1995 Explorer Summer Project

[spinnn]

Hearing that you take care of things this way is so refreshing. I did basically the same with mine; a few things I did discover though. If it's an XLT chance it came with Towing Package so may already have an aux trans cooler (nice). Mine did. And white lithium will not last forever, even though I use it for most other things. In the case of a vehicle suspension/chassis I went with marine grease and moly grease, those are more resistant to water and simply evaporating and they won't ruin rubber bushings (unless you've upgraded to polyurethane. very recommended and I was skeptical going into it.)
I will say that as far as new headlights go, I bothered to restore the original main headlight housing and replaced the outer. It meant opening the housings and re-sealing them, so that I could clean and polish the inside of the housing as well as the outside. (They look brand new and were horribly yellowed and faded inside to begin with) The factory plastics tend to be of much greater quality. The results I've achieved have lasted well over 2 years now and the replacement outer lights are starting to fade already... It's a common problem with replacement headlights. They cheap out on the quality of plastic. Mileage may vary though!
I haven't had an opportunity to get my hands on the coil-over monroe shocks -- I did read that rustier trucks can risk the shock blowing the perch off the rear, so worth noting. I don't think OP's explorer is bad enough to even wonder though. How did you like them?? I've been interested in those.
Also worth noting "my" truck is also "our" truck, just like your example, as in she drives it to work and I take care of it the rest of the time lol, of course other than when it's party time and the Explorer gets to Explore and maybe self-clearance some air dams or test the bump stops.. But man I feel all of this... If it were just mine I would probably be less concerned about most things, and not worry or take care of stuff in-advance as much, but since she has to rely on it, it's major for me to look out for all the little stuff just like you're doing and that is SO nice to see!!
+1 to all of the advice you gave.

And actually, we take ours camping all the time. Sometimes stealth camping, for a little rush LOL. Since you said you take it on dirt and here and there.. Well--maybe take it to a camp ground sometime? :] Maybe worth looking into!! They're good "camping SUVs." Especially with a couple small and reversible mods like window screen and rain guard window screens. Not to mention ability to tow a little trailer behind.. It's kind of the best of all worlds, as we all know already haha

I love my trucks (see my list) and to be honest, my favorite trucks thru my life were older, and well taken care of. I get comments all the time, which is awesome!
>camping
My 2-door on 33's (1995) is going to get one of those rooftop fold-out tents for that very reason...it's more my woods rig than the 96 i described above.
I am a great believer in the separation of the "woods rig" from the "street rig"...while one can attempt to strike a balance between streetability and off road capability, I am at the point where I don't want to compromise anymore.
I also have a 2-door on 32" Kenda M/T with a 5 speed, 3.73 LS, and that's the one I drive when I really want to get funky. It has the TT, 2" body lift, manual transfer case, I gutted the interior and anything unnecessary (the vibration dampers, for instance), and cut the sway bars off. I run the TP at 10 psi, so as you can imagine it's not one for pavement LOL
>headlights
I was going to do surgery but the freaking adjuster tabs are broken, the plastic is shattered...UGH...I'm a big believer in factory parts but there wasn't enough left there to even try to repair. I want to pick up a couple of parts trucks soon so am hoping I can get some good lamps on one of them.
>polyurethane
Anything else is a waste of time
>Shox
Some say the coil-overs ride rough, I don't think so... they're a little stiffer on my 2-doors than the 4-door due to the weight difference, but I like them anyway, they feel sporty...and they seem to put the sagging rear end almost exactly back to the height I want it at (slight rake)
>Grease
Lithium for like the insides of the doors, hinges, throttle linkages, door latches, seat tracks, stuff like that. I am the type of lunatic that pulls all the door panels off and lubes all the mechanisms in there, and there's something so nice when the handles and locks and windows move like new.
>xlt
It didn't come with the aux trans cooler...sad... How do you tell if it has the towing package, other than that?

It took a good deal of convincing and some heartache to convince my girl that I could build her a killer yet old, reliable truck, and while it's a work in progress, she gets it now...and she loves when people give her thumbs up and stuff while she drives it around. As for me, I believe that the second gen is the pinnacle of automotive progress--it's a fairly refined yet tough truck--and I feel like everything that came after is too much of a compromise, too laden with unnecessary gadgets and technology. My work truck is a 1 year old F-150 that my employer gives me, and while it's nice, I dont think I would buy one.

 

[spinnn]

I love my trucks (see my list) and to be honest, my favorite trucks thru my life were older, and well taken care of. I get comments all the time, which is awesome!
>camping
My 2-door on 33's (1995) is going to get one of those rooftop fold-out tents for that very reason...it's more my woods rig than the 96 i described above.
I am a great believer in the separation of the "woods rig" from the "street rig"...while one can attempt to strike a balance between streetability and off road capability, I am at the point where I don't want to compromise anymore.
I also have a 2-door on 32" Kenda M/T with a 5 speed, 3.73 LS, and that's the one I drive when I really want to get funky. It has the TT, 2" body lift, manual transfer case, I gutted the interior and anything unnecessary (the vibration dampers, for instance), and cut the sway bars off. I run the TP at 10 psi, so as you can imagine it's not one for pavement LOL
>headlights
I was going to do surgery but the freaking adjuster tabs are broken, the plastic is shattered...UGH...I'm a big believer in factory parts but there wasn't enough left there to even try to repair. I want to pick up a couple of parts trucks soon so am hoping I can get some good lamps on one of them.
>polyurethane
Anything else is a waste of time
>Shox
Some say the coil-overs ride rough, I don't think so... they're a little stiffer on my 2-doors than the 4-door due to the weight difference, but I like them anyway, they feel sporty...and they seem to put the sagging rear end almost exactly back to the height I want it at (slight rake)
>Grease
Lithium for like the insides of the doors, hinges, throttle linkages, door latches, seat tracks, stuff like that. I am the type of lunatic that pulls all the door panels off and lubes all the mechanisms in there, and there's something so nice when the handles and locks and windows move like new.
>xlt
It didn't come with the aux trans cooler...sad... How do you tell if it has the towing package, other than that?

It took a good deal of convincing and some heartache to convince my girl that I could build her a killer yet old, reliable truck, and while it's a work in progress, she gets it now...and she loves when people give her thumbs up and stuff while she drives it around. As for me, I believe that the second gen is the pinnacle of automotive progress--it's a fairly refined yet tough truck--and I feel like everything that came after is too much of a compromise, too laden with unnecessary gadgets and technology. My work truck is a 1 year old F-150 that my employer gives me, and while it's nice, I dont think I would buy one.

***Although a base model Bronco with a stick isn't out of the question

 

[DintDobbs]

@410Fortune Yes and no; that is the company, but I personally use the green stuff, not the black stuff. The black stuff appears to be a rust resistant/retardant, the green stuff advertises itself as "rust converter" and boyo, does it do its thing! The new hubs on my Sport turned from silver to orange within a year, one haphazard spray-bottle splashdown and 24 hours later, and they were gray. Rust completely gone. I sprayed down a spare harmonic balancer that had flash rusted with the green stuff and it turned back black. Don't know who came up with that stuff, but I learned about it from a local body shop.

DO NOT use OSPHO on any part of the car that will be visible, as it is a very strong acid and tends to discolor and deteriorate paint. Ask me how I know.

@Chrisjd10 If you do the OSPHO thing, make absolutely, positively sure that you cover your eyes. Safety glasses are OK, goggles are better. The stuff will eat straight through your skin and a splash in your eyes not immediately treated could have permanent results.

 

[HarryN]

Nice to see another 95 explorer project in motion.

I don't have the expertise that the others on the forum have, but my thread is here in case you are bored:

1995 Explorer XL personal thread

You can’t kill a 91 explorer Or a 95 Or a 96-97 And the 98-01 are pretty tough too especially with the pushrods I mean normal lifespan on these trucks is like 220-300k miles and sometimes we have them with like over 300 and 400k miles!! Talk about getting your monies worth The old bronco ii...

www.explorerforum.com

My single biggest problem so far was the after market alarm system flaking out, so once I removed that it has been a lot better. It would sound off unexpectedly or shut down the ignition system.

Next was the ground straps needed replacement - not a big deal but not complete obvious in some ways.

I drive it around locally but not for longer distance trips - hoping to change that.

To be honest, my biggest challenge is that I need more room like I had in the van or I need to buy a trailer.

 

[Chrisjd10]

Okay, big update. I got a folder full of the service records from a relative. It looks like the truck was rarely driven, as only 1,000 miles were put on it max during a year. It looks like all the oil changes were done every 3,000 miles with conventional oil, 5W-30. Sometimes Lucas oil stabilizer was added. The last oil change was done in 2016, and only 2,000 miles were put on it before it was parked in 2020. I probably shouldn't have tried to start it with such old oil, but thankfully the oil level was good, it didn't smell burnt, and the pressure was good too. I only had it idling for a few minutes and it sounded perfect, no ticking or knocking or anything.
Replaced parts:
New radiator and heater valve = 2004
New front shocks = 2013
New spark plugs = 2014
New PCM = 2014
New fuel filter and fuel pump = 2014
New starter solenoid = 2014
New intake gaskets and thermostat = 2014
New valve cover gaskets = 2015
New belt tensioner = 2015
New exhaust = 2017
New rear brake lines, fittings and fluid = 2019

 

[Mbrooks420]

Old oil is fine. There’s equipment happily running on oil that’s a decade old.