Decisions decisions....1999 sport 4x4 200k

[absentx]

Oh what to do what to do...

I am at a cross roads with my vehicle. My trusty 1999 Explorer sport that I have owned since 2001 when I bought it with just 24,000 miles, is getting old...

The front and rear breaks are both very fresh...changed within the last two years and I work from home so I don't drive it all that much. Front right hub was replaced about 50,000 miles ago. Front Left hub is still original. Ball joints replaced about 75,000 miles ago.

Put a nice new muffler on last year and wow did that make a difference!

So here is my dilemma....

I want a frickin fishing boat bad, and I have kept telling myself, "get a new truck first" then a boat.

Frankly I want a boat worse than a new truck! The problem is, my old explorer just sags sooooo bad in the rear...a boat with any significant weight just would bottom the thing out. Considering something in the 16 to 18 foot range with say a 75 to a 125 horse engine.

My truck mainly now is a vehicle used for mid to long haul vacation situations...say going between 100 and 350 miles from home, usually towing jetskis or kayaks...and now perhaps a much larger boat, so towing weight is obviously a consideration.

I think my fix for the sag in the rear would be new rear suspension or shocks right? My shocks are original all around the truck.

Another issue I am having is with the power locks, especially in the rear hatch...for whatever reason my rear window and hatch are no longer locking when I hit the power lock button.

Just wanted to come on here and think out loud as I type and if anyone wanted to throw me some feedback that would be much appreciated!

Put some money into my 200k explorer and hope I get another 50k out of her, plus buy a boat?? Or buy a new truck first and hopefully get a boat in the next year or two...

 

[vroomzoomboom]

the rear sag is a easy one to fix. either get a set of good used, or get a set of new 4 door leaf springs. the problem with the sports are they only have a "mono" leaf on them (one leaf spring) vs the 4 door trucks that have a actual leaf pack. if you know a small about about trucks, you can do this in your driveway with hand tools in a few hours.

 

[absentx]

Yep, I do all the work on the truck myself...So if I just replace my leaf springs with four door leaf springs I will be in good shape eh? That sounds great.

I can't imagine new shocks all around would hurt either though right?

 

[jaschlum]

You likely need new shocks also. They are extremely easy to do on early gen x's if you have a little mechanical know how. You can even do them without taking the wheels off!!

 

[Chasethexplorer]

New shocks and 4 door leafs make an incredible difference on a sport, if you feel the need you can even throw an add a leaf in there once you get the new leafs on. Stiffened up my truck quite nicely.

 

[absentx]

Well this is excellent...maybe I can take care of all these things this weekend.

I also just overcame what could have been a major hurdle a few months ago. My O/D Off light was flashing...took it to the transmission shop and of course it was showing the torque converter code. The guys swapped out the solenoid and did the transmission service stating that solenoid could be an easy fix, or something truly is going south in the TC, in which case they would have opted not to service the vehicle...haven't seen the light since then and that was over 10,000 miles ago and in trailer pulling situations, so that's good.

Anyone have the issue with the power locks starting to sound slow or like they are struggling? Have to imagine this is causing my rear hatch locking problem.

Also, any chance someone could give me exact specs or part numbers on the new leaf springs that would work?