does this truck have a front driveshaft?
I have a 1988 BII 4x4 I have been driving in Colorado winters for 15 years
I have a 96 5.0L AWD explorer that I have been driving in the Colorado winters for 5 years
the 60/40 split of the 5.0L AWD system is NOT 4x4, not even close
4x4 hi puts 50% power up front at all times, this makes the BII amazing in the snow, I can floor it on ice and she will move forward, she may get sideways a bit (read powerslide) but with 4x4 it is control-able for the most part.
the 4x4 will also pull you through a corner that would otherwise result in sideways... instead of locking up the brakes, sometimes the gas pedal will get you back on the road
The explorer 60/40 split is NOT THE SAME, the rear tires are getting most of the power, so the vehicle handles like a rwd truck, if you punch it
using the gas pedal to pull you out of a slide, also will not work, it acts just like a RWD truck, more gas = more problems
Now for nice non aggressive driving in the snow the 60/40 split is great, just dont mash the go pedal, pretend you are driving a rwd pickup, finesse, like there is an egg on your gas pedal you dont want to break.. and you will keep up with other awd's and 4x4's just fine
I think you may want to have a look at your explorer, hopefully driving around with a front d shaft only witht eh AWD truck did not burn up the T case....
After driving my BII for 13 years in Colorado winters I got behind the wheel of a 96 AWD 5.0L I bought for $500...same road I take to work everyday, a little bit of freezing rain on the road, sun going down, and it resulted in this:
I was unaware of the 60/40 split at that time, I was treating it like a 4x4hi vehicle and when I tried to pass a slow vehicle I lost the rear end, got sideways, corrected, corrected again and then BLAMO straight into a conctrete barrier, straight up int eh air and down on its side.....I blame myself for this of course, but I swear if I was in the BII I have made that same move 1000 times without any rear end traction issues
I have since built myself another 96 5.0L explorer, except this time the AWD t case went in the trash.......I converted it to a 4406 manual t case (thanks to this forum) and now I couldnt BE HAPPIER, the 4x4 V8 Explorer is a MONSTER in the snow, jsut reach down, grab the handle and BLAMO a true 50/50 4x4hi
the explorer went from grocery getter to boat launching, trail doing, snow bashing, awesomeness with that conversion, it is a truck now for real, it continues to impress me in the snow, since its about 2000# heavier then my BII the explorer will go anywhere... I have 33" at's on it, open diffs (factory limited slip I am sure is toast 190K miles) and it is A MONSTER in the snow compared to AWD, just FYI
and no 4x4 does not help you stop on ice LOL but lower tire pressure and lots of gas pedal finesse will keep you moving forward