cycle61
Member
- Joined
- March 12, 2015
- Messages
- 10
- Reaction score
- 0
- City, State
- Tacoma, Washington
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 1996 Explorer XLT
Long story short: Moved back to WA after being gone for a decade, bringing with me a lovely transplant from Georgia. She's been a full time motorcycle rider since forever, and no quantity of stories of the misery of a Washington winter would dissuade her.
And then it started raining.
And didn't stop for 4 months.
So last spring we hit up a half dozen ATM's for cash, hopped onto craigslist, and found a reasonable condition 1996 Explorer XLT for $1500. It looked decent in person, needed some catch-up maintenance, and worked much better in the rain than her motorcycle.
Deal.
My dad was a Ford guy, and even he hates Explorers. I think a sour Aerostar turned him off to the Blue Oval many years ago. I fully expected this thing to be a giant steaming pile of crap, but it just seems to keep plugging along. The mileage is kinda crappy, gets about 12-15 with a check engine light and non-functional OD, but hey. I swapped the dash lights out for LED's to get rid of that miserable dim green glow, it's all shiny and blue and pretty and I still expect it to break down at any minute.
And now, a year later, my buddy's kid totals his Jeep, and I buy the wheels and tires off of him. Bolt everything up, and damn if it doesn't suddenly kind of look like a real 4x4.
Okay, I'm sold.
Looking into lighting upgrades, rear shackles, torsion bar lift, and maybe a scanner to get rid of that damn CEL.
Oh, and I need to make a rear bumper. Kinda ripped the trim piece off of this one.
And then it started raining.
And didn't stop for 4 months.
So last spring we hit up a half dozen ATM's for cash, hopped onto craigslist, and found a reasonable condition 1996 Explorer XLT for $1500. It looked decent in person, needed some catch-up maintenance, and worked much better in the rain than her motorcycle.
Deal.
My dad was a Ford guy, and even he hates Explorers. I think a sour Aerostar turned him off to the Blue Oval many years ago. I fully expected this thing to be a giant steaming pile of crap, but it just seems to keep plugging along. The mileage is kinda crappy, gets about 12-15 with a check engine light and non-functional OD, but hey. I swapped the dash lights out for LED's to get rid of that miserable dim green glow, it's all shiny and blue and pretty and I still expect it to break down at any minute.
And now, a year later, my buddy's kid totals his Jeep, and I buy the wheels and tires off of him. Bolt everything up, and damn if it doesn't suddenly kind of look like a real 4x4.
Okay, I'm sold.
Looking into lighting upgrades, rear shackles, torsion bar lift, and maybe a scanner to get rid of that damn CEL.
Oh, and I need to make a rear bumper. Kinda ripped the trim piece off of this one.
