Explorers in Europe

[bobthekatt7]

Hey everybody, I just got to my duty station here on the island of Sicily and it's pretty sweet over here. I missed the discussions and all the good info / advice but I'm back online again, all the way from Italy, with another question.

First off, I would like to say the license plates for Europe in no way, shape, or form were designed to fit a 94 XLT. This place is totally un-American! The roads mostly horrible, gas is almost $9.00 for ONE gallon, and the roads / streets are so narrow, I'm gonna lose a mirror sooner or later and scrape the side of my X! Word of advice to all of my fellow Explorers out there: DO NOT TAKE AN EXPLORER TO EUROPE. My neighbor has a 03 Sport and we talk about the same fears for our rides. My wife got the 1990 Alfa Romeo Spider we bought here.

So my question. Side mirrors. Those little buggers have the motors and all that stuff in them so I'm willing to bet they are purdy expensive. But how hard are they to replace should one get whacked off driving through downtown Catania? How long would it take to fix it? Any other info would be greatly appreciated. With all the off-roaders in here, I'm sure somebody would have had to replace one at some point. :

 

[Rhett]

The mirrors are designed to "give" a little bit--so that if you hit something, it might not destroy the housing...but then again, it will if you hit hard. Solution is generally a replacement housing, but of course in Europe you will have a tough time finding a replacement.

When I as in Europe (Germany) I did not see any Explorers. I did see a Ford Ranger pickup with horns on the front though. I think in England, they sold an Explorer called the "Black Edition", which was a 2nd gen.

That is way cool that you work with EA-6B's. Too bad the A-6E Intruder isn't in service anymore. If the A-6E's were still going, would you know how to work on them? Or are their mechanicals a lot different than a Prowler's?

 

[Anime]

Size mirrors aren't too difficult to replace, though you will have to remove the door panel to get to the attachment parts.

You might want to get some silicone grease and move the side mirrors back and forth through their range of motion, putting a thin film of grease on the moving parts so when the mirror does hit something, it gives even easier.


I saw a stock '95-97 in Germany awhile back, had really strange aftermarket front and rear brushguards.