sluggish
Member
- Joined
- January 20, 2014
- Messages
- 13
- Reaction score
- 0
- City, State
- Orillia, Ontario
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 2012 Ram 3500
I am new to the Explorers so pardon my ignorance. Had at least a dozen Rangers and Bronco 2 but that was a while ago. I haven't done any searching or anything but I am curios as to whether there is an AWD Explorer with a manual tranny. I have a 96 with the V8 AWD that will become a donor chassis for an old school cab and box(1930-50's). I would love to have a manual but is there anything out there that would bolt up fairly simply? Or am I needing to go completely custom on this one. If it's completely custom, perhaps I will stick with the autotragic for now and make changes later. I have given myself a budget of $5000 to get this on the road .it will likely be the auto for now. Never hurts to pose the question though, for down the road It will become my daily driver, for the winter at least, as I have a 56 Dodge for summer duties.
Another question is this. How much power/torque can you throw at these stock AWD systems and not grenade the whole thing. I'm not looking to drop into gear and try to spin 4 tires or anything(I'm too old for that nonsense), but I would like to be able to floor it from a dead stop, maybe get a little chirp, and not worry about having to collect the pieces from the ground. My Explorer has some goodies bolted on, plus a nice exhaust and pushes about 275-280hp and about 300 lbft of torque. I know that's a little more than stock but it seems to handle that okay. BUT I also have a nice freshly built carbureted 302 that is pushing 400hp and 400 lbft of torque. The plan for that motor is to go into the next cobra build(for my daughter) but that is a few years away from starting yet so I might as well break it in, right? If the rest of the explorer drivetrain holds up, maybe she will get the lesser motor in her cobra and I'll keep the new one.
What are your thoughts on both of these questions?
Another question is this. How much power/torque can you throw at these stock AWD systems and not grenade the whole thing. I'm not looking to drop into gear and try to spin 4 tires or anything(I'm too old for that nonsense), but I would like to be able to floor it from a dead stop, maybe get a little chirp, and not worry about having to collect the pieces from the ground. My Explorer has some goodies bolted on, plus a nice exhaust and pushes about 275-280hp and about 300 lbft of torque. I know that's a little more than stock but it seems to handle that okay. BUT I also have a nice freshly built carbureted 302 that is pushing 400hp and 400 lbft of torque. The plan for that motor is to go into the next cobra build(for my daughter) but that is a few years away from starting yet so I might as well break it in, right? If the rest of the explorer drivetrain holds up, maybe she will get the lesser motor in her cobra and I'll keep the new one.
What are your thoughts on both of these questions?
