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Before I Buy.....

Steelerfan83

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Fair Oaks, CA
Hey Guys, Im a member of the F150forum and have done many mods to my truck, but we are looking at adding an Explorer to the family!

The one we are looking at is a 2005 Explorer XLT 4x4 4.0 V6 with 98k miles. If we get it we plan on doing mods to it (and I know you modded guys are very knowledgeable)...so my question is, is there anything specific to look out for on the Explorer before buying? The F150 has their things, so Im sure the Exs have theirs too. Thanks guys!
 



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the 5r55 w/s trans in these trucks are notoriously bad after 75-120k miles. The servo bores will almsot certainly need to be repaired at some point, and no shop will touch them with out doing a full rebuild. That being said, if the truck your looking at has already had the transmission serviced you will be aces. What kind of modding are you going to be doing? speed? trail? sound?. the 4.0 v6 is a great engine, but it needs to be well taken care of, and a lot of attention needs to be paid to the timing chains (i believe it has two? one front and one rear?). But i have always enjoyed my 4.6 v8 explorer over the 3 v6 explorers i have driven. Feel free to ask away bud!
 






I have to say that nothing goes wrong with them more than any other vehicle out on the road...
that being said I'm sure you will love it I love mine I don't know how I would live without it .....
the 2005 should have the s model transmission which is synchronized and much more reliable than the traditional w....
really and truly if you plan to ever go off the road the advance trac with traction control and rsc is by far superior to anything on the road...the brake bias traction control is amazing off road I can a test first hand as well as many other members

my mods list should give you an idea of what you could do...
any specific goals in mind?

take a glance at the front upper ball joints usually they tend to go around then... nothing out of the ordinary the only thing to watch is the trans, but I know if my deep pan and dipstick I saw temps drop 20 degrees
 






FWIW the servo bore thing doesn't have to be a show stopper. If you use the redesigned, o-ringed servos from fordservoboretransmissionfixsolution.com that's a good way to fix the problem without dropping the trans.

I have a set of them for sale btw.
 






The 3rd gens have FIS vs the 1st and 2nd gens that have IFS and a solid in the rear. Not sure if that sways you one way or the other. I can attest to that advancetrac Will's talking about. His Ex handled some steep hill climbs with ease. The explorers in general are really good suv's.
 






Look out for wheel bearings and the plastic on the rear hatch connected to the glass can crack. Also the door ajar sensor likes to act goofy (says the door is open when it isn't. Just gotta clean it and it's fine). Other then that just what they already said about the trans.
 






Thanks guys! We will check all those things out for sure!

Eventually we'd like to do a small body lift (i saw some of the guys on here did a 1.5" lift...need to do more research to see whats recommented), I know on my truck i did a 3" level on the front struts and 1.5" block on the rear...is that something that can be done on the Explorers?

Also bigger tires are a must! Need to fill in that gap :), whats size do you guys recommend on the stock rims?

First things we plan on doing is Nightshading the tails, buying aftermarket black headlights and blacking out the badges,emblems and grille (small easy things to start), also exhaust...I typically go old school with the Flowmasters

Any other mods you guys recommend??
 






Thanks guys! We will check all those things out for sure!

Eventually we'd like to do a small body lift (i saw some of the guys on here did a 1.5" lift...need to do more research to see whats recommented), I know on my truck i did a 3" level on the front struts and 1.5" block on the rear...is that something that can be done on the Explorers?

Also bigger tires are a must! Need to fill in that gap :), whats size do you guys recommend on the stock rims?

First things we plan on doing is Nightshading the tails, buying aftermarket black headlights and blacking out the badges,emblems and grille (small easy things to start), also exhaust...I typically go old school with the Flowmasters

Any other mods you guys recommend??

As far as tire sizes 265/75/16 or 265/70/17 is the biggest that will still allow the spare to be fut back into its storage place under the rear cargo area so I recommend that. Plus you can run that size stock or lifted it looks good either way. Forget about lift blocks for the rear axle, this i a 4 wheel independent suspension so you're looking at strut spacers either in the front only or on all 4 corners. Really though a 1.5" body lift with those size tires i mentioned us the cheapest route and would be sufficient for mild offroading. Start adding strut spacers and you get more ground clearance but also start getting issues with balljoints and things (uniball upper control arms will fix that) so costs start piling up as you lift it more and more.
 






A lotta people report loud drone with FM 40s and super 44s on a 4.0 v6. Just a heads up
 






Ok..now we are having a tough choice. Its between a Beige 2003 Explorer Limited 4x4 V8 with 103k miles or a Silver 2005 Explorer XLT 4x4 with 96k miles. The 2005 would require a bigger down payment and from what im reading they get about the same gas mileage, but we were really looking for a V6. They have both had routine maintenance also. What do you guys think?
 






get the 05. the v8's before 2004 have a nasty habbit of shooting spark plugs out of the cylender heads. And unless you are going for a speed truck the 4.0 v6 is pleanty powerfull for mudding. and has a nice early torque band!
 






get the 05. the v8's before 2004 have a nasty habbit of shooting spark plugs out of the cylender heads. And unless you are going for a speed truck the 4.0 v6 is pleanty powerfull for mudding. and has a nice early torque band!

Spark plugs are only a problem if you horse them up in the first place. I personally would never choose the 4.0L over the 4.6L...more power, performance, and reliability with almost the same mileage.
 






based upon what? ford did a design change in 2004 to all ford modular 2v's (v10 included) because there wasnt enough threading in the aluminum heads, and after 4 or 5 years of metal fatigue you could shoot one just driving around town. The new 2v heads come with a full length threaded brass sleeve and are much stronger. My truck shot 3 in about a years time, and they were propperly torqued and anti-seized. I finally broke down and just put an 05 long-block into my truck to solve the issue.
 






FWIW - I'm partial to the V6. A lot of folks here don't seem to like them, each to their own I guess. This is my 4th explorer (Gen1 and 2-Gen 2's prior) and between the first 3, they had 400K+ miles combined and never an engine issue. Never had any tranny issues either but I'm a stickler on maintenance. It's not a powerhouse but it does the job and mpg's are acceptable at 18mpg combined city/hwy. That's what I'm getting anyway (hand calc'd). Only had my 05 for 2 months and I really like it.

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Ok..now we are having a tough choice. Its between a Beige 2003 Explorer Limited 4x4 V8 with 103k miles or a Silver 2005 Explorer XLT 4x4 with 96k miles. The 2005 would require a bigger down payment and from what im reading they get about the same gas mileage, but we were really looking for a V6. They have both had routine maintenance also. What do you guys think?

check the door for axle codes. get the one with limited slip. i don't make it very far in mud with the 4.0 and open axles. i'm averaging about 15mpg 50/50 highway city lifted on stock size tires. I say for what its worth, get the v8
 






i always go with a v-8 " Theres no replacement for Displacement" is my motto
 






based upon what? ford did a design change in 2004 to all ford modular 2v's (v10 included) because there wasnt enough threading in the aluminum heads, and after 4 or 5 years of metal fatigue you could shoot one just driving around town. The new 2v heads come with a full length threaded brass sleeve and are much stronger. My truck shot 3 in about a years time, and they were propperly torqued and anti-seized. I finally broke down and just put an 05 long-block into my truck to solve the issue.

Zero, the reason you blew the plugs might be because you used anti-seize and possibly ended up over-torquing the plugs. The torque spec is usually dry torque, adding anti-seize to the mix requires a significantly lower torque setting, just sayin'.

OP, go with the v8, you'll with you had down the road. There are a few others that post on here that wish they would have gotten the V8.
 






Just picked up my 4th ex and I'm loving it...This one is an 02 with the 4.0L.
The 4.0L is a great engine and on my last one (99) it worked very well running 35" tires...(see my build post) Yes if you plan to pull a trailer (alot) get the V8.. The 4.6 is a good engine other than the plugs issues... Oh and the issue is not with anti seize it is a lack of threads in the head when you do the inserts fix it wont be a problem.
Cheers...
Oh by the way this one has over 400,000 kms on it and is great... and I paid less then a grand for a fully loaded eddy very nice...

Cheers R...
 






Styx. By chance does that have to do with the band?
 



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Dont get me wrong, i wouldnt trade my v8 for anything. my 4.6l is awesome. I just wanted OP to be aware they have a known issue for shooting spark plugs with high miles.
 






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