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Jack's 1993 Explorer build thread

Heres a quick rundown of my 1993 Ford Explorer Sport

4.0L OHV
A4LD auto trans
4.88s
narrowed hp 44 with spartan lunchbox
8.8 with powertrax no-slip
roughly 6" of overall lift
trans temp guage
rear tube bumper
custom front winch bumper
Rugged Ridge 10.5lb winch
38.5x14.50r15 TSL SXs on DIY TMI beadlocks
internal roll cage
corbeau reclining seats
no glass
dents
scrapes
good times

winter project: extended radius arms with ballistic joints

My 93 2dr was the first vehicle I bought and paid for myself which is one of the reasons I still have it today. The other reason.. do I need to explain? We all know why we have our trucks. I got the vehicle when I was 19 as a daily driver to school and work. This is the oldest picture I can find of the truck, and I already had started putting money into it.

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I wasnt a big fan of the deerprints so I had a set of 5 spoke steelies from an old BII of ours powdercoated black and put on a set of 30x9.50 TA K/Os. Winter was coming and I had had other explorers with auto hubs fail on me when I needed them so off they came and on went a set of Warns. The truck looked great with the wheel/tire combo and the factory black trim, cant find a pic though.

When I got the truck it had 85K miles on the odometer, a few years and 45K miles later the engine finally gave out. The truck sat for a year or so but I couldnt get rid of it. A friend from work helped me get ahold of a 90K mile 4.0L and $600 later (including install and other parts) the truck was back on the road.

Found another good deal through a friend on some 31x10.50 BFG Long Trails mounted on American Racing 15x8 Outlaw IIs...

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But I had a very slight rub at full lock.. so I had to lift it a little, right? RoughCountry leveling springs and Warrior shackles were on it the next week.

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Those springs were stiff.. I took it for an alignment and they said I needed drop brackets before they could align it. Dissappointed I drove home, with horrible camber. Thats when it hit me.. If I need to buy drop brackets I might as well buy a 4" lift, and some shocks, and a pitman arm, and some AALs and get some 4dr leaf packs from the salvage yard and.. well you get the idea.

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As you can see.. everything held together during the first 'test run' of the new suspension.

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I dont drive my 93 every day.. gas is too much for the 50 mile round trip drive to work. That doesnt mean it sits at home though. Ive taken it on a few trips this summer and take it out on the weekends to have some fun.

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I have been a member of this site for some time now and I felt it was time for me to jump up to Elite and make a contribution after all the help, advice, feedback and knowledge I have gained from the other members. It wasnt till I found this site that I thought I would be able to do this kind of work myself, and with everyones help I have. I'll keep this updated as changes are made.

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- Jack
 



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1984 Monte Carlo SS.. not a clone
67K miles
lock-up TH350 was replaced with non lock-up TH350 3spd trans
feedback Quadra-Junk was replaced with older non-feedback style Rochester
need to check block castings to see if motor is original G code 305
true duals from the manifolds back
interior is in great shape minus headliner and drivers seat
no typical G-Body rust/rot on the rear frame, door bottoms, trunk seams, trunk floor
body is in great shape with minor small dings
original color was white.. was repainted poorly some time back, needs a fresh coat
original GM am/fm stereo.. which is great cause I hate hacked up dashes
wiring for the feedback carb was cut and bundled by the AC accumulator so that needs work
replaced the leaking valve cover gaskets or lack there of the first day I had it home

The car needs a little work.. nothing serious, just small things. Plans so far are to get the interior cleaned/finished, clean up the engine bay and dress it up slightly, fresh paint job, and look into a modest set of 16's or 17's. If the income allows for it there are some suspension and steering upgrades I'd like to tackle.

So it looks like the Explorer is on the backburner so to say. Doesnt mean its getting parked for eternity though. I wheeled it hard halloween night and had a blast. But I'm not sure of how much more money I'm going to throw at it. I will prbly wait to re-gear but do need to get the rust situation taken care of before I dont have a truck left!

Thats pretty cool. I always thought those looked pretty neat, even though I'm not much on GMs. So basically a restoration, with slight improvements where budget allows?
 



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Spend the entire day in Gilmer/Burnsville WV with some guys from the Jeep club im in. Wheeled the Explorer pretty hard.. finally had to be winched, twice, and pulled up a hill by another Jeep, then pulled the Jeep behind me up. Lots of steep hill climbs with loose soil, rock obstacles that I needed some winching to help navigate, and negotiations with trees led to an incredible day out on the trails. My co-pilot/spotter didnt get the camera out, we were too busy going 'oh crap' to all the obstacles we came up on. Hopefully some of the other guys got some pics and I'll copy em over.
 






the group heading out
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Rocks are slick..
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Pulling a CJ8 up a hill I just got pulled up myself
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I had to be winched during these shots
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some other shots

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Look at that TTB GO!
 






Nice pictures. What psi did you run in your tires. It makes a night and day difference wheeling on the rocks with my tires at 15 psi and compared to 40 psi on my bfg all terrains
 












Some pics from a club ride yesterday..

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I got tired of hearing people say "if you were locked you would have crawled right through that" so I bought an Aussie locker off of a member on pirate for the rear of the Explorer today.
 






Some pics from a club ride yesterday..

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I got tired of hearing people say "if you were locked you would have crawled right through that" so I bought an Aussie locker off of a member on pirate for the rear of the Explorer today.

Man, talk about a spot of ford in a sea of jeep.
 












...But you represent us well...:biggthump

...And if you have a LS rear end now, you will need to find an open carrier to install your aussie into...;)
 






I have an open rear end.. so the Aussie should go in fine.

I have other problems though.. finally came down hard enough on the front end to crack the diff housing. bummer.
 












My front pumpkin is jb welded been that way for about 2 years now if not a bit longer. Its doin fine. I j ust check it ecery so offten and add to it if I need to.... will be changing out the pumpkin the spring tho. Planning on changing gears out.
 












My friend Josh who built my rear bumper/swingout recently built a front bumper for my Explorer. He built the bumper around the vehicle to give it a clean look. Bumper is made with 1/4" and 3/16" steel plate with 1/2" bar stock for the d-ring mounts that are welding through the bumper and onto the mount that is bolted to the frame. To make a long story short, its sturdy.
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the RuggedRidge 10.5K lb winch I got for christmas is mounted.. will get pics tomorrow
 


















Damn that looks bullet proof! Nice work out on the trails, did you get the aussie installed yet?
 









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Lol well it'd help for the time being.
 






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