Announce your New "Elite" Status here...

Helicopter · July 4, 2012

Paid up a few weeks ago. I have a 2000 XLT V6/AWD that I've just put 160k miles on. Just purchased a 2013 Limited V6/AWD. I had to join, like a lot of the others for the wealth of information here, it's saved me a ton of money over the years. Time to pay some back!
Not sure What I'm going to do with the 2K yet. So she'll be on light duty and getting some well deserved rest.

Tbars4 · July 4, 2012

..Welcome to the "Elite".. :salute:

...and very nice job on the avatar..:biggthump

Helicopter · July 4, 2012

Thank you, Sir! Glad to be amongst great company! :salute:

bronchole · July 13, 2012

I just joined the Elite today. I figured that since I am going to be doing a butt load of research on this site owing to the purchase of nssj2's Mountaineer that I should chip in for the cause.

I am no stranger to Explorers, 4x4 fabrication or wheeling. I have a fully built 67 EB (hence bronchole) that I have been wheeling the piss out of for the last decade. Befor that I ran a 1985 Bronco in to the ground.

Latley I have been missing the creature comforts of the 85 Bronco, but I was not willing to sacrifice the wheeling capability of the 67 Bronco. I have a 96 AWD Explorer and started thinking of what it would take to make it my daily wheeler. Researching SAS and such for it I ran across the AWSOME deal on nssj2's Mountaineer. My buddy is picking it up for me tomorrow. I'll be flying up to Colorado late August to pick it up, do some local wheeling and head back to Los Angeles on Labor Day weekend.

I'm sure now that I gotta get allot more famillure with all the new stuff that can go wrong (as compared to my basic 67 Bronco) I'll be reading and posting frequently.

See you on the Trails!

Dan

Tbars4 · July 13, 2012

..Welcome to the "Elite".. :salute:

..Looking forward to your "Elite Registry" and be sure to keep an eye open for our "Truckhaven" threads in the offroad planning sub forum..

Naasau · July 13, 2012

Don't forget the colorado colors run. It should be happening around then. We'd love to see ya there too.

bronchole · July 14, 2012

Woohoo! Its on the trailer and heading to my buddys house.

My buddy was pretty impressed with the deal I go t on this. Even his wife wanted to buy it. They are going to enjoy putting some miles on it for me. She is bummed though, she is pretty sure it won't fit in to the parking garage at work

We will be flying in on approximatly Thursday 8/23 and heading homeword bound the following wed-thru. In the interum we will be doing a bit of visiting and wheeling in the CO area. As it gets closer and my friend has had a chance to wring out the bugs I'll start looking in to what is going on there.

I normally do the Truckheaven thing for TDS, but last year the guy who rolled and died was a club member of our so I am not sure how that is going to play out for years to come, have to play it by ear.

I am going to wait to do the regestries (Elite & SAS) until I get it back here and take some good pics of it.

Happy trails.

bronchole · July 14, 2012

Hmmm, I looked around and couldn't find anyting on the "colorado colors" run for this year. allot for other years though. Link please!

Tbars4 · July 14, 2012

..If you start your "Elite Registry" , you can keep all these memories in one place..

RebelRanger · July 23, 2012

Just purchased my first explorer last week, an 03 Sport XLT, so I figured it was time to become Elite as well. I've been creeping around for a while and there's tons of great info on here, so the $20 fee is well worth it for the amount of help and info I'll receive.

Tbars4 · July 23, 2012

...Welcome to the "Elite"... :salute:

..Sad to see your Ranger is gone but glad to see you kept the tradition alive with the Explorer..

adamsbro2 · July 24, 2012

Welcome!

RebelRanger · July 24, 2012

Thanks!
I'll miss the ranger, but it wasn't something I could call a family friendly vehicle so it had to go.

OSUChE · August 6, 2012

It's About Time!!!

...For me to step up to the plate and join!

This site and its' members have been invaluable to me when it comes to figuring out 'Wha-a-a-at The ****?!' and making some improvements to the EX-P!

Special thanks to Turdle and Rick Mars who've both went the extra mile and scratched their heads with me to solve those 'mystery' issues in the past.

:salute:

Now I can post some photos of my 'Arctic Explorer' and insights of my own as well.

Purchased (stole) my '97 AWD LTD 5.0L from a Portland OR dealer w/33k on it in 2000 for $14,500 !!!! I had a close friend who offered me "any car his lot for ACV + $500" then left me in the hands of a new guy for the night (Sunday 9PM, Thanksgiving weekend, pouring rain) I was looking for a Taurus for mom, when this lease return caught my eye! ("Oooppps;" said he the next day!).

Except for some minor scratches on the backrest of the passenger-side seat (small pooch?) it was IMMACULATE! The scratches are still there of course! Along with a few of my own now...

Probably the best 'deal' of my life considering what she's been through and how well she served the family in the years since.

Just a few miles short of 160k right now. She still looks new under the hood and chassis and runs that way too (when she's not throwing me a CEL fit!) Looks great outside and inside too for all the miles.

No road salt in OR/WA but; plenty in BC, YT and AK! I ALWAYS wash the undercarriage at the car wash when its been through that crap! In-fact: I've seen folks scratch their head while on the 'road' when I pull into a coin wash with a nice thick film of CaCl on the truck and spend all my $$ blowin' down the belly, fender wells and inside the bumpers, then drive away with a 'dirty' car! (You don't think I'd touch that CC finish with THAT nasty soft-scrub brush did you!).

Up until three years ago I always took her into the local dealer, Diehl Ford, Bellingham, WA for service, never EVER pinching a penny on maintenance...

Those were better days and I didn't have time to mess with wrenching on it. Of course my favorite service manager (bless his heart) retired about that time too. He went FAR above and beyond the call to keep that air-ride suspension working way past it's expiration date!!! I refused to rip it out. I actually like it when it (seldom...) works!

In the past couple of years I've trailered two rigs from WA/OR up the Alcan to Anchorage with her: A 2000 Nissan Pathfinder and my daughter's '99 Explorer LTD AWD 5.0L; another 'first owner' purchase with 55k IMMACULATE miles.

Both trailers weighed 7500# plus and with the exception of what turned out to be a bad plug wire in the heart of the Yukon (Bran-spanking-new Auto Zone's US made brand - phttttt!), the truck never flinched. NAPA Beldens on there now and they are the BEST wire I've ever seen for the $$. They're on my daughter's rig too now...I insisted! She averaged 10-11 mpg with that load! On the way back, 18! I'm steady, but heavy, footed too!

Did develop the now-infamous tick-tick-tick of the pass-side exhaust manifold on that first trip that became a full-fledged set of open cracks by the time I returned to OR. I posted a link to the photos of that repair a while back. I see the drivers-side is next... (TM headers?)...

Hope to have some photos up soon as well as a few EXPLORE-ation stories of my own. I've been reading a few of yours and ya-know; we all just might happen to own one of the best damn rigs FORD ever designed for Sport-U-Vee-ing!!!

I already knew FORD built the Best Damn trucks ever! (Why do you think I bought this rig?!)

As for me: Mostly a contractor/developer for many years (did I mention FORD trucks?) Then sold (Sales/F&I/Sales Mgr.) FORD/L-M cars/trucks in Seaside OR for a couple of years in late '80's-early 90's. Man! I sold a lot of trucks!

Returned to home-building in '91 (with my then new F-250 4x4!). Decided to get 'smarts' after a back injury in '94 and earned a BS in Chemical Eng at OSU, Corvallis (GO BEAVES!!!)... Worked in pulp and paper (process engineering) for a few before returning to property development and losing my shorts!

Next???? Who knows!

Looking forward to meeting all of you!

Rick

1-MEAN-X · August 6, 2012

I've been "Elite" now for over a year I guess and just never got around to saying anything haha. Sorry about that.

Tbars4 · August 6, 2012

..Welcome to the "Elite" Gentlemen.. :salute:

..If you decide to start your very own "Elite Registry" and would like to have your lengthy and informative post included in it so others can read up on your vehicles story, let me know and we can include it for you..

1-MEAN-X · August 6, 2012

That would be cool, just let me know what I need to do. It's not completely done yet, but will be done enough soon.

Tbars4 · August 6, 2012

..For those who are new to being "Elite" and want to know where to start their "Elite Registry", this is where you can start your Registry..

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=28

..If you are "Elite" and need help with your "Elite Registry" or need help with your Registry just pm one of the Moderators of what you need help with and they will be more than glad to help as soon as they can...:biggthump:

..If I know of any commonly asked questions I will post it, and it's answer, in the first post of this thread to help all the other "Elite Members"... :salute:

OSUChE · August 6, 2012

Personal Elite thread ...

Please do! And, beg pardon if I posted my story in the wrong place ... still trying to figure out this "forum" world. Too old-school I guess!
Thx Tbars4!
Rick

x5h21q2 · August 9, 2012

Newly Elite, will create the registry for both my Explorers soon!

Announce your New "Elite" Status here...

Helicopter

Well-Known Member

Tbars4

Helicopter

Well-Known Member

bronchole

Driveway flexing!

Tbars4

Naasau

Well-Known Member

bronchole

Driveway flexing!

bronchole

Driveway flexing!

Tbars4

RebelRanger

Member

Tbars4

adamsbro2

Bryan

RebelRanger

Member

OSUChE

Arctic Explorer

1-MEAN-X

Well-Known Member

Tbars4

1-MEAN-X

Well-Known Member

Tbars4

OSUChE

Arctic Explorer

x5h21q2

Member

Featured images

Featured images

Similar Threads