5th Gen or previous ones?

[waltchan]

I have also said in the past that many Explorer owners have owned older generation Explorers and quite a few are used to owning their vehicles into high mileage at a reasonable maintenance cost.

Most of the older Ford Explorers people are praising today were built in 1991 to 2001. Ford was able to retain a very-high customer loyalty after 2001 model year because of excellent reliability and durability from 4.0L V6 OHV and 5.0L V8 OHV engines. Then people found out their new 2002-2005 Explorers were big lemons with tons of problems on transmission and SOHC-related engine issues, so they moved on to Toyota or Honda next. Then Explorer sales number collapsed and hasn't recovered since. We are sad to hear this, but this is real news.

People that didn't buy 2002-2005 model years took a chance on Ford, bought 2011-2014, but only to find out the new Explorers don't last as long as the old ones from the 90s (water pump design & leaking carbon monoxide recall issues). The first and second-generation Explorer (1991-2001) with OHV engines were the most-reliable and best Ford could ever built to people, and I know Ford likes to say sorry for you all today. Ford can't improve reliability anymore, because they are anxious to move on to quad-turbo engines next.

Hint: Chevrolet Tahoe are all OHV, this is the only new vehicle you can buy that imitates like 1991-2001 Ford Explorer. Boxy-shape styling too.

 

[Drewmcg]

Most of the older Ford Explorers people are praising today were built in 1991 to 2001. Ford was able to retain a very-high customer loyalty after 2001 model year because of excellent reliability and durability from 4.0L V6 OHV and 5.0L V8 OHV engines. Then people found out their new 2002-2005 Explorers were big lemons with tons of problems on transmission and SOHC-related engine issues, so they moved on to Toyota or Honda next. Then Explorer sales number has collapsed since then. We are sad to hear this, but this is real news.

People that didn't buy 2002-2005 model years took a chance on Ford, bought 2011-2014, but only to find out the new Explorers don't last as long as the old ones from the 90s (water pump design & leaking carbon monoxide recall issues). The first and second-generation Explorer (1991-2001) with OHV engines were the most-reliable and best Ford could ever built to people, and I know Ford likes to say sorry for you all today. Ford can't improve reliability anymore, because they are anxious to move on to quad-turbo engines next.

Hint: Chevrolet Tahoe are all OHV, this is the only new vehicle you can buy that imitates like 1991-2001 Ford Explorer. Boxy-shape styling too.

Whatever you do, please don't buy or restore a second generation Explorer (through 2001) if you plan to drive it over 50 mph. The center of gravity is too high for the narrow track. Ford widened the track 2" and redesigned rear suspension in third gens -- big improvement in safety. I gave my restored 2nd gen to my son who rolled it on highway in Idaho (airlifted to hospital with fractured hip, but survived okay).

I *much* prefer my '02 Explorer -- replaced timing chain cassettes and all -- to the risk of flipping one of the 2nd gens! They (2nd gens) might make good farm vehicles, though!

 

[waltchan]

Whatever you do, please don't buy or restore a second generation Explorer (through 2001) if you plan to drive it over 50 mph. The center of gravity is too high for the narrow track. Ford widened the track 2" and redesigned rear suspension in third gens -- big improvement in safety. I gave my restored 2nd gen to my son who rolled it on highway in Idaho (airlifted to hospital with fractured hip, but survived okay).

I *much* prefer my '02 Explorer -- replaced timing chain cassettes and all -- to the risk of flipping one of the 2nd gens! They (2nd gens) might make good farm vehicles, though!

We already know the pre-2001 Explorers were less-safe, but more-reliable. A trade-off...

 

[imp]

Whatever you do, please don't buy or restore a second generation Explorer (through 2001) if you plan to drive it over 50 mph. The center of gravity is too high for the narrow track. Ford widened the track 2" and redesigned rear suspension in third gens -- big improvement in safety. I gave my restored 2nd gen to my son who rolled it on highway in Idaho (airlifted to hospital with fractured hip, but survived okay).

I *much* prefer my '02 Explorer -- replaced timing chain cassettes and all -- to the risk of flipping one of the 2nd gens! They (2nd gens) might make good farm vehicles, though!

@Drewmcg
You are saying then, that 2nd. gens were inherently unstable, regarding the roll-overs? This caught my eye, as I only read about, and heard about, the roll-overs as they were occurring, but buying an Ex was years away. I bought a '96 in 2004, after seriously looking over it's suspension, front and rear. Rear seemed as perfectly similar to Ford design as I had seen for 40 years previous. Other than the big box above, I saw little design error contributing to probable roll-over.

I contended then, as now, that I can roll any vehicle given freedom to drive it in any way I choose. Then of course came the lawsuits contending Firestone tires were the culprits, improperly molded, when mounted in rear, caused roll-overs. I may be over-reaching here, but I thoroughly liked my '96, until the transmission crapped out, and my '99, with 5-speed manual, but 2WD, misrepresented as 4WD by salesman by 'phone, after driving 200 miles, I bought it anyway, liked the stick a lot, got stuck in snow, sold it in favor of present '04 4X4 4.0 SOHC, 5R55S, a few issues, but very good vehicle. imp

 

[reserved50]

The 2nd Gen Exploders had better suspension in general instead of the twin I beam, but in the V8 models especially if they ordered the towing package. I had a roll bar installed in mine after seeing they had weak A-pillars (windshield frame). The 1st Gen explorers are total garbage, bad transmissions, bad cylinder heads, bad suspension, brakes etc etc, including the roll over issue. In the 2nd Gen after changing the engine to overhead cam quite a few of them needed timing chains and engine removal if the rear chain went bad .

 

[Drewmcg]

It's not just a tire issue on 2d gens, which is a whole 'nother (but related) issue. I'll try to find link and post to the YouTube test video showing lower-speed rollover in 2d gen. Yes, you can roll any vehicle if you try--but that can't justify an unusually prone-to-rollover design. IIRC, some publicly-available discovery from civil lawsuits revealed that Ford engineers recommended widening the stance 2" in the second gen, but were overruled by business types b/c it would delay rollout of the redesign of a hot segment SUV at a time when other manufacturers were cutting into Ford's lead with the hugely successful but aging first gens.

Don't get me wrong--I liked my '97 4wd explorer 4.0 SOHV alot (except for plastic thermostat housing). Plowed through deep snow like a beast. And it was easy to install pneumatic load levelers on the leaf springs and carry my brother's 1979 Triumph 750 around on a carrier. But you never know when some idiot will pull into your lane unexpectedly or you will have a massive tire blowout. At that point you are at the mercy of vehicle's engineering/dynamics.

Ford did a great job fixing this issue in the 3rd gen. I hope to get a 4th gen 4.6l 3 valve someday with the ESC anti-rollover tech for even more peace of mind, but I feel safe in my 3rd gen even without ESC. I can even carry the 750 around on the unassisted coil springs. And the independent rear suspension rides much better.

I'm just happy I fixed the seatbelts on that 2d gen before sending my son and his friend off on that cross country trip through Idaho....

 

[CDW6212R]

Ford has somewhat narrow track widths on most care they make. They seem to like the tires an inch or more inboard from the outer edge of the wheel well. Anti-sway bars are typically under sized for all Fords. Tall profile tires make any vehicle more roll over prone than lower profile tires.

My only thought is that as the owner, you have a whole lot to do with the safety of your vehicle. You can assume the manufacturer is perfect, and the vehicle is as good as it can possibly be. So you drive it as is in bone stock condition, blaming Ford for all problems that happen. That's how most of those roll overs happened, people ran 26psi or less in the tires, which is very unsafe.

I prefer to choose my vehicles based on what I like, and what I can do with the vehicle once I own it. I install better sway bars, lower profile tires, and wider track width wheels if I can. That's consistent with what a lot of people do, with any brand of car etc.

Maybe my 2nd gen trucks are so unsafe, I should cut the rear frame section off, and weld on a 4th gen section. Hmm, an idea I hadn't though of. We'll see, I've got much more important things to do for a long while.