against my better judgement...

[alextlo]

before i get started i want to say i know that ford says not to use a plow with the explorers BUT I'm considering putting a plow on my 1st gen. Been doing a lot of reading up and cant seem to find much of what i'm looking for. i've heard the auto trans wont hold up with a plow, but i have a 5 spd. since i'm yet to find a bolt on kit, im thinking about using a western frame originally from an f250, the swapped to a k5 blazer, now going to hack and weld to fit my explorer. i don't see an issue with it being mounted on the front of the truck. my suspension will deff be able to hold the extra weight considering i will be modifying the blade and frame to be as light as possible. My biggest concern is the drivetrain/engine not being up to par. i don't know much about these transmissions at all, but i do have 3.73 gears (which suck with the 5spd trans in 2h and 4h) manual locking hubs, and tire chains for my 33" bfg.
I'm not looking to plow for work, just my 400' driveway. Any advice?

also, on a different topic, I was looking at f250 coil springs and comparing them to the stock explorer ones. they look like they would sit right in the stock mounts, but until i get them side by side, its hard to tell. auto zone sells the Gabriel load-carrier struts that have a coil around them. comes with a lifetime warranty. seems like this would be a nice upgrade to support the added weight. does anyone know about the struts? or have any info on interchangeable parts between f250 suspensions?

 

[Jason94sport]

I'm not looking to plow for work, just my 400' driveway. Any advice?

If a 93 pathfinder can do it, a 1st gen X can. My uncle has the pathfinder & has no problems clearing his driveway.
Keep it in a lower gear & beef up the springs & shocks & you should be fine.

 

[arco777]

Plowing is hard on a vehicle but if you get light snowfall your X may hold up. The drivetrain setup you have is pretty much ideal, but keep in mind that the M5OD trans is not that much tougher than the A4LD and is still a light duty unit. Keeping the transfer case in low range will help.

Don't know about the springs for sure. I do know that MOOG offers a heavy duty replacement set that has worked well for me, for cheap.

 

[Anime]

Light plowing with an Explorer would be fine, Rangers are a common plow vehicle and an Explorer would be even better.

A bolt-on kit for a 93-97 Ranger should work, or you can just hack up the plow frame you have and weld up a custom "bumper" to mount the plow and hydraulics on. You'd probably be best off making something custom since you'd wind up modifying a Ranger kit to deal with the raised height of the suspension anyway.

33's are rather tall for stock 3.73 gears (4.56's are what you want), but low range should give the gusto you need for pushing snow if need be.

F-250 springs might work, but would be much too stiff for driving on the rest of the time. The Gabriel load-carrying shocks are for the rear, not the front. They are made to level out a rear suspension when trailering heavy loads.

 

[AlexSport'00]

33's are rather tall for stock 3.73 gears (4.56's are what you want), but low range should give the gusto you need for pushing snow if need be.

I agree with Anime. I'd be mostly concerned about that size tire. With stock tire and 3.73s I'd say no problem, but the 33"s would want 4.56 to put them back near the stock ratio, if I remember correctly. However the cost of gears and swapping them in might be a little much just for a clean drive way. Just do it LOW AND SLOW, lol and you should be good.

 

[Flip4ford]

Depending on the lift you might male sure you do not break or crack the front lift brackets-- just something to watch out for.