Wife's upset cause I wouldn't trade 99 X as clunker!!!

[robertoa1a]

Household, being (house) not hevily financed cars?

 

[Fordnatic]

Mortgaging a car is always a bad idea. I'm on my 5th ford and am DEBT FREE. Fill in the blank. Not many family members understand that, with all due respect. How much do you owe on your ride?

Fix up the house dude! Or think about buying one. In this market you will do well. An $8000 incentive for home buyers aught to get her thinking'

Good deal on a car; no such thing.

Garage; priceless!

Yea, I have a house with a garage....and a payment, unfortunately. But I've only made car payments once in my life-only because I leased my Ranger to the company I worked for and they paid the insurance. The mileage payments more than paid the loan, when I left that job, I sold the Ranger. Not making payments was one of the main reasons I didn't want to do the cash for clunkers deal.

 

[Fordnatic]

175K on the SOHC motor, it's a ticking time bomb, should have taken the CFC and ran.

What???? Am I missing something? Is there some inherent problem with the SOHC?

 

[bcburlette]

What???? Am I missing something? Is there some inherent problem with the SOHC?

COUGH ***timing***COUGH***chain***:

 

[chance942]

My wife drives the X and right now I drive a Geo Prizm. My Prizm is essentially a Toyota Corolla. 1.8l,5 speed and it'll do 120MPH. I will drive it as long as I have to save enough to get my 3/4 ton 4x4 6 speed Cummins. I've never had a really nice car but never had a car payment either.

I long for F/18 thrust and black soot covered ricers in my rearview

 

[t-thom1979]

I am a Ford Technician, I have seen the upper intake gaskets leak on several explorers. They use an o-ring style gasket that overtime they flatten out and don't seal as well. The reason it only appears in the winter is due to air density. You might also want to check the pcv system. The rubber elbows and lines break down over time due to oil and fuel vapors. Do not let some one tell you that the o2 sensors are the cause. I have also never heard of an egr valve cause those codes.

 

[gijoecam]

All I've got to say is thanks to at least one person that didn't trade their 99 Sport in. I just picked one up last week for my 16 year old Son.

I'm a Dodge Man, but have owned a few Fords over the years and I thought the Explorer Sport was good choice for a newly licensed teen.

Sporty, safe and from my research relatively reliable, that is if the transmission doesn't go out.

I got one that's in good shape, it just needs someone to love her. As all can remember, there's fewer things that get more love than you first car.

Blueraven

Just tell her to beware of evasive maneuvers like this one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZICPgRpyWE&feature=related

Believe it or not, the woman that was driving it walked away with nothing more than minor cuts, bumps and bruises. They never caught the nut that caused it.

 

[AJV_XLT]

I wouldn't turn mine in either

I'm glad to see many other like-minded Explorer fans who wouldn't go for that joke of a government program. It is sad so many explorers were euthanized, but hey, more parts for us, right. When car dealers don't trut the government, and they know a thing or two about trust, why should we?

Anyway with 166k on my '99, I have some nagging issues. Same deal as many of you in the winter with check engine light, an rough idle. And after a yard of mulch in the back earlier this summer, now it has the classic explorer saggy rear. Can the leaf springs be fixed or should they be replaced? I also had a mech tell me they couldn't find a vacuum leak, should I have the intake gasket changed anyway?

Thanks.

 

[gijoecam]

Yes, change the lower intake manifold gaskets. If you need a hand, let me know.

Springs, either add shackles or change them out. Search and yee shall find.

 

[robertoa1a]

Sometimes we need to consider where we want to be in ten years.

The car you are driving will be out of the picture. The debt will be with you.
A driving car is not ever really a asset. It gets used up.

 

[meyek91974]

Hey, Cash-For-Clunkers was a great success; just like a hand full of years ago the government allowed banks to give home loans to those who normally wouldn't qualify and couldn't afford it, now that those have lost homes there's a great scheme to get the people who drive clunkers to strap on car payments too...... And if the average rice burner is twenty or twenty-five thousand dollars that's a monthly payment almost equal to some people's rent/mortgage..... I wonder how many people might loose their car in six months cause of loosing a job or 'cause thier broke with all the dang payments in the household?????????? WOW! what a forward thinking freaking government!

What's next? let's bail out the credit cards since the interest is too high and payment's too much?? - People will pay rent, mortgage, or car payment a long time before the credit card is even thought of..... OH WAIT! We're "supposed to" go buy appliances next. Man, how stoooopid!

 

[meyek91974]

Hey AJV XLT, If you have the garage, tools, and time then hit the local junk yard/ "auto salvage" for a Ford F-150 with totaled front end so you can get your hands on some good leaf springs. For about the same cost as Add-A-Leaf you can slam some good steel under the ass end of you Explorer. - That'll hold'er

 

[robertoa1a]

There are political sites out there. This one is based on fixing Fords.

If its broke then fix it. If it aint broke then don't fix it. If it's fixed then don't brake it. If it is broke then don't fix it so no one else can.

 

[AJV_XLT]

Thanks gijoe and meyek for your help. The current shackles have a good deal of rust, but they are not rusted through, so what is the mechanism for the sagging? Do the shackles rotate backward? Do the steel leaf plates just fatigue? Is the F-150 leaf swap or new shackles a driveway type job? Thanks again.

 

[meyek91974]

The "mechanism" for your sagging is that your leaf springs are to maintain a curvature which holds the weight of the vehicle higher and absorbs shock by road bumps; thus your leaf - spring - has lost its strength like any other metal spring after ten plus years. The remedy of this is to replace the spring and/or find a way to get the curvature back. (1) For about $35 at 4wheelparts you can add a leaf to your leaf springs (this is simple). (2) Look at your local junk yard for a good F150 that has been in a head on collision and grab the leaf springs to mount under your EX. This could be as simple as jacking up, pulling bolts then springs, and putting in the "new". (3) leave the weak springs as they are and make up the sagginess by putting a longer shackle...... I gotta go

 

[robertoa1a]

Same problem, resolved $25. It brought the back end up to spec and helped with the right left thing plus added stiffness to the rear. I keep about 300lb weight + towing in the back and it was an issue

 

[meyek91974]

Is this a full leaf or is it something you have wedged between the overload spring and others? Is it only bolted on with two square u-bolts? How much & how serious off roading do you do? At first glance, I would discount them as sketchy and cheap so let me know how they do dragging through brush, mud, and being knocked about. Thanks for this though. I've never seen these. Also, are those the wal-mart $50 Goodyear Wrangler Radial that you have on??? how do you like them? I bought some about a year ago and if it were'nt for being a waiste of $250 I'd have already chucked them for something that grabbs better--Can't beat that cheap price though- I just got what I paid for........

 

[robertoa1a]

Its not really wedged in there Its a helper spring. It cantilevers from the front and pushes the rear of the spring up. I use this vehicle for towing and hauling and they work really well for that. I don't think Its a good off road option though. I would add a leaf or use shackles for off road.

 

[ProjectAviator]

Good for you not going into unneeded debit like others. CFC is the biggest waste of taxpayer money in months. Obama is trying to take the country deeper in debit then ever.

Also CFC is a scam, a 04 V6 Ranger with 70k miles is eligible but a 84 Ranger 4 cyl with over 200K isn't.

Tim

 

[meyek91974]

Hey, that's a great low-cost option for many ppl out there needing some help for the sag in the rear....

As for the Cash-For-Clunker comment; Who typically drives "clunkers"? - Those without money to buy better, or poor people.

So, let's do some quick math:
If your Explorer only gets 15mpg and you drive 300 miles per week you'd spend 20 gallons of gas each, and you trade for a car that gets 25mpg to drive the same 300 miles/week you only need 12 gallons; thus a savings of 8 gallons per week x $2.75 = $22per week or $95 per month.
[ ($22 x 52) / 12 ]

HOWEVER, a Corolla or Camry costs over $16k & $20k each having a car payment just over $300 & $400 per month.

HOW THE H- CAN PEOPLE DRIVING CLUNKERS AFFORD THESE PAYMENTS, LET ASIDE BE STOOOPID ENOUGH TO NOT DO MATH?

So when they cant afford the payments are they going to give back to the bank like people did thier houses?