1993 Explorer XLT, looking for modification ideas

[Exploring XLT]

Hey, I am fairly new to the forum and am looking for suggestions as to what mods I should do to my Explorer, it is my daily driver so it can't be to crazy...

 

[ThiccSportTracBoi01]

2" lift, snorkel, lockers, and get some high profile mud tires for the stock rims, also mattering what state you are in, some good quality spacers might be good to stance it a bit

 

[Exploring XLT]

How do you go about doing a lift? Can you recommend some good spacers?

 

[410Fortune]

Skyjacker sells a nice 1.5" lift for you with new coils and shocks (ebay)
Forget wheel spacers consider some aftermarket wheels with more backspacing instead.
is it an automatic? I suggest some cooling mods first as the OHV 4.0L does not like heat. A large radiator, good aux trans cooler are fist on my list.
Then you can upgrade your front end with some 96-97 ranger knuckles, they use a larger brake rotor with dual piston calipers...better stopping power.

 

[Exploring XLT]

It is an automatic, I've looked at getting a better rad, but couldn't figure which was a good one. Also I am in Canada.

 

[ThiccSportTracBoi01]

Skyjacker sells a nice 1.5" lift for you with new coils and shocks (ebay)
Forget wheel spacers consider some aftermarket wheels with more backspacing instead.
is it an automatic? I suggest some cooling mods first as the OHV 4.0L does not like heat. A large radiator, good aux trans cooler are fist on my list.
Then you can upgrade your front end with some 96-97 ranger knuckles, they use a larger brake rotor with dual piston calipers...better stopping power.

I said spacers because the are cheaper than new rims, and the old rims with large tires will look fine anyways

 

[Maniak]

I'd do an external transmission cooler AND external transmission fluid filter before I did the radiator since keeping the a4ld is much more important than the motor. By that I mean as long as the current radiator can dissipate enough BTUs to keep the engine cool having a bigger radiator isn't going to cool the motor down any more since the thermostat tries to keep ti warm.

Another mod I'd think about is replacing the automatic hubs with manual hubs as the manual hubs are stronger.

Keep in mind, a lift is really only there to make it so you can run bigger tires/wheels. The bigger tires is what gives you overall more clearance and the lift just lets you fit the bigger tire. Without knowing you gear ratio I can't really say how little of an increase you can do with your tires. For example, if you have 3.27:1 gears 30" would be the max I'd go since it'll put extra strain on the transmission.

Since you were already talking about a little lift, look into the f-150 spacers for the front and AAL or new springs for the rear (Add a Leaf is cheaper).. Here's a thread from the how to section about it. F150 Coil Seats Install and Shackles for TTB suspension based platforms

~Mark

 

[Exploring XLT]

The rear axle is a 3.73 stock traction lock axle, I'll look into that. is there a night enough risk of the hubs breaking that I should replace before they do?

 

[jmdirk]

For the hubs, it depends on how crazy you get. Typically they get gummed up and stop working. Or you inadvertently over grease them and they gum up and won't engage. If you're hard on your truck with big tires etc, the manual hubs are stronger though.

For any lift, if you're trying to keep it fairly normal and not go too wild, I'd stick with a coil spring spacers and lift shackles. You could also do a body lift, but then you may have to consider extensions for the steering shaft, bumper lift brackets etc.

Or you can just start cutting with a sawzall

When you're looking for stuff, look for Ranger stuff of the same year. They're equivalent, but there will be more selection than if you look for just Explorer stuff (probably has to do with the whole Firestone/ Explorer debacle)

For suppliers look at 4Wheel Parts as they have a Canadian presence. Summit Racing is pretty good too and they'll quote you proper shipping and customs clearance to Canadian addresses.

Since it looks like you're towing, I'd definitely look at a bigger trans cooler