safe to jump 94' ex?

[hiridin]

i'm going to be buying a 94 4x4 4dr explorer... its been totaled and needs a front end, except for suspension, my plan is to completely remove the body from the frame and everything else that i can take off and still have it driveable for offroad. put some 5 point harness seats and a full rollcage. with as little tubing as possible but as much as needed to make it safe. now by lightening it up that much should i be able to do some minor and possibly moderate jumping or will i prolly be breaking all kinds of stuff? this will prolly only have 31x10.50's max depending on gears. i will also be doing rockcrawling and mud and whatever i can find. kinda like a big offroad 4x4 dune buggy type thing. so i can do things that i would roll my 98 explorer on or that would trash it out. i offroad it and don't mind scratches and such but do not want body damage on it! such as jumping or dragging along rocks, rolling over so i can play with both but have the 94 to do the crazy stuff will undoubtedly result body damage. it has a PERFECT gray interior and rear body but i'll post all that when the time comes.

 

[chuxstang]

jumping is hard on any vehicle with coild springs. Sometime the spring will pop out of the boot. Most people will tell you to get coilovers if you want to jump it hard.

 

[clarkkent]

hey i've got a torsion bar explorer, with dual shocks and uniballs, i jump it all day long. my suspension is undestructible basically, the explorer frame isnt... your frame is the thing you have to take into consideration. My frame is soo tweaked that i'm pushin about 4 and half degrees negative on my camber now.. be ready to reinforce or box the frame.

 

[hiridin]

it won't get a boxed frame however it will be reinforced to minimize tweaking the frame... the full rollcage will help some and strengthening from the underside will also be done. i jus want to make sure its lighter than stock so it can take that much more abuse before breaking. its only got 107k miles. practically flawless inside and out (except that its wrecked) so its somewhat safe to assume it was taken care of. i pay $100 to $200 max for a good running low mileage 4x4. $300 for a full rollcage. add some seats and i'm ready to go. i have access to all tools needed to complete it. even though i don't need it its jus too good a deal to pass up.

 

[svande8952]

300 for a roll cage????? The tubing alone is 80 bucks for 20 feet of the good stuff.

 

[svande8952]

And a roll cage uses a lot of tubing.

 

[410Fortune]

Oh goodness...

No it's not okay to jump, unless you know what you are getting into.

Go here
www.dezertrangers.com and search around, look at some of the Explorer's on there and on this site that have been built to go off road....

Yes you can jump it, I used to jump mine, I have since rebuilt the entire truck, sshes alot tougher now and you wont catch me jumping hher much, so you decide
There are Explorer's out there that are built for jumping and take quite a beating for sure, but these trucks are built first.

 

[Jason94sport]

Lets get this straight. You want to take the body off the fame for good? You want to ride with just the frame & a roll cage?

 

[hiridin]

i'd be more than happy to pay less but we priced it out seperately and then buying the kit and it came out jus about the same jus that buying it seperately didn't have the bends and all with it. we checked numerous racing catalogs and the metal place around here and other places... for the amount of tubing we would have to buy compared to what came with the kit it was still right around $300 so i dunno'. maybe i should check some more. and ya jus keep the frame and stuff add the rollcage, seats, maybe a lil storage box... have a canvas or sheet metal roof to keep mud off my head. have a some sort of windshield to keep it out of my face. and some sheet metal or something for the floor. the body would jus be extra un needed weight. right? jus make it a tube body. it would give it a lower center of gravity... wouldn't it? jus what my dad said i should do. and i figured sure why not. what would be the downsides to this? and what would be benifits of this? i personally wanted to fix it to drive but $$$ is slim and damage is not. it jus wouldn't be practical for me...so this would be the next best thing. i admitt it would most likely be easier to jus leave the body. so i dunno. what would ya'll do? remember $$$ is little and time is plenty. i want $600 max in the whole thing. less if possible. but i want to be safe when i roll it or slide into a rock. or tree or whatever.

 

[Broccoli1]

Put on a football helmet and FLOOR IT
Sounds like a blast to build.

 

[Coonash]

Scrap the doors and cut off the top behind the back seats. That should open it up a lot, and still keep some strength to the whole thing. As soon as I get the time I'm cuting off the back of mine, but I'm going to make it like a Sport Trac.

 

[Ford_Racing_Guy]

make sure you wear a seatbelt

 

[taknitezX2]

if u jump and you think that something bad happened when u landed, just turn around and jump it higher and faster than the first time.

 

[green meanie]

it sounds like junk yard wars!!who cares if it can take it?it'll take it for a bit,it'll be a blast,then it might be broke,but i'll bet you'll get your money's worth!!

 

[hiridin]

it sounds like junk yard wars!!who cares if it can take it?it'll take it for a bit,it'll be a blast,then it might be broke,but i'll bet you'll get your money's worth!!

thats what my dad said. who cares if it breaks, have fun with it till it does. and then fix it when u can. and i won't jus constantly jump it and jump it and jump it till it beaks. but i will occasionally. i cant jus not jump it at all. so we will see. i have money to buy the explorer and then i can strip it down and all. but as far as money for the rollcage and some good seats and seat belts... don't know how long that'll take. but eventually it'll happen. i got all excited and then sat and actually thought about it and as far as $$$ goes i'm kinda screw'd right now. but i'll figure something out.