Grand Cherokee fan looking at Explorers.

[E.B. Cornburner]

Jeep's inline 4.0 is stout in the old Cherokee's (not Grand).

Agreed 100%. My '01 Cherokee Classic ran 15.89 in the quarter mile bone stock!

IMHO, it's that archaic Chrysler transmission that sucks all the performance out of the 4.0L in the Grand Cherokees. The little Cherokee XJ had a Aisin-Warner AW4 tranny in them (same as in a Toyota Supra), and they were awesome. Early '93 Grand Cherokees had the AW4 too, and they were much quicker than the later ones with the 42RH/42RE Chrysler trannies.

I really liked that AW4 tranny...Very responsive and shifted quick and firm. One of my favorite slushboxes to this day. I have never seen a single one of them break either. We've had Jeeps come in with 250,000+ miles on them, and though the engines are a little tired, the trannies are still shifting just fine, and had never been apart.

 

[vintage sled nut]

Well, I am just not very lucky, I guess.

Trying to be a frugal buyer, I endlessly search ads for especially cheap, and yes, especially loaded, Explorers. I have now found and pursued three with real sweet prices. All had just sold. The last was the AWD E. B. for $7999 with 93,000. I called on it Monday, and was told it had just sold with a substantial deposit. I bookmarked the ad on an auto sales site over a week ago. At least I called this time to save a trip. Snooze and lose, I guess. The first one I looked at sold, too.

Anyhow, I have decided to narrow my search. After quite a bit of research, I am now only really interested in AWD V8 models. While I know the auto 4 wheel is a lot more common, there are a lot of reports on here and other sites about that system being unreliable or atleast not lacking in problems. I could not find a single case of AWD failure. A few people said All Wheel, but had the system with the 4 lock. As this will be an on road vehicle, the AWD is what I want.

I know the Mercury Mountaineer will likely be easier to find in the configuration I want. I like the look of the Explorer better, but suspect the Mountaineer would grow on me. I just found a nice 03 V8 locally at a Chevy dealer, but it had the light trailer tow package. Odd, as I have saw V6 models with the larger hitch.

The search continues.................

-Les in MI.

 

[CDW6212R]

Les, I hinted at avoiding the 02 and 03 trucks partly because of that issue. Many of the newer features for the model had issues in the first years, mostly electronic stuff. The rear differential had noise issues for the first 2/3 years, when you test drive try to listen for any gear noise. I believe it was not a defect, just an early tendency to have more noise than typical. Those have separate aluminum diff. chunks, a new design. Check out GetAuto.com for more ideas of pricing and features, colors etc. Regards,

 

[jrford]

Everything I have read I agree with some really good points by all.
I have (or wify does its her Daily) a V8 AWD 3.55's (small hitch) think +80mph Heated Quad Bucket SLED. Class III hitches come with Both V6 and V8 and 3.73's (check the Axle code, as on mine i have 3.55's but a class III). Mountys may be a little different inside and out, but more options too like Dual Zone Heat, Mech's are mostly the same; although after a little research I did find that the Struts are different part no’s.

I live in Detroit Metro and things are really, really bad here, dealers are starving, i have a feeling one will pop up for you shortly. Stick with ‘03 and later, I prefer the '04's, seem to be a sweat spot, 3 years after intro and last model before some minor changes in the ’05.
oh, ya, past and current owner of '95 XJ, '96 ZJ.
Jim

 

[E.B. Cornburner]

Just for giggles, take a V6 Explorer for a drive. See if it has the power you want. Aside from being a little slower on takeoff when towing a trailer, I have no gripes about my little V6. You might find the power to be adequate for what you're using it for.

Ask if you can take one for the night, and hook up your loaded trailer to it, and take it for a drive. See how it pulls it. After all, there's only 29 HP and ~40 lbs/ft torque difference between the two engines. A V6 with 3.73 gears might work just fine for you.

 

[CDW6212R]

Say Mike, do you know if the V6 trucks really got the 5R55W, and not the 5R55E? I had thought the 5R55E was only behind V6's, but a few have sworn that they had a V6/5R55E.

FYI, the 5R55W has a wide ratio gear set, a better set of low gears for towing, than the 5R55E. The 5R55E is a wonderful close ratio trans, but not quite as strong ads the 5R55W.

 

[E.B. Cornburner]

It's interesting you bring this up, because I was having a bit of debate recently with my tranny guy, and he claims the V6 also got the 5R55W, but I called my Ford dealer's service department (excellent people) and gave them my VIN, and they told me it has a 5R55S in it. I've also verified this thru other sources.

AFAIK, the 5R55E was dropped when the Gen III Explorers came out, and the options were a W, S, or N. Wide, standard, or narrow gearing from what I've concluded looking at all three trannies' gear ratios. I've also determined that the actual case is more or less identical between the three, only the "guts" being different.

 

[Thelt]

Just for giggles, take a V6 Explorer for a drive. See if it has the power you want. Aside from being a little slower on takeoff when towing a trailer, I have no gripes about my little V6. You might find the power to be adequate for what you're using it for.

Ask if you can take one for the night, and hook up your loaded trailer to it, and take it for a drive. See how it pulls it. After all, there's only 29 HP and ~40 lbs/ft torque difference between the two engines. A V6 with 3.73 gears might work just fine for you.

I have the v6 and the tow package and I am very happy with the power mine has. When pulling a trailer it does not have a lot of reserve power but it pulls fine and had no trouble holding highway speed.

 

[CDW6212R]

Thanks Mike, I knew that the other versions were similar but I also don't recall the ratios of the "N" and "S version. I know that the close ratio "E" has a 1st of about 2.84, and all of the wide ratio versions are near a 3.2:1 ratio.

Now tell me what they really put in the 2002+ Sport Tracs and Sports? The "S" version is supposed to be about the same as a "W" for strength. Why Ford played with so many similar transmissions is odd.

 

[E.B. Cornburner]

Probably for max power and/or emissions reasons. The closer you can keep the engine into its optimum RPM band for power and emissions, the better. Since the V8 has more torque, it can pull taller gears without lugging down as much as the little high-revving V6.

I'm not sure on the Sport and Sport Trac. I'll grab a VIN off AutoTrader.com and call it in to my Ford dealer and find out when I get a couple free minutes.