Bought another Explorer-Am I foolish or not?

[hank19-1]

I'm a rural mailcarrier(100 miles-400 stops-5 days a week)and I just bought another Explorer. I have a 95 which I bought with 40,000 miles on it and by the time it had 70,000 miles on it the trans blew along with the A/C comp and both front wheel bearings. Rebuilt the trans($1700)didn't fix the A/C,just put the shorter belt on,and replaced the front wheel bearings at $400 a pop. The Explorer is good for my type of winter driving plus the amount of room for the mail and parcels. The local dealer got a 93 Explorer(1 owner) with 115,000 miles on it and you can tell it was very well taken care of. Called the previous owner and he said it was never used on a gravel road. He's telling the truth cause I could not find any dust. No rust whatsoever. Spare tire never used. Payed $2800 for it. How does the 93 compare to the 95? I know in 95 they changed the Explorer. The 93 handles a little differently,but still pretty good. Any trouble areas I should look for. The 93 came with the optional trans cooler(95 didn't,had to add one)and will change the fluid and filter. What's a good synthetic ATF for the 93? Also would you add the extra trans filter kit? Thanks for the info! John

 

[Positive Vibes]

I have a 165k miles on my '94 with the original tranny. You have the tow package (tranny cooler) which is important. Not sure if the extra cooler will help but a few on this site have installed them. Just flush the fluid when needed and only use OD when driving on flat roads with no load.

 

[MrShorty]

In saying that he never went on gravel roads, did he ever use the 4WD (If 4WD equipped)? In some ways, lack of use can make the 4WD on these unreliable. If it has 4WD, does the 4WD work?

Radius arm bushings (especially the passenger side bushing which is right next to the cat) tend to go out over time.

 

[hank19-1]

4WD was used

Yes he did use the 4WD. Here in Iowa we get our share of snowstorms and he said it helped(4WD) him out numerous times. Had a chance today to knock the wheels off and look at the brakes and the bottom of the engine to checks for leaks. He told me before I bought it that the only leak it had was the drivers side valve cover gasket. That's the only thing that I saw that was leaking. That should be a easy fix. I will also check the radius arm bushings. I would rather fix things before they break. Thanks for that tip. It's appreciated. John