Body Swap (or My Explorer is Rotted to $#!T, Help Me!)

[rewind1]

I have been driving my 2003 Eddie Bauer for the past 4 years. I have been pretty happy with it until recently. I let a lot of issues build up and became very frustrated with all of them (I will detail these issues later).

I was considering getting something else, but I changed my mind and decided I was going to give the Eddie some well deserved TLC. Since I can't afford something new, I thought the devil I knew would be better than the devil I didn't know. Then came the shocker, the realization of just how bad the rot and rust under my truck was.

I had considered replacing the rockers myself but once I got a better look found out that there was nothing to even weld to. The estimate that I got from a body shop was $2,700. At this point I didn't have a clue what to do. If that was the only problem, I might have spent the money and just got it done. But with the other things I need to take care of I couldn't convince myself it was worth it.

In desperation I had a bright idea to find a parts truck (don't ask for what parts, i was desperate). I searched c's list for "explorer", sorted lowest to highest, and stopped at the first 3rd Gen I could find. A 2002 XLT for $600. The listing said "Needs Transmission" but was a month old so I thought it had to be gone already. Nope, I got lucky!

I picked it up with my dad yesterday. The previous owner said it would not move under its own power so I was expecting to have to hand winch it onto our trailer. Nope, I got lucky again!

It moved, in Drive and Reverse! Once we got it back I gave it a test run up a couple of large hills near our house in forward and reverse, no problem. I have not had the chance to get it out of 1st gear though, so 2-5 may be its failing point. I will be taking it out this weekend for further testing. So far the only issue I see related to the transmission is that it takes time to engage between P/R/D, and once it engages the engine will almost die and then surge back.

Here they are,

Now, my Eddie has a lot of features that I don't want to give up, namely a V8. Initially I was thinking that I would take the time to swap the 02 body onto my 03. This 02 parts truck was not only going to be used to fix my 03 Eddie but also serve as a parts store for my girlfriends 04 XLS and my sisters 04 XLT Sport. I'll have to see how it does on the road before I make any grand decisions.

I will list out all of the differences and known issues between the two trucks in another post. I'm looking for feedback as to what issues I might encounter doing a body swap, I realize the gauge cluster and PCM need to stay with the motor but what else. Any other suggestions for what to do.

Thanks for listening everyone. I appreciate all the thoughts I can get on this.

 

[rewind1]

02 XLT vs 03 Eddie Bauer

Here will be compiling a list of all features/known issues that each truck has


Both trucks has 210k miles on them.
The Eddie Bauer has the 2V 4.6L V8 which I have only put about 40k on myself and I replaced the timing chains about 25K ago. So i am pretty confident that the motor will hold up.

The XLT has the 4.0L SOHC V6 which are a pain in the @$$ to change the chains on and I'm not sure if it's been done yet so that makes me nervous to daily it. Also, my sister has the same motor in her 04 so I'd like to hold on to that as a backup in case her's dies

They both have tan interior. My Eddie took on water for almost a year due to the front driver sunroof hose being disconnected and the back upper liftgate weatherstip being shrunken/loose. It has a musty smell when it gets warm enough and the carpet is turning light shades of green in some areas, I will be trying to clean this up next week but it may be unsalvageable.

The Eddie has the Dual Zone Climate Control and Premium Sound System with Steering Wheel Controls as well as the Instrument Panel Message Center,Heated Front Seats, Driver Seat Memory and Adjustable Foot Pedals The XLT does not have these features.

The Eddie also has the Class III/IV Tow Package and therefore I presume 3.73LS differential. The XLT has the itty-bitty Class II hitch and I presume the 3.55 diff. I will have to double check these. My Eddie has the rear end whine (had it since i got the truck and it drives me nuts), not sure about the XLT until i get it on the road.

Both Have Moon Roof, 3rd Row Seats, Reverse Sensing System (that isnt working, turns off when put in reverse)


So now the issues:
The only things I know are wrong with the XLT so far is that it has trouble engaging the transmission (unsure of shifting until i road test it) and there is damage from a supposedly low speed collision on the right rear. I am overlooking this damage since it is easily repairable and my rotting Eddie's body needs serious rehab.

The Eddie has been flashing the O/D Off light (TCC stuck code) for a year, seems to drive normally though, I have gotten on it really hard twice in the past year where the motor seemed to just disconnect from the tranny. Also it sounds like a PowerStroke and I am getting 11mpg, I attribute all of this to the Torque Converter and the solenoid. This was one of the things I planned to do regardless of buying the XLT.

There is quite a bit of suspension work to be done on the Eddie, too many parts to list.I have a constant shake that starts at around 55 and gradually gets worse up to 80, its better at 85 than 80 but still there. I think this is the driveshaft but it might be the other front suspension parts.

To be continued...

 

[Reprise]

I vote to keep the XLT for parts for the sister & g/f. One of them will need that engine someday, and if not - you can pretty much make back the $600 by selling it to someone who does.

As for you...you need to get one more used Explorer - a EB with the V8. That gives you a new daily driver and you turn your current Eddie into the parts vehicle. It might cost a little more to do this up front, but less frustration & money saved in the end.

Seems to me you don't want to give up the extra lux goodies in the EB (don't blame you). And you'll have parts for anything that goes bad there.
The problem is that your current vehicle is the rusty one, and it sounds like it's beyond salvaging. No sense swapping body panels onto it, etc. - plus you're dealing with mold from the interior of the current EB.

Also, your front end is bad, as you say - so I'd take the good mechanicals from your current EB and have them ready for a new EB. Anything up to and including the driveline, you've got covered with the old EB. If you drive the new EB for a bit, and decide it's road-worthy, you can always sell off the old (current) one or part it out.

You might have to travel a bit to find one, but I'll bet you could probably find one with a good body, decent interior, and crappy mechanicals (no problem there, based on owners' experiences here, right?). That's the way to go, IMO, since you know how your current vehicle is, mechanically - you'd be fine with it if it weren't rusting out from under you.

That's how I was going to go with my '99, which was beyond salvaging, but a decent runner - but I found an '02 with a great body & suspension, that just needed some mechanical TLC. Since I can fix / replace parts, but I'm not a body / fender man, that's how I roll.

 

[rewind1]

I vote to keep the XLT for parts for the sister & g/f. One of them will need that engine someday, and if not - you can pretty much make back the $600 by selling it to someone who does.

As for you...you need to get one more used Explorer - a EB with the V8. That gives you a new daily driver and you turn your current Eddie into the parts vehicle. It might cost a little more to do this up front, but less frustration & money saved in the end.

I'm not opposed to doing the work to get my desired result, I would just prefer not to do the same major work twice.
The rug might be shot but the rest of my Eddie interior is good. I would swap the XLT body on to my Eddie frame and driveline installing only the gauge cluster as a first stage since that is all I would need to have a running, unrotted vehicle. I would swap the other interior amenities later.

If I found another running V8 explorer without rot, I could just swap my Eddie stuff in. That would prob be the easiest option to get all the goodies in a solid vehicle. But I'm probably looking at $3k and then I would have to wonder about whether or not the timing chains were done or if its leaking somewhere. I know my motor is solid.

If I found another Eddie with a solid interior and exterior for under $1k, likely it would not be running and I would be doing an engine swap anyway which I would think is at least if not more time consuming than the body swap.
Then again someone might come along and tell me I'm out of my mind for thinking of doing the body swap.

I'll have to admit your suggestion is a route I had not considered so I will keep my eye out for any steals on V8s or Eddies until I decide what I'm actually going to do. Either way, I do appreciate all of the input.

 

[Reprise]

No offense meant, and I hope none was taken. Since this is body-on-frame - if you think your frame, etc., isn't rusted out too badly, you might have the right strategy. But I think the wiring, etc will be different if you swap the XLT - take the driver's side door panel, for example.

In the EB, you have the seat memory cluster - and with the XLT, I didn't see a place for that wiring, when I had my door panel off to replace the door switch a few months back.

Unless the XLT has leather, you will likely not have the wiring to hook the heater switches up to... XLTs have manual climate control, for the most part... most don't have the premium sound (subwoofer, etc.) So there'd be some differences besides the gauge cluster (even that would likely be different - the EBs have the 'info center' in the cluster, IIRC. In the center stack, the 4wd controls are on the LH side on the XLT, while the EB has them on the RH side, and the 'info center' buttons are on the LH side.

Then there's the differences between the engine harness, etc, on the 4.0 vs. the 4.6...it's going to be more than just changing out the cluster, I think - ?

I'm sure there are other things - these are things I've taken off the top of my head. And I might not be 100% correct, plus people have put V8's into V6 Explorers - with some work - you can find examples here. But I think you'd have the easiest (?) time finding an EB body (equipped same drivetrain as your current) to swap onto your chassis / driveline.

Good luck, whichever way you decide to go!

 

[rewind1]

Well, i haven't found any other info on completely removing the body. The most I've found is related to body lifts which i do think will prove helpful.

I did find a thread where it was suggested that a body swap is indeed simpler than a V6 to V8 engine swap which was in line with my thinking but no proof or reasoning to support it. The search for relevant info and ideas continues...