ChrisTM
Active Member
- Joined
- September 15, 2009
- Messages
- 77
- Reaction score
- 0
- City, State
- San Diego
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 2001 Sport
I was going to replace my truck with something a little bigger in the towing dept and had a little more power, but I just cant bring myself to get rid of my explorer. I have put too much money and TLC into it to just trade it off.
The only things I have regretting in the 5 years I owned it is not holding out till I found a Standard (God... I swear I will never again buy another automatic vehicle as long as I am physically able work a clutch!) And not getting a 4WD, which living in San Diego I figured I would never need anyway.
My primary goals atm:
Bring my sport to at least normal explorer towing capacity (7600# from 5100#)
Get rid of the GD shift flare. Having replaced all the sensors and even the transmission, it's got me baffled atm.
Very noticeable power gain in low - mid range rpm. (I don't ever really floor my truck, and I don't see any reason to.)
Make my truck sound a lot better through out this process. (From stock)
What I have replaced so far:
When I was oversea's (I am in the navy) I had a guy run over my stock air intake. (I am not joking!) So I ordered a K&N to replace it.
I was having transmission problems, most notably the 2-3 shift flare. After replacing the sensors I decided to replace the tranny. It fixed all the other tranny problems, except the shift flare....
I have all new rear body mounts ready to be put in. (2 of them needed to be replaced, so might as well do them all while I am in there.)
New front rotors. They were the best ones kragen had for my model. I can locate the receipt and get the exact number if anyone is curious.
New brakes, dont remember which ones, one of the most expensive at kragen though...
All new sensa-trac shocks. I was talked out of the bilsteins, even though they were not any more because these were supposed to be better for the street.
Front and rear speed sensor. Replaced in the quest to end the shift flare. Made no diff at all, but it was a cheap attempt and one more new things on my truck.
I have new tires on the truck, cooper HT's, although I am not against replacing them and using these as backups/spares.
What I don't really want to do:
Lift my explorer 900" to put 50" tires with a set of 24" truck nuts on the back..
Drop my truck 1" from the ground with 22" rims and 1" tires and skid plates...
Turn my truck into a boom box that the cops can follow by sound from miles away...
What I was thinking:
Headers, although I am told the stock headers on my sport are actually pretty good. Probably something like this.
Exhaust kit? I have been rather confused about the diff between something like a flowmaster exhaust and kits like this. I really dont want that one. From what I have read on these forums and others, that kit rusts out w/in a few years and I would be better off going with a Flowmaster 70. What all is involved in this? I am told if you dont get a bolt on kit like that you cant change your exhaust without alot of precision cutting/bending an some welding which I dont have the tools to do, although I am not beyond paying someone to do for me if I need to.
Supercharger. Looking at the Eaton M90 and this kit. It's w/in my price range if you guys think it's worth it.
I want to replace the leaf springs. That should bring my towing cap to a normal explorer's. Also want to put a transmission cooler on it since it does not have one stock. Should I upgrade the stock radiator?
HID Lights and fog lights. Fog lights for sure... I work on the coast..
I am sure there are a ton of things I have not thought of yet and will be made fun of for not mentioning. (spark plug cables, fuel injectors, etc)
Current condition of my explorer!
Fantastic atm, other than the shift flare. Runs and rides great. Everything works. I have a very sporadic vacuum leak that causes my engine rps to dump up and down if I am at a stop light with the heater or ac on. Will eventually kill the engine if I dont bring the RPM's up from idle manually, or turn the ac/heater off. Only happens every once in a while (a couple months) and only at idle so I think I have a loose hose somewhere, but have never been able to find it.
Currently running at 102k miles on the original engine. I have never run anything but synthetic oil, changed NLT 3500 miles, and replaced the filter with a premium filter every time.
I bought the truck from a guy that was using it to commute to work and back about 70ish miles a day so I know the previous miles were freeway... (this really is a terrible commuter vehicle btw... lol) Anyway, the truck had 86, almost 87k miles on it when I bought it 5 years ago. As you can tell, I drive it ALOT.. Anyway, just wanted you to have a little back history on the truck because that can sway opinions alot sometimes.
All of this said, what would you guys say are my best bang for the buck upgrades shooting under a $3.5k-$4k budget?
I want to do most of the work myself, and I am fairly mechanically inclined, but have mechanic contacts that can get anything difficult done.
The only things I have regretting in the 5 years I owned it is not holding out till I found a Standard (God... I swear I will never again buy another automatic vehicle as long as I am physically able work a clutch!) And not getting a 4WD, which living in San Diego I figured I would never need anyway.
My primary goals atm:
Bring my sport to at least normal explorer towing capacity (7600# from 5100#)
Get rid of the GD shift flare. Having replaced all the sensors and even the transmission, it's got me baffled atm.
Very noticeable power gain in low - mid range rpm. (I don't ever really floor my truck, and I don't see any reason to.)
Make my truck sound a lot better through out this process. (From stock)
What I have replaced so far:
When I was oversea's (I am in the navy) I had a guy run over my stock air intake. (I am not joking!) So I ordered a K&N to replace it.
I was having transmission problems, most notably the 2-3 shift flare. After replacing the sensors I decided to replace the tranny. It fixed all the other tranny problems, except the shift flare....
I have all new rear body mounts ready to be put in. (2 of them needed to be replaced, so might as well do them all while I am in there.)
New front rotors. They were the best ones kragen had for my model. I can locate the receipt and get the exact number if anyone is curious.
New brakes, dont remember which ones, one of the most expensive at kragen though...
All new sensa-trac shocks. I was talked out of the bilsteins, even though they were not any more because these were supposed to be better for the street.
Front and rear speed sensor. Replaced in the quest to end the shift flare. Made no diff at all, but it was a cheap attempt and one more new things on my truck.
I have new tires on the truck, cooper HT's, although I am not against replacing them and using these as backups/spares.
What I don't really want to do:
Lift my explorer 900" to put 50" tires with a set of 24" truck nuts on the back..
Drop my truck 1" from the ground with 22" rims and 1" tires and skid plates...
Turn my truck into a boom box that the cops can follow by sound from miles away...
What I was thinking:
Headers, although I am told the stock headers on my sport are actually pretty good. Probably something like this.
Exhaust kit? I have been rather confused about the diff between something like a flowmaster exhaust and kits like this. I really dont want that one. From what I have read on these forums and others, that kit rusts out w/in a few years and I would be better off going with a Flowmaster 70. What all is involved in this? I am told if you dont get a bolt on kit like that you cant change your exhaust without alot of precision cutting/bending an some welding which I dont have the tools to do, although I am not beyond paying someone to do for me if I need to.
Supercharger. Looking at the Eaton M90 and this kit. It's w/in my price range if you guys think it's worth it.
I want to replace the leaf springs. That should bring my towing cap to a normal explorer's. Also want to put a transmission cooler on it since it does not have one stock. Should I upgrade the stock radiator?
HID Lights and fog lights. Fog lights for sure... I work on the coast..
I am sure there are a ton of things I have not thought of yet and will be made fun of for not mentioning. (spark plug cables, fuel injectors, etc)
Current condition of my explorer!
Fantastic atm, other than the shift flare. Runs and rides great. Everything works. I have a very sporadic vacuum leak that causes my engine rps to dump up and down if I am at a stop light with the heater or ac on. Will eventually kill the engine if I dont bring the RPM's up from idle manually, or turn the ac/heater off. Only happens every once in a while (a couple months) and only at idle so I think I have a loose hose somewhere, but have never been able to find it.
Currently running at 102k miles on the original engine. I have never run anything but synthetic oil, changed NLT 3500 miles, and replaced the filter with a premium filter every time.
I bought the truck from a guy that was using it to commute to work and back about 70ish miles a day so I know the previous miles were freeway... (this really is a terrible commuter vehicle btw... lol) Anyway, the truck had 86, almost 87k miles on it when I bought it 5 years ago. As you can tell, I drive it ALOT.. Anyway, just wanted you to have a little back history on the truck because that can sway opinions alot sometimes.
All of this said, what would you guys say are my best bang for the buck upgrades shooting under a $3.5k-$4k budget?
I want to do most of the work myself, and I am fairly mechanically inclined, but have mechanic contacts that can get anything difficult done.
