"Red Bull"

congrads dan

 

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Thank you all. I can hardly wait to try out this truck on some basic trails. After running the truck for two weeks I have found the gas mileage to be a full 4 mpg better than the dodge. My $20 in the tank goes so much farther now and with the pep of this SOHC I don't even miss the two extra cylinders. I am also loving the digital HVAC and limited wheel controls. I have never had a vehicle with these many gadgets. I think I'm getting spoiled. I also must admit it's great having electric windows, locks, and mirrors again.

 

Congrats on getting the truck. Its a very nice looking ex, lots of little touches that make it look great. I'm jealous of your steering wheel controls. How many MPG does it get? I haven't noticed much of a change running 265s as far as MPGs. You think its "peppy" now? Mine is noticeably more sluggish with 265s, more so on hills than when I had stock tire, and I have 4.10s; but the 265s look so much better.

 

By my estimates around 15mpg mixed highway and in town. I am a little biased toward the explorer's peppyness due to the fact I moved from a 2 1/2 ton truck with a 230hp v8 to a 2 ton suv with a 210 hp v6. I was also running 265's on the Ram with 3.55 gearing.

 

This is true. Those dodges are not notorious for being quick or fuel efficient, but they sure do run forever. Last tank I calculated was about 18mpg on a long hilly drive with lots of hard driving. Not sure if the gas pump didn't top the tank back off or if I actually got that good of gas mileage. I don't notice being at the pump any more often. I'm afraid to calculate it again. I'd rather pretend it gets good mileage:. Most people dislike the SOHC. If you throw the timing chain issue out the window its not a bad engine. Plenty of power and fair MPG.

Hope you have some fun with the ex. I'd be afraid of 4 wheeling with a new paint job. Get a few good coats of wax on there. You would be surprised how well that protects against brush scratches.

 

Thanks Rick!

Vince, I plan to 4wheel very carefully. However, I'm afraid that statement is going to prove to be an oxymoron.

I will take your ideas about waxing though. I not much of a paint and body man. But I'm sure Joe Dirt can give me some tips.

 

Since now you have super nice parts chaser and tow rig...

Maybe a few years down the road you could start building a real Off Road rig (not the X) with no worries of inspections, tags and NO worries of having to get it running again ASAP to get your morning coffee ha ha.

 

I do like the SOHC. It can make the extra power since the OHC allows the engine to make the power at the higher speeds. I often shift gears at 5krpm I think its a good sounding engine too, at least in a 3rd gen, never really listened to one in a 2nd gen before.

 

Are you going to do the cable tie trick on the throttle cable?

 

There are lots of little things I want to do to it, and the throttle cable mod is one of them. Thanks for reminding me. I think this time though I am going to do it at the throttle body instead of on the accelerator, like I did on the Ram. I have tons of ideas on things want to do to it, like HID's, a front skid plate from jamescal, and a torsion twist with Warrior shackles. Just some things to add to my Christmas list.

On a full tank I ran 255 miles, but I had to fill up at an 1/8th of a tank, so I really wasn't able to run it dry like I wanted too. I did feel however that I could have gotten that extra 15 miles to make a true 15 mpg.

 

Run some Sea Foam through it. That way you can scare your neighbors with large amounts of smoke.

 

It is a pretty nice engine. I really have to get used to the power band though. It seems to be around 2k and up while the two OHV engines I used to have started making it a little past 1500 and ended at about 3k.

I am also not really used to revving it up that high. I get scared when I start pushing 3k, but apparently this engine has a decent red line. It also probably doesn't help that the transmissions those last two engines were attached to were far from operating normally. If I revved too high in the Ram the transmission wouldn't shift into second and I would sit there hitting 3k in first. Or in the case of the Explorer, it would slam into second and then the engine would fall on its face. I had to be really gentle on the pedal and accelerate slowly for the transmissions to shift properly and by the time I learned that, I was getting better gas mileage.

 

Seems they all have their little idiosyncrasies. Glad it's working out.

 

Put some time into Red Bull today. I have been putting off doing a few things because A: I didn't have the time and/or B: I didn't have the money. Today was rare in the fact that A>0 and B>0 such that when added together equal C: getting work done.

I started out simply by replacing the driver's side puddle lamp bulb. Did you know Red Bull had puddle lamps? Neither did I till a couple of weeks ago. Its a nice feature, especially if you drop your keys trying to get into your truck at 12 am in the morning. Replacing was simple: just remove the torx head screws, pop the light out the housing, stick the new bulb in and put it back together.

The next job was just as simple. I picked up a pair of tan front floor mats from the jy on Friday. They were in good condition, just dirty, so I did a Joe Dirt maneuver and ran to the nearest self service car wash, hung them up and blasted them clean, front and back. Worked quite well. So today, after letting them dry Friday and Saturday (don't kidd its humid here) I stuck them in Red Bull. Perfect match!

And last but certainly not least, I did a full wax job on Red. Believe you me, I thought it was a waste of time, but the results speak for themselves. I went to the gas station today and got a car wash with a fill up (Buccee's offers a $0.20 off per gallon when you get a car wash with them) so I figured that would do the trick for getting Red Bull clean. After I got home, I got to talking with my brother who is a waxing freak. He washes and hand waxes his Mustang once a month. Anyways, he starts telling me that a hand wax would be better for the paint. Half convinced, I headed to HF to get the proper materials. He advised that I should wash the truck in dish soap to remove the wax the car wash had put on. After washing the truck AGAIN, I toweled it dry, pulled it into the garage, and yelled for my brother to tell me what to do next.



He showed me the ropes, taped a couple pieces, then took off, leaving me holding a rotary polisher in one hand and rubbing compound in the other. So whats a guy to do? I taped off the rest of the important parts and then started getting the compound worked in on the hood.



I had progressed to the fenders before my brother came out again. With a look of disapproval he said I should have waxed the hood first before moving on. How was I to know? Anyways, he showed me how to apply the wax and let it dry before wiping it off.



He left again and I started the tedious process of taping off the rest of the truck. So, it went on, tape a section, buff with polishing compound, wipe clean, apply wax, let dry, and wipe off again. Due to the humidity today, I was wearing out faster than usual and by the time I had the hood, fenders, passenger and driver's sides done, I was worn out. After a dinner break I got back at it and no thanks to the weather I finished around 7:30. I must say though the extra effort was worth it. The truck now has a liquid finish and a near perfect mirror reflection. I should have some daylight pics up tomorrow.

 

Your brother led you in the right direction. I always wash my vehicle in dish soap as well before waxing.

 

Here are the pics I promised. I took these this morning in the school parking lot.







Two up close:

Before


After


You can see a big difference in how the paint reflects the light.

 

That is one great looking Explorer! I've always admired those custom fenders you have on there. KG did great work on them. Send it my way when its time to get rid of it.

 

Only when you can pry the PATs key from my cold dead fingers.

I am really loving this Explorer and I have in mind some nice upgrades to improve on Kris' already excellent work.