I have multiple issues, alignment and air conditioning.

[mcfixstuff]

The air conditioning is a simple one. During the hot Texas summers, I notice my air conditioning takes about 10 minutes of driving to blow air cold enough so I am not sweating. I have the severe duty fan clutch on, and I hear that fan spinning like its a damn city bus. I get in my friends' cars and their air condition seems to take about 10 to 30 seconds to blow cold. Once mine starts to blow cold air, it stays cold, but I just don't like how long it takes to actually get cold. What's the normal time for the air to start blowing cold in the 1994 model? I know that is the first one with r134a if I'm not mistaken.
Pretty sure my compressor is on its way out as I see oil around the fan clutch leading me to believe one of the seals is gone, and at some point I'm gonna have to do a compressor job. Not sure if that's the issue though, as I've had ****ty AC in this truck since I got it back in 2019. I have personally checked and made sure I had proper levels of oil and refrigerant in the lines. The only parts on the AC system I'm sure aren't factory is the compressor which has a "Ford Remanufactured" sticker on it.

Next issue:
The alignment is impossible to do on this Explorer. Had an alignment shop personally spend 4 hours on it, and couldn't get it to stay in alignment. If you turn the wheel to the left and return to enter, the steering wheel sits off center to the left a tad. If you turn to the right and return center, it sits slightly right off center. This all started when I put a new steering gear box in the vehicle, and new tie rods. The old steering gear box leaked like crazy, which is why I changed it. The old box was also very loose in the steering. Other issues that arose with the replacement of my steering gear box is my tires are now noticeably MUCH louder. I replace the bearings thinking that's what the noise was, but it wasn't that. They are the loudest between 45 and 55mph. Driving on frontage roads is the worst.
I've checked under the car, and pulled the wheels. Nothing looks off. Ball joints seem fine, control arm bushings seem fine. I don't wanna throw parts at it, but I am also too broke to take it to a shop. Discount tire says abnormal wear on my tires is the cause of the road noise, and it was probably due to bad suspension parts. My biggest concern is the alignment being off. That's so annoying!
The last thing I will mention is that every now and then, during a hard brake, it feels like something is loose and I feel a shift in one of the parts up front. Hoping its just some old rubber that needs to be changed.
Thanks!

 

[RangerX]

It’s not that easy to align these, and most shops now have no experience with the TTB.
Tires do wear weirdly on these, have you tried rotating the back tires up to the front to see if the noise goes away?
A common source for a loose clunky feeling is the radius arm bushing worn out or even rotted away, most often it’s the passenger side because it’s right by the exhaust.

 

[mcfixstuff]

It’s not that easy to align these, and most shops now have no experience with the TTB.
Tires do wear weirdly on these, have you tried rotating the back tires up to the front to see if the noise goes away?
A common source for a loose clunky feeling is the radius arm bushing worn out or even rotted away, most often it’s the passenger side because it’s right by the exhaust.

Damn, so my AC is just gonna be ****....
I'll have to take a look. I feel like there was no rotting on those bushings

 

[ChildIdenticant]

Regarding the ac, have you made sure that your vac assistand coolant diverter is actually working?

Damn, so my AC is just gonna be ****....
I'll have to take a look. I feel like there was no rotting on those bushings

I think the coolant diverter valve that was added on the '94 fails closed. (really don't remember atm). Might want to check if yours is functioning correctly. If for some reason you don't have one, add one.
regarding alignment, Replacing worn axle pivot bushings can also improve alignment & tire wear. It's a task to do that without a proper press or pneumatic chisel. tutorials exist on the forum.

 

[96AWD5.LOL]

RE: A/C

I'm in Austin. It's 102-107 all week where I am. I'm glad you found the severe duty fan clutch. Hopefully it was the Hayden brand as others failed much sooner for me.

• I would check to see if the exit on the evaporator STARTS getting cold after starting when you say its warm.
• Also check to see if the re-circulation vacuum valve in the glove compartment is closing when you are on re-circulation. If it is not you will be pushing hot air over the evap. This was one of the first A/C fixes that made a huge difference for me.
• Are you using a 12 blade fan or at least the 11? I recently switched to the 12 and while it is loud when its on, it gets colder quicker and stays on not near as long when cooling (180 thermo here).
• Check your diverter valve as it does help if the above is covered

Lastly, the A/C in these cars is pretty bad at idle with a mechanical fan and R134A in high temp environments. You can add a pusher to the front and it makes a decent difference when at idle. I had been using a ford fusion fan for about 1.5 years and it makes a huge difference with almost instant A/C at idle. But like most electric conversions it cannot keep up under heavy load or on the highway. The truck would run warm on the highway when we're at 100+ when it was on.

RE: Alignment

I've had a hell of a time trying to get someone decent to align the truck here in Austin. However you're lucky. Southwest alignment on richmond in houston is where you need to go. I can't remember the guys name but he is the shop manager, bald short smoker. He aligned my brothers lifted 93 and my 91 several times when I lived there. It's been a year or so since I was last there. I believe it was 65$ if its not lifted and 190$ or so if its over some lifted limit + bushings. YMMV now.