Lionsteel
New Member
- Joined
- March 7, 2019
- Messages
- 5
- Reaction score
- 0
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 1996 Explorer XLT 5.0 AWD
Firstly I was born a GM guy in a GM family, never been fond of Fords... ( hate me yet?). Long story short, been looking for another vehicle and my Dad calls me about his neighbor's Explorer... I have no idea why the hell hes telling me about this Ford, he worked for Performance Chevrolet for 25 years! I had asked my Dad to keep an eye out for a good deal on a Trailblazer SS.
So it turns out this is worth looking at, its a mid sized Suv with a v8 under the hood and awd.... (trailblazer SSish, but a FORD). Well after hearing that it only had 64k miles and doing a little research on these 5.0s i called him back and asked him what the guy wanted for it.... $1k........ $1k?? as in $1,000?, yes. WTF is wrong with it?
So here's whats up; Dad sent me some pictures, i jumped on a flight 3 days later for almost $300 from Portland to Sacramento (not cheap as i am too impatient to wait a month), Paid him before he could change his mind, and drove it back to Oregon the next day.
So here we are. Explorer now has 65k miles after my return drive home. This rig is in extremely nice condition, everything looks brand new. Seats had covers on them, removed the ugly sheepskins to find PERFECT seats??!? Thanks time capsule guy for preserving them for me. Floor mats, BRAND NEW, sitting under weathertechs, carpet same deal, headliner not a scratch. Brand new tires. etc etc etc.
The problem with this brand new 1996 Explorer you ask? Someone had a Firestone freeway blowout on the passenger side rear. The tire shredded and slapped the quarter panel a bit and bent the rear corner up to the body line. I'm guessing the owners got too scared to drive her much after that.
Ive already taken a few BFH's and dollys to it and got it back into shape. Other than some touch up paint and the chrome trim panel that is missing its fixed.
So Ive been DDing this rig for about 2 months now, (its been snowing on and off here in OR), while I'm not ashamed to admit I will always be a Chevy guy... I'm growing attached to this damn Ford lol.
Its a fun truck but I can't leave my vehicles alone. It's a curse a lot of us share, Ford and Chevy guys alike.
So here I am, I want to know what you Blue Oval guys do to improve upon these lil beasts.
Please feel free to share some ideas / tips with me... (chevy guy hates himself for saying this) : IT'S NOT FOR SALE!
Steel
The black area was folded flat into the wheelwell, that is tire rubber.
work in progress, trim panel will cover what I can't perfect.
So it turns out this is worth looking at, its a mid sized Suv with a v8 under the hood and awd.... (trailblazer SSish, but a FORD). Well after hearing that it only had 64k miles and doing a little research on these 5.0s i called him back and asked him what the guy wanted for it.... $1k........ $1k?? as in $1,000?, yes. WTF is wrong with it?
So here's whats up; Dad sent me some pictures, i jumped on a flight 3 days later for almost $300 from Portland to Sacramento (not cheap as i am too impatient to wait a month), Paid him before he could change his mind, and drove it back to Oregon the next day.
So here we are. Explorer now has 65k miles after my return drive home. This rig is in extremely nice condition, everything looks brand new. Seats had covers on them, removed the ugly sheepskins to find PERFECT seats??!? Thanks time capsule guy for preserving them for me. Floor mats, BRAND NEW, sitting under weathertechs, carpet same deal, headliner not a scratch. Brand new tires. etc etc etc.
The problem with this brand new 1996 Explorer you ask? Someone had a Firestone freeway blowout on the passenger side rear. The tire shredded and slapped the quarter panel a bit and bent the rear corner up to the body line. I'm guessing the owners got too scared to drive her much after that.
Ive already taken a few BFH's and dollys to it and got it back into shape. Other than some touch up paint and the chrome trim panel that is missing its fixed.
So Ive been DDing this rig for about 2 months now, (its been snowing on and off here in OR), while I'm not ashamed to admit I will always be a Chevy guy... I'm growing attached to this damn Ford lol.
Its a fun truck but I can't leave my vehicles alone. It's a curse a lot of us share, Ford and Chevy guys alike.
So here I am, I want to know what you Blue Oval guys do to improve upon these lil beasts.
Please feel free to share some ideas / tips with me... (chevy guy hates himself for saying this) : IT'S NOT FOR SALE!
Steel
The black area was folded flat into the wheelwell, that is tire rubber.
work in progress, trim panel will cover what I can't perfect.
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