ever thought about this?

[mike's explorer]

Off-roaders may not know this but I used to race mustangs and know the best way to get stiffness is the scrape and brush affair. Which is cleaning then welding all the major floor pan seams and you would have a stiff body and let the suspension do its work not the frame. but how would this effect a truck? no more cracks and more of a unibody Jeep situation. Just want some opinions, open to," what the hell is this guy talking about."

 

[Raceit]

Unless you're going at speed like a pre-runner I wouldn't think it won't make too much of a difference. I guess Explorers have a fair amount of body flex. Their bodys are all one peice, unlike a Ranger that has a cab and a seperated bed that allow the them to move and twist as nessasary in different directions. But that one peice design can cause body cracks. Rick's Explorer has developed them, but he lives right next to an ORV area and gets a lot of use out of it. I would imagine that is under extreme and constant use that cracks started on his truck. But on the flip side making a stiff body may decrease that from becoming a problem and help with extreme wheel travel. But I would choose to make the frame stiffer as opposed to the body, if that's possible. Anyways that's my 2 cents.

BTW it's nice to see another local Explorer, I'm located in Olathe. And what kind of Mustangs where you racing?

 

[mike's explorer]

mustangs

I had a fully modified 93 svt cobra that was a svo base block with vortech and fabricated wishbone front suspension, plus tremec 5-speed and fabricated three link rear. Then there was the drag race 89' gt that featured a R302 race block and 17lb procharger supercharger with a little bit of nitrous.

 

[briantf]

Explorers have a flexy frame and a stiff body

My understanding is that part of the creak/groan cause is the body of the Explorer being so stiff. The frame is a flexible flier, just like my Ranger. The body of the Explorer is basically reinforcing the frame, which puts a lot of stress on it.

I had subframe connectors welded on to my 67 Barracuda, and it made a noticeable difference. However, that was a unibody with subframes, not a body-on-frame like the Explorer.

If you read up on the new Explorer, one of the things they aimed for was an extremely stiff frame to go with the stiff body. The frame is now unique to the Explorer, not a Ranger frame. The suspension is all independent, which is potentially a problem, but it will be able to work optimally with a firm foundation like that.

Best,
Brian