School me on Explorers

[superdave1984]

OK, I am selling the Ranger. I just don't have the heart for that project anymore. Besides, I want another 4x4. But I need 4 doors. That leaves me with few options. Explorer or Cherokee. I had a Cherokee and loved it. Parts were plentiful and reasonable. But I'm having difficulty finding one with a few mods already done that isn't beat to hell. So I'm looking at Explorers. How do they do off road? How expensive are they to mod? How reliable are they? I am looking at a 98 or older. What should I look for/want/avoid?

 

[adsm08]

For ease of mods and and quality off road, you want a 91-94. 95 is almost impossible to lift and from 95 up they are independent front end. The 1st gen explorers are basically a Ranger with an upside down rear axle as far as suspension is concerned.

 

[RangerSVT]

Agreed, 91-94 explorers, and there is more than a plethora of parts. Mods?? V8, sas, fw, exo, sliders, custom bumpers, etc. Options are long and endless. Not expensive to mod or upgrade either. A plus with explorers are you have the 35 up front and 31 Spline 8.8 stock...
SVT

 

[greasemonkey6886]

Thing is you already know the suspention on the 91-94's. It's the same as your Ranger except for the spring under the axle out back. They do really well off-road but have more space for family,gear,etc. than the Ranger. As far as mods, like RangerSVT said options are almost endless.
I bought a 91 about two years ago for parts for a 4.0 swap in my BII. After driving it about 3 weeks-checking for problems before swapping them-I hated to pull it apart. I drove really nice and did great off-road.

 

[adsm08]

They do really well off-road but have more space for family,gear,etc. than the Ranger.

If anything ever happens to my Ranger's cab, I'm gonna get a B2 body that was hit in the rear, take everything in front of the rear wheel wells, and graft it onto the Ranger frame. Should be the best of both worlds.

 

[greasemonkey6886]

I'd love to see that! That would look cool as heck if done right. I thought about something like that a while back.

 

[89chevsj]

Explorers do not ever die. I had one that I absolutely destroyed buried to the windows regularly beat the hell outta it. For five years transmission finnaly went boom. But it is back on the road now. (new owner)