I have my Early bronco for the hard and destructive stuff. Back a few years ago I had a Ranger Truggy that was a trailer queen and I had a lifted and locked explorer as a DD. It was nice having two very capable trucks at my disposal. Then I put together a rig for Alboys dad and that got the wheels turning again and I decided I wanted a lifted and capable 2nd gen explorer.
The old duo.
Then Alboys dads next to my wifes stocker.
I had this bronco for the last couple years. But I didn't want a fullsize, but I wanted the v8.
So I sold the bronco last week and bought a 98 Explorer 5.0L
Original plan was to go full width and 33's or 35's. DD used and weekend warrior stuff driving to/from places instead of trailering. Then I stumbled across this explorer on explorerforum and got me thinking.
Now I think I am gonna do a 1" BL, and torsion twist with shackles and see if I can clear 33x12.50s with no cutting. I already have a set of 33" Duratracs. I also plan to swap out the AWD tcase for the BW4406 which will give me 2hi, 4hi, 4lo. Maybe some bumpers and slider eventually as well.
Great vids John! Im so jealous that you took my dream vaction.
I plan to make this trip in the next year or two. Would you mind breakin down how much this trip cost you and how you planned it out? Like, did you drive the Ex out there ,trailer it or ship it? Did you share cost with anyone else? How did it cost to stay out there for the number of days you were there?
I need to get the buggy going lol. Took the explorer to kitm and i am.short one pass mirror and completely trashed the interior and everything else. Spent lots of time on the rev limiter.
I need to get with engo, something internally failed on my winch.
Mirror is easy/cheap stuff. Its a sad panda, I can't believe how bad I trashed it, mud everywhere inside and out. Always forget why I hate mud till its to late to remember :sonicjay:
How'd we ever make it through that trip without a cage in your EX. I mean this guy wouldn't do it, God knows we shouldn't have then...
I mean just from one v8 explorer owner to another.
Sarah so far is okay, Bump on the head and sore. Small cut behind her ear.
I guess somebody braked in front of her on sheet ice (I verified the ice, it was a skating rink when I got there) she braked and the ass slid out and down into the ditch (4 ft drop to about a foot wide level and another 2 foot back up to the field) clipping a sign and I guess she rolled three times according to witnesses, but looking at the earth and marks I think it was twice. It was a two post adopt a highway sign that acted as a ramp. Broke it in half. Landed about 50 yds out into a corn field. Pics are as it was when landed. Seems only body damage, I climbed in and fired it up and sounded good, no fluids underneath and dropped it in 4lo and drove that bitch out of the field up the ditch and to the road. I would of drove it home if the cops wouldn't of been on site. Pass Back door still works and has glass, and rear hatch is undamaged, and drivers rear side glass still there as well.
Seems the impacts were only to both "a" pillars and thinking the sign did the LF damage. Really no other impact points to the body, bunch of corn stalks and mud backed into the beads of the tires but all 4 were still inflated. Bags weren't deployed as the sensors weren't damaged.
Thinking I may do a body swap. Found a couple other 98's with bad 4.0L sohc for cheap and good bodies. Reading about doing motor swaps I think I can get the body swapped in a few hrs with the use of a hoist.
Faired pretty damn good in my opinion, walking away with the min. injuries she suffered and considering her Explorer has a 2" Body Lift. Body still appears square to the frame and all mounts intact.
Yeah she was lucky. The drivers "b" pillar is touching her seat, not pushing on it but touching. She took a decent blow to behind her left ear, guessing thats what did it. Was also lucky when the "a" pillars hit they ended up pushing up on the roof creating that point upward vs downward.
If you drive by, and the green explorer is thier, stop and have a beer :beer: I am always well stocked :sonicjay:.
And a transmission, radiator, leaf springs, scrap converters, and whatever else I can sell to recoup $ as the wife isn't paying for anything towards fixing it and every penny spent is pennies spent out of the buggy budget :whiz:.
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
Great Lakes 4x4. The largest offroad forum in the Midwest
4.2M posts
30.9K members
Since 2005
A forum community dedicated to Great Lakes 4X4 owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about performance, trails, tires, modifications, classifieds, troubleshooting, maintenance, and more!