Advice needed - 1995 Explorer woes

[Michael_H]

My '95 Eddie Bauer is in pretty sad shape and I need some advice about what to do. It has 157k miles, needs all new ball joints, probably new shocks, and the transmission needs to be rebuilt. I dropped about $1000 on brake work recently before the trans started to go. Though it runs and drives, I no longer need it as a daily driver, so it is just sitting until I figure out what to do with it. There are a few options as far as I can tell:

1. Sell it for parts (cheapest), I figure it is probably worth about $1000 as is.

2. Fix all the problems, then sell it (don't see how this would make sense money wise).

3. Slowly build it up for off-road fun and towing (I have a '72 Skylark I'm restoring and it would be nice to have a tow vehicle).

This truck has treated me well over the years, both on our family farm back in Missouri and blasting through New England winters, and hauling band equipment to gigs. I don't have a ton of extra cash to throw at this, so the first option seems like the easy way out, but part of me really wants to keep it. What would you do? Any advice is much appreciated.

thanks!
Michael

 

[mcpherson]

Off-road fun vehicle only!

Thats my opinion, but this would require more money to be put in to it which add up and be very expensive. Best of luck on your decision.

 

[mcpherson]

Also, welcome to the forum!

 

[green99_svt]

not sure how handy you are but you could probably fix the ball joints and shocks yourself and have used trans put in the truck for a grand or less. you could sell the truck then for at least 3 grand or keep driving it. remember parts are cheap its labor that makes repairs costly. read some of the how to articles on this site see if you can do some of the repairs youself. the ball joints and shocks can be done in a few hours. and the parts will cost around 300.

i bought my 97 sport for 500 dollars. it needed a tune up, head gaskets, shocks, rear stabalizer links, transfercase clutch and electromagnet. both upper control arms, and rear diff clutch pack. to make the truck fully functional. i did all of the repairs my self for under $1k with brand new ford parts.(slightly discounted through connections) now i have a great truck for very little money.

 

[Michael_H]

Thanks for the input folks. The huge issue for me right now is work space. I don't have a garage to work in. I have a buddy with a garage about an hour away in NH who is super nice about helping me out. I was thinking about doing the ball joints up there soon. I'll save those pages about the ball joint replacement and use them for guidance. This board is a great resource, I love all the how-to threads.

The other BIG thing is the transmission. All the places I've called around here want $3000 to do the work. Does that sound right? I've considered hunting down a low-mile trans. in a junkyard, but then again, my experience with this stuff is minimal (I'm trying to learn though!) and I'd have a hell of time swapping them. Do units come up for sale on the board often? Are there heavy duty upgrade kits for my transmission? If it's going to see off-road use the new trans. should be more robust than the old one right?

If I go the build-up route, what else would people recommend I do? The truck would be used very occasionally for moderate off-road fun and in the winter for street driving (snow only), and as an occasional tow vehicle for my old Buick.

thanks again!