2000waexplorer
Member
- Joined
- May 28, 2003
- Messages
- 31
- Reaction score
- 0
- City, State
- Wenatchee, WA
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 2006 XLT
Ok, I'll say it up front I'm a "dyed in the wool" Jeep fan, but due to life circumstances I had to get rid of my Grand Wagoneer and buy a newer vehicle that got decent mileage etc............. so, here's the lowdown:
1988 Grand Wagoneer: 360 V8, 2bbl carb, Chryco TF727 tranny, Dana 44's front and rear w/3.31 ratio. 30x9.50 tires and 2 inch Add A Leafs all around.
2000 Explorer XLS, 4.0 SOHC, 5 spd auto, 235x75r15 tires, 3.55 gear ratio non L/S.
I had my X off road for the first time today and here are some observations / comparisons.
1. The Jeep has MUCH more wheel travel and clearance, and is VERY hard to bottom out. The X bottoms very easily.
2. Torque on the Jeep max's at about 2500 RPM and on the X it's much higher. ie.. the Jeep rocks at low RPM.
3. The X is much better on road with the 5spd auto and fulie 4.0 sohc, although not a whole lot smoother???
4. X gets much better mileage, although I dont have a difinitive number. The jeep got 14mpg BEST CASE on the highway and about 10 around town. The X is much better.
5. They both seem to have comparable traction off-road, although neither had lockers so it's tough to tell.
6. Although the X is smoother off road, it's not as smooth as I would have thought and it's bareley better than a Grand Wagoneer with solid axels f&r with leaf springs all the way around.
7. And what is with the weird noises I get in low range? It seems to work great but God it sounds terrible.
Anyways nothing scientific here, just an observation, and yes I do like my X and plan on keeping it for a while, just wanted to share my observations.
1988 Grand Wagoneer: 360 V8, 2bbl carb, Chryco TF727 tranny, Dana 44's front and rear w/3.31 ratio. 30x9.50 tires and 2 inch Add A Leafs all around.
2000 Explorer XLS, 4.0 SOHC, 5 spd auto, 235x75r15 tires, 3.55 gear ratio non L/S.
I had my X off road for the first time today and here are some observations / comparisons.
1. The Jeep has MUCH more wheel travel and clearance, and is VERY hard to bottom out. The X bottoms very easily.
2. Torque on the Jeep max's at about 2500 RPM and on the X it's much higher. ie.. the Jeep rocks at low RPM.
3. The X is much better on road with the 5spd auto and fulie 4.0 sohc, although not a whole lot smoother???
4. X gets much better mileage, although I dont have a difinitive number. The jeep got 14mpg BEST CASE on the highway and about 10 around town. The X is much better.
5. They both seem to have comparable traction off-road, although neither had lockers so it's tough to tell.
6. Although the X is smoother off road, it's not as smooth as I would have thought and it's bareley better than a Grand Wagoneer with solid axels f&r with leaf springs all the way around.
7. And what is with the weird noises I get in low range? It seems to work great but God it sounds terrible.
Anyways nothing scientific here, just an observation, and yes I do like my X and plan on keeping it for a while, just wanted to share my observations.
An explorer isn't the best offroad vehicle in its stock form but what is? while you're never going to get as much flex up front as you would with a jeep you can however get alot of travel out of the rear even with stock springs. I assume you had your sway bars on, if to take them off the ride will smooth out alot and you will get alot more wheel travel. You're definantly gonna be betting alot more lowend torque out of a V8, the 4.0 sohc develops its power in a higher RPM range. As for the noises in lowrange theyre probably normal, I get a fair amount of popping and some banging in low range. but that is the case with most vehicles in low range. With some minor modifications the explorer can be made into a compitent offroad vehicle.
