Gen IIs still on the road.

[jseabolt]

Did you end up getting the Z? I have one and it balances out very well with owning an SUV.

Yeah I got my wife a 2003 350Z about a year ago which sort of replaced her 2007 Cobalt.

I wanted something to haul and tow with and the 96 Explorer was the only vehicle on this particular dealer's lot that caught my eye and irronically didn't have 120,000 miles on it. And these were like 2005 models!

LTD loaded, Windsor 302 V8 all wheel drive and best of all charcoal gray.

I sort of think I paid too much for it ($5000) but it was exactly what I wanted.

 

[jseabolt]

I cant say around here that most people keep them in good shape, because most around here are beat to hell, and whatnot, but still seems like they run great.

One day there was this women in front of me at the drive thru at McDonalds driving a Gen I and her's was in better shape than mine. Except her window wouldn't roll down.

The three most common ragged out vehicles here in East Tennessee are Honda Accords, Honda Civics and Dodge Neons. All driven by teenagers.

Blue smoke belching out the exhaust, cut springs, rough paint or in primer, no muffler or a fart box, cracked windshield, mismatched painted ground effects (sometimes body primered black and ground effects primered gray), stupid rear spoiler, sometimes missing a hood.

Let's see what else, so low the front of rear bumper is cracked. Big H in the rear window.

Sometimes I wonder if not having to have our cars inspected is a bad idea...

 

[ash98fordexp]

lol ive seen some around here that use duct tape as body filler.. or the ones where the rear ends bounces at every pepple in the road. sence this tread started ive seen more of the 1st gens then the 2nd. there is few 3rd gens also. most of the first and 2nd are rusty around the rockers,tail gate and behind the rear tires. mine has little to noe rust on the rockers and my hatch handle is rotten threw to where it moves but still can open it ..for now

 

[wwrightsc]

I would also have to diasgree about all the 2nd gen's being in good shape. Most of the ones I see around here are all beaten to hell. But I'm in the south and we don't salt the roads down here, so ours cars seldom rust. My 1996 Explorer looks just like the day it rolled out of the Louisville Assembly Plant. I rarely see one that's been kept as nice as mine.

 

[Joe Dirt]

Big H in the rear window.

Is that an H, or the Under Armour logo?

***EDIT*** Made LARGE to give you the effect you love...

I've always laughed at stickers like that... Today I saw a Mugen sticker on a Mustang. Under a TRD sticker. I mean- come on.

 

[jseabolt]

Is that an H, or the Under Armour logo?

***EDIT*** Made LARGE to give you the effect you love...

I've always laughed at stickers like that... Today I saw a Mugen sticker on a Mustang. Under a TRD sticker. I mean- come on.

No, the Honda logo.

I thought about putting a Type R emblem on my Yugo but didn't want to shame it.

 

[joney]

Not really a question but more of an observation.

Ever notice the amount of Gen IIs still on the road in comparison to the new Explorers? There seems to be more older Explorers on the road than new ones. I guess that's just a sign of the times. Gas was $1.00 a gallon back in the 90s. I remember when it dropped to .69 a gallon around 1999.

Despite the 96-98 Explorer being the #1 car traded in for the cash for clunkers program, I still see quite a lot Gen II Explorers still on the road. And most of them are in really good shape. I seldom see one that is ragged out. Maybe people just take better care of these cars.

It doesn't matter what time of the day, where I'm going I always see at least 2 or 3 on my destination.

What's really odd is there have been a few occasions where I've see two or three Gen IIs in a row going down the road at the same time!

I read Ford sold an average of 440,000 Gen IIs per year and in 1996 the Explorer was the #1 selling passenger vehicle sold in the United States.

I also read there were about 80,000 Explorers traded in for the cash for clunker program. So that's really not allot considering they sold.

I mentioned this when I first signed up on the forum but I bought my XLT about 2 weeks off a car lot before the cash for clunkers program. The irronic thing was the car I was trading up from was a 2007 Chevy Cobalt which was the #10 car people were trading up to.

I had bought this car for my wife as a wedding present to drive 80 miles per day to her job. Well she wanted a 350Z so I found a 2003 model and the Cobalt just sat in the garage. It got good gas mileage but that was it. All you could do was haul people in it. Two fairly comfortable in the front and two uncomfortable in the rear.

I really didn't like driving it. It was sort of dangerous on wet roads even with brand new tires. She said she did a 360 in it one day. And she wasn't flying. So she said...

I lost my a$$ on that car when I sold it. It lost $4000 resale value within 2 years. I'll never own another GM product.

My Australian built Capri wasn't all that great (reskined Mazda 323) but I've always liked Fords. My 68 Fairlane still get's allot of good comments.

The Explorer has been a good vehicle. We've put about 13,000 miles on it. I know the vehicle is getting old. So far nothing major. Mostly blown bulbs, heat shield that the welds broke loose was rattling. Worn driver's center vent that wouldn't stay open. I fixed that with a part from a junkyard. Check valve in the driver's lumbar must be bad because it leaks down after a few hours. The only pending issue is the oddometer gear is crapped out.

We've hauled allot of stuff in it and it came in handy with all the snow we had last winter. The gas mileage sucks at 15 mpg is the only thing I can say I don't like about it.

I never thought I'd like driving an SUV but this one has been allot of fun.

A five speed would have been cool but then my wife couldn't drive it...

So 12 years later - for the folks still here from then, and those who joined later- you still seeing a lot of 2nd Gens? Surprised how many I see around here, at least 8 more than mine. And in good shape (at least from a distance LOL)

 

[410Fortune]

Can’t kill them
If they sucked I would have a Toyota shop
But these “trucks” as I call them have earned my respect
I still drive my 88 daily and I save as many explorers and rangers that I can.
I love the gen ii explorer they are tanks!

 

[XLTrunner]

Sadly, the number of 2nd gens on the roads around here indicate they are an endangered species...and, this in an area that has traditionally been a Ford stronghold where they sold a huge number of them back then. Have also noticed a great reduction over the past couple of years in the number of them showing up in the local U Pull. And, nearly all of the ones that have been relegated to the JY are rot boxes and clearly trashed and neglected. Since mine is originally from AZ and I continue to avoid exposing it to winter's salt here in MN, it is surely one of the cleanest left in the state and I hope to be keeping it for years to come. I now have been finding myself harvesting spare parts while they are still available at the U Pull.

 

[Mbrooks420]

I see a fair amount. There’s a couple nice ones around here. They seem to be about 50/50 V8 to SOHC. Says a lot about the V8 durability.

 

[Fix4Dirt]

I see a fair amount. There’s a couple nice ones around here. They seem to be about 50/50 V8 to SOHC. Says a lot about the V8 durability.

with gas prices i see less and less, but more ohv/sohc than v8, only seen 1 manual (or at least appeared to be manual ) i see very few v8 badges...

 

[94Eddie]

In my area (Mid Atlantic) 1st gens are virtually non-existent and 2nd gens are as rare as hen's teeth. I also see far few 3rd gens than I did just a few years ago and 4th gens are not too common either. There are way more 5th gens running around here than all the others to include 6th gens.

 

[Explodemylifepls]

See gen IIs frequently in KS, including a nice EB V8 I used to drive by frequently.

Gen Is not as common but my little brother drives a 94, which was really clean till he lost his license and it sat on the farm and mice got in it, now it stinks like rat piss always, and sounds like a time bomb but every 4.0 ohv I've been around sounds like that.

 

[Mbrooks420]

A 4.0 OHV should sound like any typical pushrod motor. There’s waaaaay worse sounding motors out there.

 

[Fix4Dirt]

A 4.0 OHV should sound like any typical pushrod motor. There’s waaaaay worse sounding motors out there.

iirc there was that russian (?) bus that sounds like marbles in can

 

[Mbrooks420]

iirc there was that russian (?) bus that sounds like marbles in can

A lot of the early GM DOHC motors sounded terrible.

 

[EB4X]

and sounds like a time bomb but every 4.0 ohv I've been around sounds like that.

When I step on my 4.0 ohv "at right time" it sounds like a V8...I've had TWO people gesture / think it was a V8.
It has that small sweet spot / power band where it has a little get up and go....... but yes, mostly a dog...but at least I don't have to worry about timing chain(s)....and she wheels just fine.

 

[94Eddie]

When I step on my 4.0 ohv "at right time" it sounds like a V8...I've had TWO people gesture / think it was a V8.
It has that small sweet spot / power band where it has a little get up and go....... but yes, mostly a dog...but at least I don't have to worry about timing chain(s)....and she wheels just fine.

I drove my 94 Explorer for almost 200k miles and didn't have a single issue with the engine or the transmission. Brake pads and rotors, radial arm bushings and heats shields rattling are the only repairs I can remember doing to it.

 

[EB4X]

/\ I had just shy of 248,000 on my 94 4.0 ohv when I sold it...still ran like a top....abuse and all.... no internal engine work ever needed. I figure this one will still be running up until Armageddon..... still in 170's....

 

[Beargap]

/\ I had just shy of 248,000 on my 94 4.0 ohv when I sold it...still ran like a top....abuse and all.... no internal engine work ever needed. I figure this one will still be running up until Armageddon..... still in 170's....

I had a '97 XLT 4.0 OHV with a 5 speed manual and 4WD that went beyond 300K miles before I sold it. Besides having to drop the trans to replace the clutch slave cylinder every 100K miles, it was pretty reliable and did everything from pulling a trailer, to long trips, to off road maintaining radio repeaters on the top of mountains off logging trails, sometimes in the snow. What was finally killing it was rust that started inside the left rear fender around the gas fill, but even got to some components on the engine. It drove to its new home to work on a farm.