1354 Manual T-case if you want to throw it in there.

 

[Hahnsb2]

Yeah I got rid of the Hurst in my truck, too much noise and shift effort....

I just changed the oil in the trans before you bought it...

 

[fordxranger]

not much to add, been saving a big chunk of money to go back to school and to get my SAS started on my pickup when I go back so mods to the sport have been fairly cheap and easy.

Got a few cans of duplicolor trim paint and painted a bunch of stuff:

the OHC was grey and the overhead light was tan so I painted them black to match and add some contrast. (the other OHC isn't for sale, it's going in my pickup)

Picked up some 96 mountaineer mirrors and some vent visors off ebay for the rainy days. before I put them on I painted the black parts on the doors and the rear hatch cause they faded pretty badly as you can see.

added some memphis m class 5x7s front and rear, they sound EXCELLENT.

I also painted the speaker grilles black, I got all 4 nut covers for the rims, mounted the front license plate back on the bumper, and I had to replace the windshield cause it leaked rainwater through the headliner and started to crack. I'm prepping the spare passenger door I got with the truck to replace the one that's on it so I didn't touch the trim up on the passenger side yet. i'm getting double what I expected on my tax return so up next is ford factory coil spacers, 4 door leaf springs and making some homemade shackles, duff poly's for the 4 door springs, a new pioneer deck, add a memphis 10" subwoofer and amp, some clear headlights and corners off ebay, and maybe a riddler diff cover. whats left goes into my savings.

(p.s. the old deck is for sale cheap, send me a PM)

 

[fordxranger]

Got some new stuff, so ill update this again. I bought a pioneer premier DEH510UB, which is now being discontinued by pioneer cause they're dropping the premier line. It got dual USB inputs, an AUX input, front, rear and sub high power pre-outs, remote and OEL display. its too bad these aren't being continued on, cause its a really nice and buildable deck. I also finally got an explorer limited grille that wasn't damaged in the local pull-a-part, I also got the driver corner trim piece cause mine is broken, the blue lens and the wiring from the OHC it had(mostly broken). I also got some factory ford f150 coil spacers off another user, and I bought a piece of 2"x2" box steel to put in as a support for the shackles i'm making.

I put on the replacement door and found the hinges to be worn out, fender to be out of alignment and bent a little. I think the core support and inner structure are more damaged than I had originally thought when I bought it. does anyone know if a place like LMC sells replacement inner fender structures? I know they have new core supports so that isn't a problem but id need the passenger side structure at least if I were to replace the bent pieces.

 

[Hahnsb2]

Updates? Noticed you sig said out of commission...

 

[WoodyB2]

Hahn was this your old explorer? if so glad to see that it when to a fellow TRS member.

 

[fordxranger]

Updates? Noticed you sig said out of commission...

wow, didn't even see this till today. I don't go on much anymore, busy with school and other stuff. The front end is basically completely shot, the rotors are warped, bushings are toast and i'm fairly sure that one of the wheel bearings is toast. I also think the rear driveshaft u joints are going too, so it needs a bunch of work before I put it back on the road. I might say screw it and part this thing out, there is a mazda navajo for sale in my area with a M50D for $800 obo I might replace it with. I could use the drivetrain in this for my pickup which i've been driving lately, its begging for a 4.0 swap. The ranger is getting some updates soon too, i've got the interior torn apart ready for all the car audio gear I had laying around for a couple of years. I'm taking composites classes at school so I am making a fiberglass box and molding the component set into the map pocket area of the door panels for a project. and yes woodyb2 this is his old explorer.

 

[fordxranger]

been a while since i've updated or even posted on here, and for anyone who cares here's whats been going on lately with this thing. I parked it around november cause the suspension was clunking and there was a serious vibration coming from the center of the truck. It sat while I went full bore at school for a while and I just got around to fixing it last month. I rebuilt a spare D35 I had bought from poster RacinNdrummin a long time ago and fitted it with energy suspension bushings, new wheelbearings, and threw a coat of paint on it. when I bought it from hahnsb2 he had replaced the radius arm bushings, and that it had a small tear in the bracket so I replaced it. since the new axle has 3.73's in it and the stock rear had 3.27s and an open diff I swapped out the rear with the 3.73 Ls rear and 4 door explorer springs from my old parts car and put new poly bushings in the leafs and fresh fluid and a paintjob on everything. I also discovered that the vibration was while I was under there, it turns out that all of the driveline bolts at the t case were almost all the way backed out and that one had fallen off completely. Whoever replaced the u-joints last must have only had them finger tight, cause I never touched it while ive owned it. Got real lucky there, it would have been a total loss if it would have let go. between waiting for parts and the lack of help it took me a whole month of weekends to do all this work 90% by myself, got a little assistance with the diff side of the ttb suspension and thats it. It was all worth it though, this thing glides on the road. the only problem now is the speedo is off. since i've been driving it since monday, and its about 10 MPHs off and it seems like the mileage took a complete nosedive. I expected some loss in economy due to the "new" gears, but its a lot. I thought that the speedo cable ran off the t-case and don't understand why it would be any different? maybe I am having a brainfart but I can't figure it out. anyway here are a few in progress pics, nothing much to look at and there weren't many taken since I was doing work most of the time.

wooo, I painted some shit lol.

i'm gonna get a few new pics this weekend after I wash it and get back from shooting, and I think i'm gonna paint up the front bumper and possibly build a lightbar from some junk tubing I have laying around.

 

[Hahnsb2]

Mileage shouldn't have nosedived, considering I'd get over 1.5MPG better when I didn't use 5th... And yes a driveline mounted speed sensor is affected with gear and tire changes, a ring gear mounted speed sensor is not affected by gear changes but is still changed by tire changes.

 

[Maverick]

You ever get around to installing those headers I sold you, or was that for a different project?

 

[fordxranger]

Mileage shouldn't have nosedived, considering I'd get over 1.5MPG better when I didn't use 5th... And yes a driveline mounted speed sensor is affected with gear and tire changes, a ring gear mounted speed sensor is not affected by gear changes but is still changed by tire changes.

I was thinking that, or that the speedo gear needs to be changed(for the speedo problem, not the MPG). I kept the same size tires on it, so it has to be the trans mounted VSS. i've been using my gps as a speedo/MPG calculator and its getting about 16.6 MPG according to my calculations. it was getting around 20 MPG on average with the old setup. I have to order the VSS that mounts in the trans, and I haven't a clue as to where I would order a speedo gear besides the stealership, which would probably cost a fortune. I hope that i'll have a better idea as to what it is actually getting after everything comes in.

You ever get around to installing those headers I sold you, or was that for a different project?

I bought them for a 4.0L swap in my pickup, but I spent the money I had planned to buy a rebuild kit with on an AR build so I scrapped that plan. I hit them with some high temp paint & I wrapped them in some exhaust wrap I had laying around from a high school project and put them on a shelf. I plan to put them in the explorer on my next break from school, or on a long weekend with no schoolwork.



I got a sweet craigslist score on a set of eagle 058 series wheels for $20 with some bald ass tires. they were very neglected and needed a real deep cleaning. I am gonna have to sand and polish them to fully get rid of all the embedded brake dust but I don't think that was too bad of a deal. I wanna either get some 31x10.50's for them or just mount these wheels on the sipped toyos I have on it now. i'd have to sell the current wheel package to afford the new tires if I went that route.

 

[MountainMike]

Gears from the dealership are usually only like 8 bucks.