2000 XLT want to rebuild to tow Food Trailer

[Brettman45]

Hello folks,

I own a 2000 XLT with a bad engine and transmission issues. I don't want to rebuild these parts but do want to replace with a larger and better option for each.
I have heard a lot but want to get advice from experts like y'all as to what is possible. I want to tow a food trailer with this truck. It will be part of my build for my trailer as I am building the trailer from scratch. This will be documented and video will be supplied at the end of the build. I expect both builds to be completed by late July 2022. Any advice I can get will be greatly appreciated. Please excuse my ignorance in these matters as I have not dealt with something like this before. My background is a mechanical maintenance engineer/degreed chef, which means I know that I don't know most of it.

 

[CDW6212R]

Welcome, and the time table will be a big issue given today's supply chain economy disaster.

Check and find out what such a food trailer will weigh. If it's under 5000lbs, and you don't need to tow long distances or on steep grades, a stock 302 V8 and transmission from a 99-01 Explorer donor would work fine. But it will need a bigger trans cooler than the stock one, about three times bigger would be good(Super Duty truck trans cooler is best(the long narrow one)). It also may need lower gearing in the differential to help it move, the total weight will tell a lot there.

If you had the money and knew it could work, a late(2017+) 3.7 V6 and its transmission would be better. But that's a never yet attempted swap, I hope to one day. But that's a huge project to go at from scratch, don't do that. It would cost easily $5k and take some fabrication work to make happen, if the engine will fit.

I'd concentrate on finding a good donor Explorer or Mountaineer, the 99-01's would have virtually all of the needed parts. A 96-98 302 engine could be worth finding also just for the longblock if it turns up sooner than a 99-01. But parts from the 99-01 truck are required, so you have to find those anyway.

 

[Brettman45]

CDW6212R thank you for the response! I have considered a 2001 mountaineer V8 engine I had come across in the past. It happens to have cooling issues and the trans is fubar. The 2017 is a good suggestion, but as a build I am doing under a tight budget I don't think that may possible. Trying to mitigate the prices of the trailer are much easier than the XLT would be. Are there swap issues with Mercury in the Eng/trans department? Even if they are larger size? Could I consider a F150 drivetrain from that same year a possible swap?

 

[CDW6212R]

No, the 2nd gen Explorer 302 is a unique combination of front drive accessories to fit extremely close to the radiator. There's only a space there of maybe 3", so you have to have that front dress, which means that balancer, and the PCM operating system. You can buy most of the parts separately on eBay etc, but it is virtually always cheaper to find a whole engine bay and get it all from that. You'll have to have a 99-01 engine harness, which is the easiest to integrate with your current engine bay harness. With the right donor engine etc, it's a fairly easy swap. Use your existing V6 AC condenser and it's mounting bracket, and the V6 radiator should also work if it's the thin one. I'm not sure if the thick one(prior to mid 99) will fit with the V8.

You can use some other 302 engine parts(internal), but the Explorers all had the best heads and intake versus all other 302's except the Cobra 302(same heads and intake(GT40)).

So you can mix and match some things, but the external engine stuff has to be from an Explorer, and certain items must be 99-01(fuel rails and injectors, PCM, cam synch, engine harness, EGR(97.5-01)). Any good Ford SBF guy can do the engine and swap stuff, and knowing these details they can handle all of it.

The 97-01 Mountaineer are identical to the Explorers of the same years, mechanically, size etc. So the 302 from those is the same, and the 4R70W trans is strong enough. The trans will need a few items of maybe $300 for a unit that is decent enough to install without rebuilding. For a trans build, there are about $200 of items that should be done that shops never do, valve body upgrades. Those are for better function and reliability long term. Unless a trans is super low mileage, it can use them well. Look up 4R70W on the Sonnax website, anything listed as a valve body part/kit is among what's needed. They have a few items which overlap(you don't install both), but those are very few. That's all easy to install stuff that a decent mechanic can do, but as I mentioned, trans shops don't in general. They fall back(liability) to all stock conditions, no aftermarket parts, due to tons of old history shift kit issues(typically bad installations by individuals). The VB parts I promote are all upgrades or improvements, not for racing or harsh shifting, Sonnax is great for those.

 

[Mbrooks420]

I’d pick a better vehicle to start with. Even with the V8 you’ll be taxing it. Food trailers are inherently heavy. By today’s standards it’s vastly underpowered and inefficient. I’d get a half ton truck, minimum.

 

[CDW6212R]

Those are viable thoughts. My first question was the weight, if it is very heavy, a bigger vehicle would likely work much better. These are 4500lbs trucks, but serious towing vehicles are a lot heavier and have more serious transmissions etc.