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Foxracin's 1991 Exploder

Real Name: Trevor
Year : 1991
Model: Explorer
State: North Carolina
City: Mount Holly



Just picked up this Exploder last week. Its not in the best of shape but overall its decent. The motor runs great and the body has very few dents and dings.

When I got it the trans was out like every other a4ld. I am a 5 speed guy myself and was planning to convert to 5 speed anyway.

First thing and did is check the fluid in the trans. Nice and red, full, and doesnt smell burnt. Pulled one of the lines at the radiator and fired it up and no fliud. Nothing at all. Pulled the pressure plug in the side of the trans and fired it up to make sure the lines were not stopped up somewhere and still nothing so I knew something wasnt right with the pump.

Got it home and put it on some jack stands and started tearing out the trans.
explorer2.jpg

explorer.jpg


Got the trans out and pulled the torque converter out and found some scaring on the snout. Thats not supposed to be like that. lol
broketrans3.jpg


Pulled the bellhousing off then the pump from the bellhousing and theres the problem. One of the pump gears cracked and spread the teeth apart and locked up and spun on the torque converter.
broketrans.jpg

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Oh well time to throw it in the scrap pile. Dont want to spend the money on it again not even know if the rest of the trans is good and for it to just break again. I figured I could swap in a 5 speed for not much more then fixing the a4ld.

Figured I would mess with the inside a little while I try to find a trans.

Put in a Sony headunit. Ran new speaker wires and used the internal amp after 2 stock amps were not right. Soldered all the connections and ran new speaker wire and its good as new.
explorer7.jpg


Put it in a Midland CB I had laying around.
explorer6.jpg


Overall shot of the interior.
explorer4.jpg


Then I figured I would ride over the the Pull-A-Part to see if I could run across anything. Sure enough ran across a 1992 5 speed Exploder. But somebody already robbed the trans and starter. Figured I would go ahead and get what I could off it. Got the computer, Manual trans wiring harness, pedals, and Master cylinder(when they got the trans they cut the line so it wasnt useable). Still had the flywheel, clutch/pressure plate still on it too but I didnt have the money for it right then.

So I came home and started swapping out some stuff.

Manual trans wiring harness.
explorer9.jpg


Swapped computers and moved it to behind the glove compartment to get it a little higher.
explorer5.jpg


Swapped the pedals. I left the pedal assembly in and just changed out the brake pedal and put the clutch pedal on. It was aggravating but definitely beats pulling the dash out to change the entire assembly.
explorer8.jpg


Went back the next day to Pull-A-Part to get the clutch and flywheel and all that good stuff crawled under it and somebody done took the clutch and pressure plate. So I missed out on that. Went ahead and pulled the flywheel off though. It looked fairly new.
explorer10.jpg


Pile of junk parts I have pulled off so far. lol It keeps getting bigger.
explorer3.jpg


Thats where I am at so far. Need to scrounge up some money to get me a trans and a few other pieces and I should be set.

For now I will probably just do a body lift and coil spacers and shackles for now with some 33's or 34's after I get it on the road.

Then save up for the d44 SAS down the road.

Ill keep this thread updated as I get some more work done.
 



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Hmmm. Wonder what this could be?

IMAG0020.jpg









Here is a better look.

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Really nice stuff. Nice machine work. Hope it works as good as it looks. Probably going to just wait and install it when I do the d44 and 9" swap since driveshafts are going to have to be cut anyway.
 












Double bubble!

Sweet. The rig should walk over stuff easy with your new set up.

Looking forward to seeing the progress here.

I hope so. I think it will help a lot with breaking stuff also. Should be bale to crawl the rocks instead of holding it to the floor to get up them. I think it will help a lot with breaking stuff. We shall see.
 












Well picked up another D44 and a 9" and a set of wheels/tires this past weekend.

The D44 has a new 4.88 gear, new bearings/seals, u joints,new Warn premium hubs, new brake parts, and was supposed to have a lockright. Turned out it didnt have a locker so the guy is supposed to be ordering me a Aussie locker for it today.

The rear 9" has a 4.88 gear in it and I got a lock right for it also. Got a new set of weld on caliper brackets and gm calipers for disc brakes. Just got to find the right rotors for them.

Also got a complete set of black d-window wheels with about a new set of tires on them I can resale.

D44
IMAG0028640x480.jpg


Hubs/wheels
IMAG0029640x480.jpg


New 4.88 gear in the 44
IMAG0027640x480.jpg


9" Center section with 4.88 gears.
IMAG0030640x480.jpg


9" Lockright
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Spider gears
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Spider gears no more. Woot.
IMAG0035640x480.jpg


Brakes for the 9"
IMAG0031640x480.jpg


Getting closer to sas swap time. Stay tuned.
 






ive got a quick question. what belt did you use after you took out your ac pump?
 












Met up with the guy I got the other set of axles from last night to pick up the front locker he bought since there wasnt one like he said. Atleast he was a stand up guy about it and made it good.

Brand new Spartan locker. Looks like a good locker. Will be a lot easier then other to put it in and take it out. Dont have to mess with the aggravating little springs getting the in and also the pins are about twice as big.

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Still saving money to order some parts from duff and various other little odds and ends.
 






Awesome write up and even better explorer. I know where too look for inspiration now.
 






Wow. Been a while since I updated this post. Was almost on the second page. lol

Havent really done anything worth updating to it lately. Still working on collecting parts for the sas and all that good junk. Going to try to do it right the first time.

Was at the junkyard today and found a nice looking set of door panels so I grabbed them. All 4 of mine were trashed.

Also got a 1350 from my buddy for free to use the the doubler.

Door panels
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1350
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1350 rough cut for the doubler
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And the little internal u joint on the front output of a 1350 in case anybody ever wondered about it.
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Other then that havent really done a whole lot lately. Just been driving it everyday and wheeling about every weekend. Cant wait to get the sas and doubler in. Should be a whole new beast.
 






I need some new interior pieces too. Thanks for reminding me.

Can't wait for the SAS either, whens that slated to start? I take it you're gonna be running the same 35s?
 






I need some new interior pieces too. Thanks for reminding me.

Can't wait for the SAS either, whens that slated to start? I take it you're gonna be running the same 35s?

I hope to have it done by the end of the year or at the latest tax time. Depends on how the funds are.

Im going to collect all the parts I need for the sas and doubler and swap it all in at the same time. Hope to get it all done in a weeks time at the most seeing as this is my daily driver. lol
 






Got a 6 planetary gear set and newer style shift fork out of a newer electric 1354 to put in the 1350 doubler case. Its a lot more beefier looking then the 4 gear set planetary.

Going to check my main case also when I go to put it in and see if it has the 6 or 4 set.

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IMAG0079.jpg
 






Well the Sploder has done nothing but gave problems the last week or so.

Went wheeling Saturday and the water pump started leaking out the weep hole. Got it sunk it up pretty good in a mudhole. Did fill up the passenger side inside with water again so I got to try out the herculiner on the floor board. Just pulled the plugs and rinsed it out with a hose. Lot better then the carpet was.

Here is the mud hole. I know for a fact there are 44" ruts in this hole and I was going the hard way trying to get up the little ledge. Would have went the opposite way no problem. Pay attention to the video when its winching out and you can see the clutch start slipping and see it smoking it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgkBrbqbSSQ

Got mud/junk/grit in the clutch keeping it released. Wouldnt grab all the way. Limped it back to the parking area and got a water hose and sprayed it through the inspection hole while pushing the clutch in and out and finally got it all washed out. Back to normal now. I thought for sure I was going to have to put a clutch in it.

Then the idler pulley started raising hell again. Its not even a year old. I know the mud aint good for it. But I fixed it for good this time. Just took it completely off. Didnt really see a need for how it was routed anyway. Belt is still plenty tight enough and plenty of wrap on the alternator. One less thing to worry about.

Got the water pump pulled off today and one bolt had to just break off. Just enough to piss you off. lol

Couldnt get the clutch fan off either. Broke one of the tools trying to get it off. Have another one to go on it anyway since the other fan blades looked like they were about to sling off. So I left it on the pump and had to beat the pump into about 100 pieces with a sledge hammer so I could get the pulley off since it was all I needed. Put all the pieces back in the core box to take back to Oreilly and see what they say. lol

Flushed the radiator and cleaned the fins real good and flushed the engine. Going to try to get the broke bolt out tomorrow and put it all back together and change the thermostat while I got it apart and fill it up with some fresh antifreeze.

On a good note did get a new muffler from Xeek today. Got a Flowmaster 50 series to quieten it down a little bit. Going to try to get it put on Friday night.
 






let us know what they say about that core! bahahahah thats great.....gotta try that some time....
 






Man I wished I knew you could run it without an Ideler pulley last week. I spent 3hrs running to several parts stores looking for one and never found one that looked like it would rush. I finally got one from a junk yard like 10min before they closed luckily so I could make it back to school.

PS: Nice truck one of the first I saw when I came to this site, before I even had an Exploder.
 












Did a little wheeling this weekend. Busted a hub and get it changed and kept on wheeling then the u bolts on one side decided to break which made the pinion angle go straight up and bound up the ujoint and broke the driveshaft.

Got the drive shaft changed but didnt have a spare u bolt so had to use a ratchet strap and limp it back home. Good thing I wasnt but about 15 minutes from home.

IMAG0091.jpg

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Also got the Flowmaster 50 series I got from xeek put on. Like it a lot better. Not nearly as loud.

flowmaster50.jpg
 



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...Got any wheeling pictures of where this happened...:popcorn:

...And what muffler did you have before???
 






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