New Here: 1993 Explorer Sport 4x4 5spd

[Svt28]

Good evening friends

Daily Driver (for now) is a 2011 Mustang 5.0, but I just picked up a weekend 4x4 toy for the desert and towing my XR250 dirt bike.

1993 Explorer Sport 4x4 5 spd with factory 3.73s. Pretty clean body and paint for a 24 year old Arizona SUV. 208k miles, cold AC, and really clean interior. Dash just has one small crack. Picked it up for $1300 cash.

It shifts pretty well but you have to be mindful of it being in gear at all times. It sometimes grinds into reverse while cranked but I mitigate that by putting it in reverse before I crank it. The motor does not smoke at startup, pulls pretty hard, and does not consume oil. Transmission looks like it dripped at one point in time but I've been monitoring the leak and fluid level. No drips and no loss of fluid.

Suspension needs sorting as well as steering. The old spings, shocks, and steering components are worn out and sloppy. It vibrates off and on around 65mph on the highway, and the brakes pulse a bit. Brakes are first on my to do list, with a flush. Next will be a suspension overhaul. Maybe 1.5 to 2.0 inch lift, nothing wild as I will most likely keep the stock wheel and tire setup since I don't wheel hard. If anyone has advice about the suspension overhaul, please chime in.

I took it up to Jerome last weekend, round trip 300 miles and she did great. I really do love this truck. Being almost 30, it brings back many good memories. Last few pics are after a little elbow grease, simple green, quick wax, back to black plastic restorer. The metal shifter will have to go immediately, can't have that here in Arizona. It also needs tint and a kill switch.

Best
SVT28

 

[92exp4x4]

Wow, its clean. Nice find. It appears that it's trying to grow into an Eddie Bauer. The pass front fender looks to have the tan spot..

Are you going to keep the chrome grill or go back to the black? You don't see many 2 doors with the chrome. It reminds me of my 2 door XL.

 

[larrydd999]

I'm most amazed at the condition of the seats! Most Gen1 cloth seats show serious wear well before 100k miles. Also the exterior paint looks like it was garaged most of the time and waxed regularly. Nice find!

 

[Rhett]

Possibly the front end was damaged in a collision, and they put XLT grille on it. And maybe Eddie panels, and it lost the cladding. ??
Also the Sport's red strip on the side trim has been painted.

Nice clean truck!

 

[Jason94sport]

I'll play the glass half empty role...it looks like it was wreaked & fixed to me.....And with that much mileage $1300 was too much.
But as long as your happy with it good luck with it....The suspension stuff might only need a few small easy DIY fixes. Most 1st gens feel sloppy & shake at 65. Inspect the bushings ball joints & the RA bushings. If it all appears to be ok I'd just throw some coil spacers on the front & shackles on the rear for a small lift & call it a day.
Brakes pulsing means the rotors are warped. Again easy DIY for front rotors & pads...BUY NEW caliper slide pins, search on that.

 

[92exp4x4]

$1300 is totally worth it. I'd pay more for a rust free 2 door that looks like that. You just don't find them that clean anymore.

 

[Austin96]

Nice lookin truck. ENjoy.

 

[2stroke]

I'll play the glass half empty role...it looks like it was wreaked & fixed to me.....And with that much mileage $1300 was too much.
But as long as your happy with it good luck with it....The suspension stuff might only need a few small easy DIY fixes. Most 1st gens feel sloppy & shake at 65. Inspect the bushings ball joints & the RA bushings. If it all appears to be ok I'd just throw some coil spacers on the front & shackles on the rear for a small lift & call it a day.
Brakes pulsing means the rotors are warped. Again easy DIY for front rotors & pads...BUY NEW caliper slide pins, search on that.

Oh come on, at this age, mileage means next to nothing. A 25 year old truck is just as likely to be beat to snot at 120k miles as it is to be in good condition with 250k. Wrecked and then fixed? There isn't a scratch or a dent on the thing! Maybe the grille was replaced, maybe someone 15 years ago hit a bird, maybe someone just liked the look better. I agree, the steering is generally sloppy compared to newer vehicles, but they shouldn't shake. My 94 did when the tires went bad, but with good tires it was smooth at all speeds, even with bad ball joints. It could be as simple as an unbalanced tire.

I thought a long time about what I was going to do to my 93 sport, even well before I got it. If I were to do a 2 inch lift I would put new leaf springs for a 4 door, heavy duty coil springs and then do a body lift. The body lift gives you more room to work on the engine and transmission, and is by far the cheapest option. You could leave your old springs, but I hate the rear end sag look, and it will feel and handle better with stiffer new springs than old soft springs. Definitely replace the shocks. I'm a big monroe fan (not the cheap blue ones). I put a set of the rear helper spring shocks on every truck. I decided to try KYB last time and after about 10k miles I am not impressed. I will run the good monroe fronts next time (reflex?).

That is a great find. I looked for close to a year all over the country, and only found a few in similar condition. I just couldn't bring myself to fly 3/4 across the united states to drive a truck back 2000 miles I knew nothing about. You just don't see them anymore. You could easily sell that in Colorado for a profit if you wanted.

 

[Svt28]

Thanks everyone for the replies. I have seen some two door sports with chrome grills on Google, but I'm not sure if this one came stock with the grills or not. It's not mission critical to me so it will be put on the back burner. I checked the frame, as well as all of the usual suspects for collision damage prior to purchase and did not see anything that stands out. AZ car its whole life, no rust. The title was clean. Its EXTREMELY difficult to find anything worth a count in AZ with 4x4, working AC, and clean interior for less that 2-3k...

I'll be doing a brake overhaul next weekend, and I believe I have all I need to knock it out including the caliper pins. Its a given the springs and shocks need to be done, I'll most likely replace with OEM, install coil spacers, knock out the leafs on the rear, and body lift it. My local guy also said he thinks the plugs on the top of the M5 are leaking a little so we will most likely tend to the transmission in the next week or two. Once I take care oft he worn out suspension, I'll be taking it to be aligned again, as well as wheel/tire balancing.

My friend followed me home the other day and said there was no smoking or issues from watching it drive. We didn't find any rust on it when we put it on the lift last weekend. I do want to purchase/find a class II or III hitch that will mount to the frame around the spare without any drilling. Is there such a hitch out there?

Also, what is this color? Is it stock?

SVT28

PS. Here is the 5.0. Lund Tuned 91 octane tuned, stage 2 cams, Lethal Performance Off Road X, Catback Street Series Magnaflow, SR 2 inch drop springs, KYB Shocks, BMR adjustable poly panhard, GT500 strut mounts, 20 inch Cragar Mags, Nitto 555r 275 all the way around.

 

[92exp4x4]

Go on Ebay, there are hidden hitches available for these. They are totally bolt on and stay up out of the way.

 

[malohnes]

NICE find! Such a clean interior and a 5 speed!!! How's the dry rot on the rubber lines and door gaskets? Common to find them crumbly...

I'm hoping to find a junker with a clean body in your neck of the woods in a year or so to replace my rusty body...