Jr. Mechanic
New Member
- Joined
- October 18, 2011
- Messages
- 2
- Reaction score
- 0
- City, State
- Lima, Ohio
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 1998 Ford Explorer
Hey guys, I just finished installing a new (used) engine in my '98 Explorer. It was a buddy's project that he abandoned, so I picked it up fairly cheap and dropped an engine in it. It's running well (4.0 OHV), and I'm thinking I might hold on to it for a little while even though I'm not a Ford guy in the least. It's not a bad truck, especially for what I have into it, but I like my Grand Cherokee ZJ much better.
Anyways, overall it's in pretty decent shape. A little rusty underneath and there is some rust developing around the rear wheel wells but the rest of the body and the tan leather interior is very clean. I've noticed a lot of Explorers running around with stock fender flares which would be perfect to hide the rust after I treat it. Does anyone have any experience fitting them on an XLT that didn't have them originally?
Next, the turn signals like to act up, sometimes worse than others. When I hit the lever, I hear a buzzing under the dash and nothing happens. If I cycle the switch a few times the turn signals work fine.
Is this as simple as a timer or is there a known issue with this? I know the multifunction switches are known to go out but the switch seems to be doing it's job since I hear a buzzing when I hit it.
The drivers side door doesn't seem to lock. I know I need to pull the door panel off and take a look at the linkage, but I figured I'd ask if this was a common problem and if there was a common solution.
The rear sag and the "gansta" lean really bother me. I saw two helper spring kits by Hellwig on Summit. One was a 550 pound spring and the other was a 1500 pound IIRC. Are either of these kits a good solution to the problem? I've seen a lot of people swap the springs around but after I buy new shackle kits I'm looking at close to the cost of the AAL kit.
Anything else I should check/look out for? The front left tire looks toed in some, I plan to check and most likely replace the lower ball joints. I'm guessing it's due for some shocks too.
Thanks!
Anyways, overall it's in pretty decent shape. A little rusty underneath and there is some rust developing around the rear wheel wells but the rest of the body and the tan leather interior is very clean. I've noticed a lot of Explorers running around with stock fender flares which would be perfect to hide the rust after I treat it. Does anyone have any experience fitting them on an XLT that didn't have them originally?
Next, the turn signals like to act up, sometimes worse than others. When I hit the lever, I hear a buzzing under the dash and nothing happens. If I cycle the switch a few times the turn signals work fine.
Is this as simple as a timer or is there a known issue with this? I know the multifunction switches are known to go out but the switch seems to be doing it's job since I hear a buzzing when I hit it.
The drivers side door doesn't seem to lock. I know I need to pull the door panel off and take a look at the linkage, but I figured I'd ask if this was a common problem and if there was a common solution.
The rear sag and the "gansta" lean really bother me. I saw two helper spring kits by Hellwig on Summit. One was a 550 pound spring and the other was a 1500 pound IIRC. Are either of these kits a good solution to the problem? I've seen a lot of people swap the springs around but after I buy new shackle kits I'm looking at close to the cost of the AAL kit.
Anything else I should check/look out for? The front left tire looks toed in some, I plan to check and most likely replace the lower ball joints. I'm guessing it's due for some shocks too.
Thanks!
