I've only had the Explorer for about 3 months and have been nothing but pleased with it since I bought it.
Thanks for all the suggestions, I will definitely do the majority of them.
Also on a side note. I have also been thinking about installing a cold air intake and possibly getting the exhaust done as well. Any recommendations on a brand or style I should look into?
Greetings fellow Calgarian and welcome to the best Explorer resource anywhere.
You've a actually got more choices with the SOHC V6 on the intake front than I did on my V8. MAC makes the best kit for the money, and if money is not an object, consider K&N or Volant. I had the Volant kit (and a Mac before that) on my old V6 Explorer Sport and adapted it for use on my V8. Consider rigging up your own as well. Lots of creative people out there have made intakes on the site. I think I even have an old air intake tube in my parts bin that was used on the Volant kit that works for the SOHC.
As far as exhaust goes, there are some good shops in town. I really like Minute Muffler over in Forest Lawn (17th Ave and 52nd St SE). Carline up in Marlborough seems highly recommended (Although I haven't used them). I have had good experiences with Carline on Ogden Road and another place near Chinook (sorry, I can't remember their name). Just pick a muffler and get them to install it for you. Consider getting new pipes from the cats back (2.5" is optimal) with or without resonator (depending on how much drone you can tolerate in the cab).
I had a Flowmaster SUV 50 Series in my old Sport. I liked it. I actually scored it at Mopac up on 16th Ave NW for way cheaper than anyone else had it for and had the place near Chinook install it. My current muffler is made by Flo Pro. Not as well known as other brands, but they are a very high quality muffler made up in Red Deer. I was in the US recently and found a muffler shop in Wisconsin that recommends Flo Pro over all the well known US brands (Flowmaster, Magnaflow etc). I got my Flo Pro installed at the Forest Lawn Minute Muffler as above. I like those guys over there. I recently had headers installed during my trip to the US and really like the sound of my exhaust now. Mellow, but aggressive. Sort of a Flo Pro trademark.
If you go exhaust/intake, consider getting custom tuning to tie it all together. I use Hensonperformance.com. James is a site sponsor and a great guy. He's in Alabama, but knows a LOT more about Explorer tuning than anyone locally. Once set up, he can send you tunes via email as your tastes/mods change so don't worry about him being so far away. He is very well regarded on this site.
As far as maintenance goes, consider going synthetic in every space you can. I use Amsoil exclusively and only change the oil once a year (the oil I use is rated to 35,000 miles or one year....I only do about 10,000 km a year). If you're going plugs and/or wires go good old OEM Ford Motorcraft.
Stick around. This site is a killer resource. There are quite a few other Albertans around too.
: im gonna watch this thread...cus when I sell my 92, im doing a full tuneup on my 95, like all the fluids, spark plugs, wires, etc so maybe this will give me more ideas...
