my bone stock explorer

[03xbox]

this is my 2003 explorer, its a v8, 4x4, eddie bauer. i haven't done anything to it yet. it has 95,000 miles and they are all highway. i've never even had brakes done to this, they still have 6mm left on the pads, and they are still the original brakes. i just got new tires at 90,000 and the old ones still had 9/32 of tread, i had to get new ones b/c the old ones were dry rotting. the only thing ive had to do was one front bearing and one rear bearing, 100 miles ago. other than the bearings i've never had any trouble! i've always been a chevy guy and never thought i'd own a ford but i love this truck and i think its reliability is outstanding!

 

[Charlie]

Glad to hear it has been treating you well and you are happy with it! It looks nice. Are you planning to leave it stock or doing some mods to it?

 

[GregV8]

Congrats, it's very nice and clean. I also like the red two tone.
Over many years of many cars I owned I've come to realize it's best to leave them (near-) stock. Most optical mods are just fashion - they come and go.
Like you, I've been a GM guy too and laughed at Fords in the past. But this truck is serving me exceptionally well.
Not perfect and every part that's capable of making an odd noise is making it but none of those affect reliability. It just keeps running...
At 130,000 kms still original brakes, original everything. (well except for the warranty rear axle replacement... )

Mine's like yours except in black:

Greg

 

[WhiteLimited]

Love that color!

 

[E.B. Cornburner]

Add another happy Explorer owner to the list. Aside from one failed rear wheel bearing (dealer replaced it before I took delivery), nothing has really failed. I hated the OEM ceramic compound brake pads and changed them out in favor of some Performance Friction Carbon Metallic pads on all 4 corners. Drastic improvement in brake feel and stopping power.

Mine too makes its share of odd noises, but so far has held together just fine. I'm just not a fan of all the timing chain/tensioner noise when it first starts up after doing an oil change...Sounds like the crankshaft is going to fall right out of the bottom of the engine! It's not the first 4.0 SOHC that's made this noise, so I'm not going to worry about it too much. If it fails, used engines are cheap and plentiful.

I almost bought one identical to the one you have...Same year, same color, but no V8. I ended up getting a better deal on one a year newer, so I'd have been a fool not to take it. Black is a PITA to keep clean, but is rewarding when it is. I have a little pic in my avatar (stock photo), but basically it's the same as GregV8's.

I still have to find the invisible bull's eye on my front bumper cover...It's been repaired 3 times since I've owned it! First was a guy at work that ran into it, second was my fault when I punted a Caravan at a freeway off-ramp, and the third was when I got too close to a big frozen snowbank and cracked the filler from the previous repair. *Grumble*.

I'm quite the nut about keeping mine clean too...Right down to taking some Nevr-Dull to the tailpipe and removing all the tarnish and road film so it's as nice and shiny as a brand new one.

 

[03xbox]

i forgot i did do one thing, i replaced the battery with an optima yellow top.

Congrats, it's very nice and clean.
Greg

thanks

 

[Sams01XplrSprt]

those are sweet ass looking explorers u guys plan on doing mods to them or leaving them bone stock

 

[GregV8]

those are sweet ass looking explorers u guys plan on doing mods to them or leaving them bone stock

Like I said, I'm not fan of exterior mods, they tend to get boring very quick.
Except for some nice wheels perhaps.....
So far I have a Thrush muffler and HID's. Already regretting the latter because they're too blue.

My view is that car makers put so much effort into designing and perfecting the cars; endless testing and fine tuning and improving, etc... by lots of professional ENGINEERS.
I like to believe they know better than Pimp-Q at Hack-UR-Ride Customs...

 

[03xbox]

i plan on doing a few things, like a flowmaster muffler, clear corners, and maybe HID's.

 

[WhiteLimited]

i plan on doing a few things, like a flowmaster muffler, clear corners, and maybe HID's.

All of witch would be nice!

 

[02explorerdriver]

nice ride. when you change the brakes, go for ceramic. I just put ceramics on mine and they perform nicely with NO squeek.