rewind1
Collector of Broken Fords
- Joined
- September 20, 2005
- Messages
- 113
- Reaction score
- 7
- City, State
- New Haven, CT
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 98 Mounty/03 Eddie/02 XLT
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.
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.