98 Ex Manual Door arm rests | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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98 Ex Manual Door arm rests

levi3000

New Member
Joined
May 7, 2023
Messages
4
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City, State
Woodland, Washington
Year, Model & Trim Level
98 Explorer XLT
In need of 3 of 4 of the arm rests for the manual doors, havent found a single one in a junkyard for years and havent found any repros or any on ebay...any way too get them or even use other panels?
 



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I have the same issue with my 1st gen manual door pulls. I've been thinking about making them from wood and then covering them with upholstery, or possibly having them 3D printed.
 






What if you just make the insert where the switches go, out of wood or sheetmetal, covered with matching vinyl upholstery material?

Is the vinyl just cracking on the originals? You might be able to just replace the vinyl or a bit of the foam too if the plastic core isn't broken. If it is broken you might be able to put some layers of epoxy and fiberglass cloth down to rebuild it.
 






I’ve owned about 60
Or more gen ii explorers

I had one 1995 with manual windows and locks, they are very rare. I kept the doors off that rig for years until I moved and had to toss them

It was a service vehicle it was ordered in 95 with manual doors for the company. Not many of these were made with manual doors, I mean nobody really wanted manual roll down windows in a 4 door ex…. Very few were made
 






What if you just make the insert where the switches go, out of wood or sheetmetal, covered with matching vinyl upholstery material?

Is the vinyl just cracking on the originals? You might be able to just replace the vinyl or a bit of the foam too if the plastic core isn't broken. If it is broken you might be able to put some layers of epoxy and fiberglass cloth down to rebuild it.
No sadly they break where the screw threads into the arm rest, buddy was in the backseat and hit it with his knee and broke it. Sure could drill it and put a bigger screw in but id rather keep it original if i ever come across another manual window Ex.
 






I’ve owned about 60
Or more gen ii explorers

I had one 1995 with manual windows and locks, they are very rare. I kept the doors off that rig for years until I moved and had to toss them

It was a service vehicle it was ordered in 95 with manual doors for the company. Not many of these were made with manual doors, I mean nobody really wanted manual roll down windows in a 4 door ex…. Very few were made
Wow youve owned alot of these Explorers! I love my 98 just sucks bein all manual cause like you said...the parts are rare. It was difficult even findin a a rebuilt OHV for my 98, rebuilt it once and it started burnin through coolant again after x.. miles so just got a new engine. 220K an countin on the chassis, the M5OD needs rebuilt sometime in the future but it bein a manual you basically cant kill it
 






I have the same issue with my 1st gen manual door pulls. I've been thinking about making them from wood and then covering them with upholstery, or possibly having them 3D printed.
3D printed....never crossed my mind, now im curious if someone could/would 3D print a couple?
 






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