Building my truck

[SPORTEXPLORE94]

I recently came across a 1994 Ford Explorer Sport, I has a manual trans and 4WD ONLY 43k on it. Just went and picked up some nice tires and im starting to look around for modifications to do on it. I take it through mountain passes and off road trails so i was thinking small lift and intake but I am fairly new at this. Any ideas?

 

[Flip4ford]

small lift is good- Intake/exhaust is ok- there is 1,000,000 different mods on this thread depending on all kinds of factors- Decide what you want the truck to do then search for a mod that makes that happen.

 

[AlexSport'00]

Sas!!!!!!!!!!!!! :d

 

[KJL]

we are in the same boat friend.. i got a 92 4 door 4x4 with a man trans for free (traded an ok running suz. vx800 v-twin, doesnt really work with a new kid that i have to take to the baby sitter 4 days a week) and im going to be using it for hunting... i just had my first kid 6 months ago so money is tight, im not going to be big on the lift or anything, its going to be purpose built. so ill tell you what i plan to do and what ive already done:

fyi i live in central CA and the logging/hunting roads are pretty easy (been up hunting 5 times this season and my 2000 2wd sport went everywhere i wanted to go) and my X will be a daily driver 3/5 days a week.

i am going to go 3 maybe 4 inch lift, most likely from james duff (their kits can be upgraded to a bigger lift by just buying the additional parts for the lift you want, instead of buying a whole new kit.)

i have not decided if i am going to put a body lift on yet in addition to the suspension lift.

i plan on running 31s or 32s but no bigger then 33s.

i have the stock 8.8 open rear so im going to throw an aussie locker in the rear (again dont need an ARB for the trails in the Sierras.)

As for the front im going to run limited slip (from what everyone tells me a full locker in front turns your turning to crap and tight turning is a good thing to have on the narrow fire roads)

i won a Q-industries duel pump air compressor when 4 wheel parts had their grand opening in stockton ca so i just mounted that (i pulled the pass trim panel behind the rear seats and mounted the compressor there, i have real estate where the spare used to be so that is where the 2.5 gal tank i hacked off an all-trades compressor that had blown.)

i have two welders and a flat stock bender that i am going to use to make a roof rack out of (some day funds pending)

at some point i am going to get a hold of a vendor on here that makes good looking bumpers and from what i read he is pretty flexible on what he will customize for your rig.. i dont recall the guys name.. if you search bumpers i think its the longest thread on bumpers. also i have found him on ebay if you search explorer bumper...

me and my family like camping and fishing and whatnot so my X is going to have lots of lights, two on the front bumper for driving, two on the front of the roof rack for trails. two on each side of the roof rack and two in the back... i like having lots of light lmao

i just finished building a custom center console that went around the shifter cause mine didnt come with one..

thats all i can think if right now... lol

 

[01STrunner]

I'd hold off on the intake. They're really expensive but do offer a bump in throttle response and make the exhaust note a tiny bit more desirable, but for keeping the engine cool the stock air box does just fine so if you want to lift the truck first then later down the road put in a CAI its already a decent system.

I 2nd the James Duff lift. Look up a guy named jd4242. He drives an awesome white 4dr and he has JD kits on his and loves them. He'd be a great person to ask about their offerings for the 1st gen.

 

[KJL]

on the intake note, i saw a good write up on polishing your intake(s) and TB. that will help with a little throttle response and acceleration etc... the article is in the 1gen modified section... i dont remember if its a sticky or not but if it isnt it should be. and its the same process for any vehicle.

and if in the future you get an intake the polish job will add to the benefits

 

[01STrunner]

Another way to improve throttle response is a little cheap but it works well. It involves using a zip tie or 2 as spacers on the throttle cable because over time it stretches out.

This thread explains how to do it with a video and it only takes like 10 min.
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=327756