I had to pass this on...Please Read

[Rick]

Rick--

Thanks for a very exciting time! I am thrilled that the Ford Explorer has
kindled the kind of enthusiasm for safe and environmentally sound off-road
exploration typified by the group of people I met on that gorgeous October
weekend! You are to be commended for organizing a successful event despite
the sudden loss of Jack Lobdell. Thanks for welcoming us Ford folk so
wholeheartedly...and for the beautiful photos and write-up on your website!
Yes, I am a convert! I may never be able to own a truck like yours or David
Meisner's, but it's great to know you're out there!


Ashok Rodrigues, the last of the Ford engineers to arrive on Sunday, missed
us by about 10 minutes on Monday morning. He was staying at he Holiday Inn
in Salida and arrived at the Woodland Inn at approx. 8:00 AM. We left about
7:50. It was my fault--I forgot to call him and tell him about the earlier
departure time! I really felt bad about it and apologized to both him and
his boss (who's budget picked up his $1000 travel tab). That was the only
glitch in the weekend as far as I was concerned. (Later that week, on
Friday, Laurin was driving our rental car in the little town of Creede, CO,
when we hit not one, but two, deer at the same time. Didn't do a lot of
damage to the car (a couple thousand dollars probably), but we had to
exchange the car because a headlamp was broken out.


Rick Haas is trying to get your website linked to the Ford internet site.
We'll keep you posted.


Take Care!


Respectfully,
Lewis J. Thompson, III
TVC Quality, U260 Reliability Engineer


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Rick Horwitz
Editor
explorer@4x4central.com
Editor
www.4x4central.com

 

[Rick]

Jack passed away quite unexpectedly in early August. I posted the details on the website and many people left their condolences on the message board. I then passed them on to his wife.

Jack will be missed by all who knew him an who have benefited from his knowledge.

------------------
Rick Horwitz
Editor
explorer@4x4central.com
Editor
www.4x4central.com

 

[Ray Lobato]

Rick,
I so glad that the Ford people enjoyed the run. I believe that this will have an effect on what Ford does in the future, and hopefully will get Ford envolved in supporting Explorer owners long after we buy thier trucks, by comming up with more off-road worthy stuff.
Lewis,
I am glad you and the others enjoyed yourselves, and hope that you take back with you the experiences, so that maybe Ford will realize that there really is a large market even after you sell us your fine truck, by making it a more off-road worthy machine. You've seen what a hand full of dedicated Explorer owners have done, with not much back up from the aftermarket, now imagine all those other people you could sell to, if the Explorer was able to be built like and supported like the other manufacture does.
We know that this platform is absolutely ideal for making a good off-roader, it just needs the heavy duty drivetrain and the ability to get some ground clearance and everyone will be beating a path to your door.
Best Regards

P.S. Hey, a Ford sponsered Explorer run, with you guys would be awsome. I bet you could get a lot of Explorer owners to show up. Free 4wheeling lessons for the newbies(land rover does it), and Ford after market items to look at and buy. It don't hurt to ask. Dead Link Removed

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Happy Wheelin'
Ray L. Dead Link Removed
97 XLT 4X4 4.0L SOHC



[This message has been edited by Ray Lobato (edited 10-26-1999).]

 

[Tom Wilk]

This is truly great news. I'm hoping for a more performance oriented approach as well. But, we must keep in mind that Ford's bread and butter with regard to the Explorer is the suburbanite owner. There's a ton of them out there that will never see a gravel drive let alone a trail.

Nevertheless, I would hope that some type of off road package, along with supporting aftermarket parts (perhaps through Ford Motorsports) would be great. Picture a new Explorer with tow hooks, rear locker, full skid plates, 31" BFG's, and a couple more inches of ground clearance. The trail package, or something like that.

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Tom

 

[Ray Lobato]

I understand that the "suburbanite owner" is the majority of the revenue, but If they made it off-road worthy or gave it the ability to be modified to be off-road worthy and supported it for off-road use, then they (Ford) would be taking away from the other j@#p and C*$#Y guys, plus if they had Ralleys like Land R*@#r they would be helping people who wouldn't ordinarly be off roading get into something that is fun, and that in turn would help us because, 1)the more demand for off-road products, the sooner they get made. 2) the more people that are exposed to 4wheeling the better chances we have of keeping our trails open, because we have more backing. 3) Ford makes a ton of money by converting people from the other manufactures, plus keeping the "suburbanite owners", and giving us the 4wheeling owners, and the new converted "suburbanite owners" who now want to go 4wheeling happy by making after market items( hear this Ford Motorsport). It would be a win win situation if they would really take a look at it. I know Ex-jeepers that went to Broncos because they needed more room, and the only reason they didn't choose the Explorer is because the after market didn't support the Explorer with the right stuff ie HD trannys, transfer cases, and the such. Ford doesn't have to put tow hooks on, they just have to make it available, but HEAR THIS FORD! DON'T TRY AND RAPE ME OVER PRICE!!! Tow hooks for my explorer are $47.00. I got better ones from GM for only $19.00. Sorry, I'll get off my soap box now. Dead Link Removed

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Happy Wheelin'
Ray L.
97 XLT 4X4 4.0L SOHC

 

[HIX]

Great letter! Sounds like the Ford guys had some fun!

More important---What happened to Jack?

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HIX

"Put the hammer down, she likes it rough!"

http://members.xoom.com/hixhix/HIX/hixhomepage.html

 

[SteveVB]

Its great to see that the company is looking for some input from the "real world". Although the hard core modified Explorer is a small part of the Explorer universe it is still a part. I have always found it odd that a company that can come out with SVO Mustangs and Lightning pickups hasnt fielded a factory upgraded off-road special package.(I dont count a skidplate package and a sticker on the side of the truck to tell you its a 4X4) Toyota with the TRD packages for their trucks(tires,susp, diffs) and Chevy with its Z -something Blazer(suspen, tires, rear diff) seem to think that it is a market segment to go after. Maybe this will change sometime in the near future, maybe then I can get a new Explorer instead of something else, but until then Ill stick with what I have.

Thanks to all who participated, it sounds like the Ford folks had a good time.

Steve

 

[felsmann]

The Blazer one is ZR2. It would be awesome if the Sport came out with a Package as such.



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Juan Felsmann
'97 Sport 4WD
Warrior Twist

 

[Rick]

Time capsule....

 

[gsx220]

anything ever come of it?