Jack's 1993 Explorer build thread

Heres a quick rundown of my 1993 Ford Explorer Sport

4.0L OHV
A4LD auto trans
4.88s
narrowed hp 44 with spartan lunchbox
8.8 with powertrax no-slip
roughly 6" of overall lift
trans temp guage
rear tube bumper
custom front winch bumper
Rugged Ridge 10.5lb winch
38.5x14.50r15 TSL SXs on DIY TMI beadlocks
internal roll cage
corbeau reclining seats
no glass
dents
scrapes
good times

winter project: extended radius arms with ballistic joints

My 93 2dr was the first vehicle I bought and paid for myself which is one of the reasons I still have it today. The other reason.. do I need to explain? We all know why we have our trucks. I got the vehicle when I was 19 as a daily driver to school and work. This is the oldest picture I can find of the truck, and I already had started putting money into it.

I wasnt a big fan of the deerprints so I had a set of 5 spoke steelies from an old BII of ours powdercoated black and put on a set of 30x9.50 TA K/Os. Winter was coming and I had had other explorers with auto hubs fail on me when I needed them so off they came and on went a set of Warns. The truck looked great with the wheel/tire combo and the factory black trim, cant find a pic though.

When I got the truck it had 85K miles on the odometer, a few years and 45K miles later the engine finally gave out. The truck sat for a year or so but I couldnt get rid of it. A friend from work helped me get ahold of a 90K mile 4.0L and $600 later (including install and other parts) the truck was back on the road.

Found another good deal through a friend on some 31x10.50 BFG Long Trails mounted on American Racing 15x8 Outlaw IIs...

But I had a very slight rub at full lock.. so I had to lift it a little, right? RoughCountry leveling springs and Warrior shackles were on it the next week.

Those springs were stiff.. I took it for an alignment and they said I needed drop brackets before they could align it. Dissappointed I drove home, with horrible camber. Thats when it hit me.. If I need to buy drop brackets I might as well buy a 4" lift, and some shocks, and a pitman arm, and some AALs and get some 4dr leaf packs from the salvage yard and.. well you get the idea.

As you can see.. everything held together during the first 'test run' of the new suspension.

I dont drive my 93 every day.. gas is too much for the 50 mile round trip drive to work. That doesnt mean it sits at home though. Ive taken it on a few trips this summer and take it out on the weekends to have some fun.

I have been a member of this site for some time now and I felt it was time for me to jump up to Elite and make a contribution after all the help, advice, feedback and knowledge I have gained from the other members. It wasnt till I found this site that I thought I would be able to do this kind of work myself, and with everyones help I have. I'll keep this updated as changes are made.

- Jack

 

[Four0Sport]

only problem about lowes, and sears for that matter, is I have to drive 20 miles south or 20 miles north to get to one. there use to be a lowes 2 miles from my house but they shut it down and moved it. lame.

 

[Four0Sport]

After paying $17 for a single drill bit this is what I got..

ProComp shock stud adapters bolted to the rear sway bar bracket

I took the bumper off to do some work on it while the truck is getting sliders/rockers. I need to find someone to sandblast it, its looking pretty rough..

 

[Four0Sport]

Picked up a couple things at Sears today.. heres one of them

Also picked up a small rescue shovel but havnt decided where/how to mount it.

 

[Four0Sport]

my crude but effective organizational method...

finally got the bumper blasted, bedlined, and got the d-rings mounted

would have taken more pics but it started raining.. next nice day out I'll get some more pics.

 

[black91EB]

I really like the D-rings. Too bad I'm going to build a custom bumper and incorporate them into the design, or I would do that, cause it looks really sharp. Keep up the good work.

 

[Four0Sport]

thanks..

the stock bumper actually isnt that bad of a bumper. i plan to incorporate a spare tire swingout using the stock bumper. if my friend of a friend ever gets back to us about putting out a couple of them.

 

[black91EB]

how/why did you remove the section where the hitch ball hole is?

 

[91ROKKRAWLER]

where'd you get the d-ring mounts?

 

[Four0Sport]

how/why did you remove the section where the hitch ball hole is?

its bolted to the bottom of the bumper with 6 carriage bolts. If you want a technical answer for why i took it off i guess i could say it will improve my departure/approach angle, but really I just thought it looked better.

where'd you get the d-ring mounts?

from 4wd.com, i got a promotion code for 20% off on another forum

 

[X6StringerX]

Hey Four0, give me a few more days and I should have my Explorer back. We need to lay out a new plan for the meet.

 

[Four0Sport]

Hey Four0, give me a few more days and I should have my Explorer back. We need to lay out a new plan for the meet.

you know what.. i was reading through my messages this morning and read through the ones where we talked about having a meet. we really do need to do that..

fyi I just joined JeepinWV.com, lots of local members, alreayd met a few and got some cheap sandblasting work done on that bumper of mine. they do alot of meet and greets also.

 

[X6StringerX]

Its funny that when we started talking, I had an Explorer, then we kinda planned a meet after I sold it and I was scrambling to buy a vehicle, and now I'm back to almost having the Explorer again, haha. Full circle.


EDIT: Oh yeah, I still have that stuff for you. If I get the X back, I'm keeping the fuel filter though, lol. You can have the rest.

 

[Four0Sport]

awesome, ill take what i can get lol

 

[Four0Sport]

Good new and bad news today. First the bad. I'm pretty sure my trans modulator valve is bad. I have fluid in my vacuum tree, FPR line, and air box lines. Sucks..

Ok, the good news. A friend of mine came in work today, he bought a lifted 88 ranger with a 2.9 and wants to swap in a carb'd V8. Why, idk.. but when he does he is giving me the 2.9 which runs strong but has the typical top end tick. That means I can get my B2 running right again and start on it. I have some plans for the bronco which is why I've kept it around. I need to get the title put in my name.. its still in my sisters for some reason.

 

[rngmStr]

niiiiiiiiiiiiice....................
I'll b subscribing to that build thread

 

[Skydiver]

Nice Ex. I'm impressed.

I'd love to do some of those updates and mods to mine as you have to yours. My Ex is just too far gone to even come close to being practical for that.

I did splurge the other day for a few new suspension parts. The old front coils and shocks are beating the hell out of me. It's my, on the road only, daily driver and primary winter go-getter.


good luck

 

[Willard]

Looks great. I love the d-ring mounts on the stock bumper. Looks sharp.

One thing about removing the hitch plate though, that adds a lot of strength to the middle of the bumper. So I would watch it carefully whenever you use the d-rings to make sure it isn't flexing too much. The hitch plate does something.

 

[Four0Sport]

Looks great. I love the d-ring mounts on the stock bumper. Looks sharp.

One thing about removing the hitch plate though, that adds a lot of strength to the middle of the bumper. So I would watch it carefully whenever you use the d-rings to make sure it isn't flexing too much. The hitch plate does something.

the hitch plate is sitting with a fresh coat of black paint on it. I was thinking about how it braces the bumper last night when I was at a friends house for a bbq. It was boring, and my mind started to wander.. what can i say lol anyway, it might go back on soon.

 

[Four0Sport]

Nice Ex. I'm impressed.

I'd love to do some of those updates and mods to mine as you have to yours. My Ex is just too far gone to even come close to being practical for that.

I did splurge the other day for a few new suspension parts. The old front coils and shocks are beating the hell out of me. It's my, on the road only, daily driver and primary winter go-getter.


good luck

too far gone? have you seen my lack of rocker panels? there is no such thing as too far gone. just takes a litlte more money to get the truck back in reputable shape. this 'budget build' has been 16 months in the process and I'm still not done. rust repair, gears/locker, tires = too much $$ for right now but it will happen eventually.

the best mods I have done have been little ones that no one will ever know or see unless they look really carefully. those have been the most rewarding to me anyway.

 

[Four0Sport]

just a quick update.. thanks to Charlie I have 95-01 mirrors on my 93. The stock ones were so faded and had deep scratches.. the 95+ ones look great on there. Will get some pics when I can.