4.6L first mods?

[red82gt]

Hello, I've had my XLT for about a year now and I'm pretty happy with it but I'd like to improve the performance a bit. I've just replaced the solenoid packs and have a smooth shifting tranny once again. I have plenty of experience with mustangs so the aftermarket is nothing new to me but I want to know what gives good bang for the buck in an explorer. I brought it to the track last october just to see what it'd do bone stock. After two 16.5's at 82.2mph, it surprised me with a 1st round breakout of 16.177@83.3mph (2.445 60' time)

The major shortcomings of the motor in stock form are likely the airbox, stock exhaust, stock computer programming, and the mechanical clutch fan. Does this sound about right?

Exhaust:
Does anyone make an aftermarket mid-pipe for these trucks? Visually, this looks like it would be the component that makes up the majority of the 20hp difference between the 2v mustang and the explorer. Also, are the JBA headers the only game in town? There are plenty of cat-back exhaust kits out there-so far I'm leaning towards the magnaflow just because I've never had magnaflow anything on my mustang.

Airbox:
So far I've seen the MAC and the K&N kits, any others out there to consider?

Tuners:
Diablo or SCT? Who to go to for programs for these trucks?

Electric fan:
I'll probably find a fan suitable size-wise (Taurus or MKVIII or something) and use a flex-a-lite Variable speed controller.

Pulleys?
Is there an underdrive pulley set available for explorers? Are the pulley sizes different than the 4.6 mustangs? I would imagine that the water pump pulley would be different due to the mechanical fan on the explorer.

These parts should help a bit but what I'd really like is a positive displacement blower. Anyone tried adapting say a Kenne bell 2.2L kit from a mustang to work on an explorer? I do have my doubts about the 5R55W holding the power though.

Anyways, all comments and suggestions appreciated.
Thank you.

 

[rancherlee]

One thing I would SERIOULY not do is install an Electric fan. I was going to install a tranny cooler on my 02' until I started following the tranny lines and found out these ONLY have an external tranny cooler (about 1/3 the size of the radiator between the radiator and the AC condensor with NONE in the radiator. If the electric fan isn't moving then air isn't moving and the tranny isn't getting cooled. You COULD add a switch in the Hot tranny line to kick the fan on at 170*f tranny temp I suppose, but thats alot of monkey buisness for 2-3hp gain if that.

I've tested clutch fans before and if there working properly you won't hardly gain a thing in the 1/4 mile because as soon as you start moving the clutch cools off and starts to freewheel.

Personally I would start with Exhaust (biggest cork), then a Cold-air, followed by SCT

 

[Turdle]

This one is nice

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=163203&highlight=rocket

This guy has lots of mods also

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=158875&highlight=AWDROCKS

 

[red82gt]

Looks like some people here have some pretty quick utes! I could see mine going as far as maybe rocket's truck was when his ran a 13.7 but not much further (nothing like his current plan). Other than that, I've got my 82 mustang GT street car to meet my need for speed (393W, 10.8:1, AFR 205's, Vic Jr intake, proform 750 DP) It should be solidly in the 10's at 125-127mph, if that gets routine, I'll just spray my way faster. If I need more, time to build a dedicated race car.

 

[rocket 5979]

Looks like some people here have some pretty quick utes! I could see mine going as far as maybe rocket's truck was when his ran a 13.7 but not much further (nothing like his current plan). Other than that, I've got my 82 mustang GT street car to meet my need for speed (393W, 10.8:1, AFR 205's, Vic Jr intake, proform 750 DP) It should be solidly in the 10's at 125-127mph, if that gets routine, I'll just spray my way faster. If I need more, time to build a dedicated race car.

There is a lot of things you can do to your Explorer. Myself and AWDROCKS have taken it to the extreme for the 3rd gens.

Pretty much what you said in your previous post was right.

Getting a full exhaust, intake, and tune will put you real close to 300 at the crank. Normally a vehicle doesn't gain this much from just minor bolt-ons but the Explorers were pretty corked up.

If you want to shoot for 13's then I would suggest getting the Allen Superchargers Eaton M90 kit. That and its supporting mods will get you into the 13's no problem.

The 5R55W will hold as long as you don't drive stupid with it. Before I switched to the standalone 4R70W tranny my 5R55W held 400rwhp just fine. Detuned to 360rwhp it wasn't phased at all while running at the track. Shifted great and didn't have any problems. The 5R's are being rebuilt to hold more power than just 400rwhp now too. I would have stuck with it except that I planned to exceed the current built offerings of the 5R's by a few hundred hp.

Heads/cams would be another good one to add to your modlist if you want to afford them.

Good luck.

 

[red82gt]

Biggest thing I have against the Allen kit is the little M90 blower, heck I've seen people adapt them to work on SVT focuses. I figure if you're going to put the coin up, might as well get a blower that'll let you grow if you want to.
I probably would save the $$ and do the blower before heads and cams as the midrange power from the blower is what these things need the most.

rocket 5979-cool truck by the way, I take it you don't have the stock mid pipe anymore? Did you fab up your own system?

Anyways, I'll probably start with the exhaust. I'll get under the truck and come up with a plan. I'd like to see a header with at least 1 5/8" primaries and a bunch more length but I suppose the JBA's are better than stock.

Thanks.

 

[rocket 5979]

Biggest thing I have against the Allen kit is the little M90 blower, heck I've seen people adapt them to work on SVT focuses. I figure if you're going to put the coin up, might as well get a blower that'll let you grow if you want to.
I probably would save the $$ and do the blower before heads and cams as the midrange power from the blower is what these things need the most.

rocket 5979-cool truck by the way, I take it you don't have the stock mid pipe anymore? Did you fab up your own system?

Anyways, I'll probably start with the exhaust. I'll get under the truck and come up with a plan. I'd like to see a header with at least 1 5/8" primaries and a bunch more length but I suppose the JBA's are better than stock.

Thanks.

If all you want is to get to the mid 13's then the M90 will do just fine. There is no reason to waste MUCH more money and a heck of a lot of design and fab time with a Kenne Bell when you will have already met your goal with the Eaton M90 kit from Allen. The Eaton M90 with other supporting mods like haeds, cams annd all that maxxed out will let you hit 12's but that is about it.

The KB blower will give you a lot more room to grow but it will end up costing you much much more. Not only would you have to think about the price of the supercharger itself ($5,000+) but the extras to support it (even in a low boost application). It adds up REAL quick. Even with me doing ALL my planning, design, fabrication, wiring and installation it still costed close to $10k when the first stage supercharger project was all said and done. If you got the money then by all means do it. I do forewarn that the little things add up very quick even when your doing all of the work yourself.

The blower would be a good thing to do first if you eventually plan to go with one anyways. You might find that after you do just the blower that you will be content and leave well enough alone, or you might not. At least it will give you another perspective on things. Of course there will be more repeat work involved in pulling the blower back of to do heads/cams when you get to that point, but it really doesn't

My truck does not have anything stock in the entire drivetrain, except for the heads for now. The exhaust is fully redone. Longtube headers would be nice and all but if you go with a twin screw or roots blower your going to have all that torque back and then some to cover the loss of torque you would encounter from running shorties. The shorties could be better, but they aren't bad.

 

[red82gt]

Sound like it took a fair bit to get the KB to work in an explorer. Too bad the Allen kit didn't at least have an M112 though.

I do know about the little things adding up as I've got a big chunk of change sunk into the mustang already-not a stock part to be found on that car. Oh well, I'll start with the exhaust, cold-air, and tuner-the blower is still a way's off anyways.

 

[KKM]

Airbox:
So far I've seen the MAC and the K&N kits, any others out there to consider?

True-Rev Sport Induction Kit $89.95, 02-03 4.6L Explorer

 

[rocket 5979]

Those KKM intakes seem like a very half-azzed intake system. I know KKM claims of not needing a different tube to gain any more power, which remains to be seen. It just seems that if your going to do an intake you might as well do it right and get something that maximizes performance and also is a complete unit in itself. Heck, you could get a billet MAS adapter for $25 and a $20 filter from Auto Zone, one hoseclamp and 4 small machine-thread screws from Ace Hardware and save $50 if you wanted something just like the KKM pictured for the 02-03.

 

[KKM]

Heck, you could get a billet MAS adapter for $25 and a $20 filter from Auto Zone, one hoseclamp and 4 small machine-thread screws from Ace Hardware and save $50 if you wanted something just like the KKM pictured for the 02-03.

Oh, come on......

You would not even come close to the same type of quality with the parts you have mentioned. Just because everybody and their brother from Beijing to Taiwan offer intake components which can be found at the local auto parts store or the latest online auction does not mean they are all created equal!

We at Kurtz Kustomz Motorsports pride ourselves at offering top quality components and complete kits that are designed to be bolt-on with no modifications to make. All of our MAF adapters are designed and machined to match the MAF housings perfectly, for less turbulence with accurate and dependable output voltage readings. Then all of our air filters are manufactured to ISO 5011 standards by S&B, another very well respected company that provides top quality components, and air filters that you can count on to do the job right.

As a proud Ford only enthusiast and support oriented company since 1997, I can promise that Kurtz Kustomz Motorsports will always be there to help with any technical support issues and will always strive to offer coverage for all Ford vehicles that many companies will pass over. As well, we will always continue to support this Explorer community and give sponsorship to all of the Serious Exploration events that we can in support of our friends and their enthusiasm for this great vehicle.

 

[rocket 5979]

Oh, come on......

You would not even come close to the same type of quality with the parts you have mentioned. Just because everybody and their brother from Beijing to Taiwan offer intake components which can be found at the local auto parts store or the latest online auction does not mean they are all created equal!

I wasn't referring to plastic ricer intake parts. I am referring to billet aluminum MAS adapter. The filter is just a cotton gauze filter, big whoop. And the rest is VERY simple hardware. What KKM offers for $90 for the 02-03 Explorers is a rip off for most people. Like I said, you can get the same quality and performance as the KKM 02-03 Explorer piece but for half the price.

We at Kurtz Kustomz Motorsports pride ourselves at offering top quality components and complete kits that are designed to be bolt-on with no modifications to make. All of our MAF adapters are designed and machined to match the MAF housings perfectly, for less turbulence with accurate and dependable output voltage readings. Then all of our air filters are manufactured to ISO 5011 standards by S&B, another very well respected company that provides top quality components, and air filters that you can count on to do the job right.

All you have to do is order a billet MAS adapter that is the right size for the MAS housing, not rocket science. Not meaning to drop any competitors names, but for making my point I will. I got all my billet MAS housing adapters from JLT for $25 each. As for the filter? Well being that MOST of the filters are made out of the same material then a filter is just that. A filter. Throwing out ISO standard number may fool a lot of people but I hope it doesn't fool anyone in here. A filter has a VERY simple task; filter out debris and particulates and let as much air in as possible. Filter manufacturing is not the rocket science that it is made out to be.

As a proud Ford only enthusiast and support oriented company since 1997, I can promise that Kurtz Kustomz Motorsports will always be there to help with any technical support issues and will always strive to offer coverage for all Ford vehicles that many companies will pass over. As well, we will always continue to support this Explorer community and give sponsorship to all of the Serious Exploration events that we can in support of our friends and their enthusiasm for this great vehicle.

For 99% of most intents and purposes once the intake is on there will be no need of post purchase tech support. It is a filter and a aluminum MAS adapter with simple hardware to connect it all. Not any moving parts. No electronics so nothing really will ever have a chance of going wrong. If the filter gets all messed up over time well big deal. Filters, even reuseable ones, are considered consumable items anyways. So in essence what a person is paying the extra $50 for is post purchase technical support on a solid billet aluminum MAS adapter.

I am not really trying to be too much of a jerk by calling KKM out but ALL of the KKM intakes that I have seen are of a halfazzed design. Yes they are the cheapest on the market I will give them that; but even then your still not getting what your paying for.