How to spend 12Gs on my explorer

[Dan Whitaker]

Umm your wrong on that one Dan the explorers are 50oz balance, mustangs are 28oz balance.

Doh! I alwaya get that backwards.

 

[sean99]

I'd buy a home, lease it out and let someone else pay it off for you. You could still fix up your truck along the way doing one mod at a time

http://www.trulia.com/property/1043017335-707-Constellation-Dr-Killeen-TX-76542

 

[rocket 5979]

If you want to buy a fresh motor talk to fordstrokers.com, but unless your going to want to compete with explorer I would just find a wrecked v8 explorer with a good drivetrain. Put a cam in it with all of it's supporting mods, get some torque monster headers a good tune from henson performance and call it a day. Then replace the awd transfer case with a manual 4406 from an f-150 (several write ups on the forum). Spend the rest of the money on the off road side.

+1. This is going to be the most reasonable and also net the most improvement per dollar; let alone BY FAR one of the most easy swaps. If the OP wants more power then he can do a few performance mods to the Explorer 302 engine. This is going to be an offroader, not a street driven lightweight musclecar so the build needs to be tailored to it.

So a drop in 302 engine (like this http://www.proformanceunlimited.com/specs/302_300/302_300efi.html )wouldnt work your saying?

That is a HUGE waste of money for the power you get! If you were to do the Explorer engine swap with a donor wrecked vehicle you would still have plenty of money left over to throw a set of heads, cam, bolt on mods to make 100 more horsepower than that "300 hp combo" and still spend less. Yeah this one is fully built but then again most people won't need to take advantage of the additional strength anyways. The key here is spending the money in the right areas for what you want the outcome to be.

I would do the Explorer V8 swap at the same time you do the 4x4 SAS front and rear swaps. This way when you are finalizing the SAS you can get your suspension geometry proper with the different weight that will be in the truck with the V8 engine and its different trans, and whetever T-case you go with. This will ensure that you only buy things once. Do some D44's from a Jeep Grand Wagoneer or something with either a simple leaf sprung setup or spend the money and go 4 linked front and/or rear. Then once you have the SAS's done then you can have your front and rear D-shafts custom made to fit just right. That is how I would do it.

If you want to save some bucks and don't care about having to be the most powerful then just keep the V6, make it reliable it not already, and do the offroading stuff I already mentioned. With proper gearing even that V6 will be able to handle most any sort of offroading you can throw at it.

Just remember that while $12k is allot of money it can go real quick when you start getting big plans for modding a vehicle, especially if you aren't doing damn near all of your own wrenching, fabbing and so forth.

 

[rhauf]

Coming from another serviceman, save some of that cash for a rainy day. It may seem that you have tons of cash now, but the day may come where the steady check from Uncle Sam won't be there.

The only truly good advice in this thread.

alas, i don't think the OP is looking for good advice, since good advice is never very much fun.

 

[Maverick265]

Coming from another serviceman, save some of that cash for a rainy day. It may seem that you have tons of cash now, but the day may come where the steady check from Uncle Sam won't be there.

Keeper yo have to have fun too though! I always used to live on the low low and save every dollar I could. Something happend in my life and I now realize we never know where our last day will be our last so I try and make something awesome out every day.

 

[duncanNidaho]

I really appreciate all the advice you guys have given. Leaving the V6 (been very reliable the past 5 years) and going for the 4x4 seems like my best option. I know I need the front axle, transfer case, and transmision, but what else is necesary? Are there any preferable manufacturers I should be looking at?

 

[rocket 5979]

I really appreciate all the advice you guys have given. Leaving the V6 (been very reliable the past 5 years) and going for the 4x4 seems like my best option. I know I need the front axle, transfer case, and transmision, but what else is necesary? Are there any preferable manufacturers I should be looking at?

Asking a question like "what else is needed?" is a very broad one. The only way people can make suggestions on what others parts may be needed is for you to tell us what sort suspension setup you plan to go with, and so on.

While it is not a bad thing to ask questions your best bet is to take the remaining time you have in Afghan and do some online research while on down time.

 

[Slowlyvverot]

Two big questions are
1. are you doing any of the work yourself?
2. what kind of truck do you want to build? ie; what sort of terrain are you going to be wheeling in? This will help you decide what sort of suspension setup you should be looking at.

 

[71cutty455]

My opinion is also save all or at least most of it for a rainy day but if you have your heart set on it really the most cost effective way to do it is just buy a truck that's already a 4x4. By the time you piece everything together and actually get the truck built you will probably wish you would have just bought one.

Check it out -

$3500 - decent 5.0 AWD Explorer
$500 - manual 4406 transfer case swap
$500 - 3" body lift, cold air intake, cat-back exhaust
+$FREE - stuff from your old truck - 32" tires, TT/Shackles, Aussie locker
=$4500

You will still have $7500 and your sanity left over. Stick it in the bank or invest it (the $$$ not your sanity) and have fun wheelin'....

 

[shooterdude199]

coilovers allllllllll dayyyyyyy! maybe drop a 5.0? maybe stronger transmission? new gears? 33's to 35's? Deaver springs? just a bunch of odds and ends stuff ha