1998 5.0 #mamabearstomper

[fordpickupman]

My bride had a ‘99 4.0 SOHC Explorer when we got married back in ‘03. We sold it back in 2013 to finish paying for a Cummins rebuild in a ‘96 Dually we bought that was blown up.

This winter she was missing her Explorer pretty badly. So I started looking for a 5.0 unit. We ended up with a ‘98 that is almost the same color as my ‘94. The body has a few bumps and the paint is cooked, but the running gear is in really good shape. The PO was a stickler for maintenance and it shows.

 

[fordpickupman]

The front apron had been halfway torn off and screwed back on and the fog lights were burned out, so I removed all of that. But the radiator and trans cooler lines hung down below the frame rails quite a bit and looked pretty vulnerable. So I built a skid plate to protect all of it, and of course added dimpled speed holes and my shop logo.

 

[fordpickupman]

The bars got twisted for a 2” lift up front and I removed the rear sway bar and built some tube shackles for the rear lift. I watched for a couple weeks on CL for some 33” tires for it. I came across a set of 5 all-but-new Falkens mounted on some decent looking wheels. I did have to cut the twisted bumper and slightly trimmed the fenders to clear the tires.

 

[fordpickupman]

These improvements have helped considerably in helping it not feel like a lowered Honda car.

 

[fordpickupman]

The PO installed a short add-a-leaf but put it below the over-load leaf. So, when I go in to fix that I’m going to do away with the factory spring plate and use square ubolts flipped up attached to 1500 GM axle plates to get rid of the low hanging stuff under the axle. I will make new lower shock mounts that weld to the axle tubes. This will give me more droop with the factory length shocks.

I was look at the anti-wrap rods that the 5.0 models had above the spring packs. Has anyone removed these and regretted it?

The PO also gave me a rear hitch that he had never installed. That will be put on when I modify the spare tire area to fit the 33” spare.

 

[BruceExploder]

Nice! I really like the 94 too. I'm also working on a 98

 

[fordpickupman]

Anybody need a set of the factory running boards?

 

[WormsExplorer]

Very good looking EX for both of them.

 

[fordpickupman]

Here’s a shot of the tube shackle installed.

 

[WormsExplorer]

That looks pretty cool.

 

[410Fortune]

Looks awesome! Exploder family.....

Now you should keep your eyes peeled for some 4.10 Gen II diffs (I buy the whole truck), many sports and SOHC explorers had 4.10 and a limited slip in the rear.....really easy upgrade.You can always sell your factory 3.73 rear to compensate. Or just re gear, 4.56 or 4.88, with 33's and 3.73 the 5.0 is pretty doggy
I love the skidplate and shackles! Well done!

 

[fordpickupman]

I just swapped 4.88s into my '94 that is on 35s. It originally came with 3.27s. I drove it for 8 months with the 35s and landspeed record gears. That was worth the money and effort for how I use that rig. Compared to my 4.0 OHV, the 5.0 with 3.73s and 33s doesn't seem doggy at all. lol. It doesn't seem like going from 3.73s to 4.10s would make that much difference? I'm still tempted to axle swap this one. I'm not a fan of the IFS. No locking hubs. High CV angles with the bars cranked. I don't want to do lift brackets.

How do you know when the lift is too much for the CV angles? I cranked the bars enough for a 2" lift, but it seems a bit low in the front still.

Thank you for the compliments on the skid and shackles. Those were fun projects.
It looks like I will end up building a front bumper for it. The factory one took a decent hit on the passenger side at some point in its life and it just looks like crap to me. I want build similar bumpers for it and my '94 that both include winches.

We just got an engine code today, something about the catalytic system doesn't have sufficient flow? I need to look into it more. Is it time to do the exhaust mods...……?