newbie a couple questions, looking for some feedback on mods.

[conig]

Whats up I registered at this forum probable about a year ago but never really posted. At the time I was going to sell my truck and buy and explorer off my dad to save money. Last week he surpirsed the hell out of me by calling me up and saying if I wanted it I could come get it becuase the AC is broken and he doesn;t want to deal with it. So I rent a u haul trailer and drive up and get it.

its a 96xlt 5.0 with 150,000 true highway miles on it and its compression is so good. Its also in great condition. I want to do some things to it Ive done some searching and figured I'd get ya'll opinion of what I'm planning.

Im thinking intake spacer (betwwen upper and lower manifold), I have a k&n no snorkel air box.
what about 1.6 or 1.7 roller rockers? I'd get a cam but the install is to labor intensive roller rockers shouldn;t be that hard.

How about a MAF on the 5.0 is there any gain? Throttle body?

Aside from these im thinking some headers and Explorer express exhaust if anyone can suggest a good brand to use for these two mods.

pics soon I cranked the t-bars with stock size bfg all terrains. How much do add a leaves raise it up? Ive used these before so I don;t think the ride will be that worse. I just don;t want to much height and the tires to look stupid.

lastly what bulbs are in the corner lenses not the ones that blink but just the ones that light up? I replaced the blinkers but forgot to check what the number on these bulbs were.

sorry for all the questions but I look forward to interacting with you guys in the future.

 

[4X402]

I'll give you my opinion here: Headers, i have heard a lot of good stuff about the torque master headers. Exhaust, go to a muffler shop and do a custom flowmaster setup. intake spacers dont work. dont worry about the roller rockers yet. AAL's will vary, usually about 2 inches, you also have shackles like the Warrior 153's, those go 1.25 inches. I would save the internal work for a later time, then do a complete build up all at once, if you want a blower build the motor for it if you dont, do a different cam with higher compression pistons, whatever you want. I may be new to Explorers, but i had a lightly built and Nitroused Honda Civic, the rest of my family likes muscle cars so iknow a little about that too. hey i also worked at a import performance shop for like 9 months so i have a clue what im talkin about when it comes to planning your mods. youll save a lot of time and money that way.

 

[BeauJ]

The intake spacer and rockers are a good start. And yes, the cam take some dedication. I've bought 3 different cams and haven't installed any of them. I've heard all good thing about the TM headers also. There are a couple of aftermarket MAF out there, but the best you will get will be made by Ford. C&L makes housing that bring in more air and use the stock sensor. I've got a 80 MM GT sensor that I'm going to put in. There aren't any aftermarket TB out there expect for the 4.0. You'll have to get one custom fabbed due to the way the cable opens the throttle.

 

[conig]

How about the ford motorsports headers? Also would a 3/8 manifold spacer be that much worse then a 1 inch?

how about the rockers 1.6 or 1.7 since im not planning to get a new cam.

 

[BeauJ]

I'm a Ford loyal guy, so I like to use their products. Ford has the 1.6 rockers and the headers that would work well. With the intake spacer, I'd go with the 1".

 

[rcpasq]

Food for thought...

How about the ford motorsports headers? Also would a 3/8 manifold spacer be that much worse then a 1 inch?

how about the rockers 1.6 or 1.7 since im not planning to get a new cam.

Torque Monster Headers are the only 4 tubes into 1 collector design available for these vehicles. The Ford Motorsport Headers use 2 cylinders per tube and deliver about half the performance.

I'm not sure about a 3/8" manifold spacer, since Ford Racing only makes 1/2" and 1" spacers. They come in kit form with the required gaskets and longer bolts. 1" spacer, p/n M-9486-A53, will give the maximum benefit for this mod.

If you're going to retain the stock cam, the 1.6 rockers will work well with keeping low end torque. Remember, treat these vehicles like the trucks they are, not a Mustang.

After installing Torque Monster Headers, PN 9601-50-EX-1, these are Add-Ons that may appeal to your more Horsepower/Torque requirements.

Add-Ons: Stage 1

* K&N air filter stock element replacement, or
* K&N Cone element to replace stock Air Box.

* Install Tornado, worth 1-2 hp on the 5.0 V8, helps gas mileage with a slight increase at the low end.
This is one of those add-ons that says, every little bit helps.

* JBA Spark Plug (Ignition) Wires, PN 06239, or your preferred brand.
* Ford Motorcraft Spark Plugs or your preferred brand.
* 2 - MSD, Ford Coil Packs, 4-Tower, PN 8241, or your preferred brand (Accel, etc.).

* Install Cat Back Exhaust System. However, make sure to install a system with flow through resignator that will have some backpressure. The stock computer settings (o2 sensors) work better with backpressure. Consider, Dynamax, Flo-Pro, or Gibson for systems that have the required backpressure.

These Stage 1 changes, along with Torque Monster Headers, should net you about 30-35 HP and about the same in TQ and should not require a chip change, yet. However, if you install a super free flowing Cat Back Exhaust System at this point, you will need to chip the vehicle.

Add-Ons: Stage 2

* 8 - Bosch Spark plugs, Platinum +4, PN 4458

* 8 - Nology Spark Plug (Ignition) Wires, PN 014208001

* 2 - MSD, Ford Coil Pack, 4-Tower, PN 8241
* 1 - MSD Digital DIS-4 Plus, PN 62152

* MAC or Ford Racing Air Intake, complete replacement for stock Intake unit.

* 16 - Ford Racing, Roller Rocker Arms, PN M-6564-B351
* 1 - Ford Racing, EFI Heat Spacer, 1" thick, Fits between upper and lower manifolds to help dissipate heat and significantly increase performance. PN M-9486-A53

* Reprogram your computer/engine management system. Contact "http://www.bamachips.com" or your preferred retailer for your needs.

* Exhaust system from the CATs to the rear bumper. Your choice, many ways to do it. If you have more than 100,000 miles on the vehicle, replace the catalytic converters. Order from Ford.

These Stage 2 changes, along with Torque Monster Headers, should give you about 50-60 hp over stock without going into the internals of the motor.

Add-Ons: Stage 3

* Powerdyne or Eaton supercharger.
* Stroker engine, 331, 342 or 347 cubic inch are the most popular. Purchase from Coast High
Performance (coasthigh.com), Ford Racing or your preferred manufacturer.
* Rebuild Transmission with shift kit, etc. Baumann makes a great shift kit for the Exploter transmission.

These stages of mods are food for thought and NOT set in stone and by all means not everything you can do to you Explorer/Mountaineer. You can mix and match and come up with what works for you. We've put this list together according to what appears to be where Explorer/Mountaineer owners are headed, taking into consideration budget, use of the vehicle and where you want to end up when your done. In other words, from Mild to Wild...

You can visit us at: http://www.torquemonsterheaders.com

All the Best,

Bob Pasquale
Tech Performance & Engineering
Torque Monster Headers

 

[4X402]

First off rcpasq those platinum +4 plugs are garbage, i have personally seen those plugs as the primary cause of a destroyed motor. i worked at a import performance shop in the past, and i was there when this happened. some kid brought in his 94 civic which we had done a Integra gsr swap into about 6 months earlier, he wanted us to put a set of Toda cams and headers on it. well we were extremely busy so it was temporarily set off to the side and moved back and forth out of the garage, one night as we were pulling it in one of the other guys left it idling. then all of a sudden there was a pop, then the engine developed a weird lope. we hurried over and shut it off, and what we found after we pulled the plugs was that the porcelain in spark plug of cyl#4 had exploded. when we pulled the head off we found there was now a hole in the piston, scratches in the block, and a damaged exhaust valve. my freind had a somewaht similar problem with his truck one of the 4 prongs broke off and he noticed he had a exhaust valve that just wouldn t seal right, not completely blown, but still not worth the risk. i only use NGK. i know you own/ work for torquemaster, but just some food for thought man.

 

[conig]

does a tornado actually make power on this motor? I wasn;t under the impression it helped any motor.

 

[rcpasq]

On the spark plug issue, we have a few people using the Bosch plugs in their Explorers, and seem to work well, especially in the GT40-P head where the plug actually comes in accross the combustion area and away from the piston. As far as Import/Tuner crowd using Bosch plugs, that may be a problem. I also don't reccommend them for the 4.0 V6 Explorer and Ranger. They only work with certain engines. I recommend you "use your preferred manufacturer", like Motorcraft, Autolite, Accel, NGK, Champion, etc. This is only information to pick and choose from.

On the Tornado, it works, but slightly. As I mentioned, it's one of those add-ons where, "every little bit helps". Helps in the gas mileage area on the 5.0 V8, .5 -1 mpg highway increase and a little on the low end. That's all you get. On smaller engines, it probably doesn't make a difference. I know, we put a Tornado into a 1.7 liter Honda Civic and it didn't make a difference. So, I can understand your questions and concerns.

All the Best,

Bob Pasquale
Tech Performance & Engineering
Torque Monster Headers

 

[aldive]

does a tornado actually make power on this motor? I wasn;t under the impression it helped any motor.

Doug and I dyno tested one on my truck. The dyno sheet is shown below:

 

[conig]

wow thats definatly the first positives Ive seen about the tornado. Thanks for the help guys.

Im a large fan of NGK coppers and changing em every 5-6000 miles in my other vehicles. seems to keep things fresh I got used to doing it on a nitrious motor and have just kind of kept this thought process going.

 

[BeauJ]

Im a large fan of NGK coppers and changing em every 5-6000 miles in my other vehicles.

You seriously change them that often? That seems a little overboard

 

[conig]

I havn't on the explorer but I do on my dakota. I can only run coppers on my dakota becuase of the coil on each plug set up, anyway. keeps things running good.

I also own some two stroke machines and if you have ever had one you can get pretty used to changing them.

 

[aldive]

and changing em every 5-6000 miles in my other vehicles. seems to keep things fresh

What do the plugs look like when you remove them?

 

[conig]

havn't done it yet on my explorer so who knows. on my dodge a perfect coco brown.

 

[4X402]

Thanks rcpasq, like i said most of my knowledge on motors currently resides w/ imports. i've learned a bit about truck suspension as i helped some buddies w/ suspension lifts in the past. But i love to soak up knowledge, im studying to become a Engineer so i'm one of those people who obsess little details. Ive heard a lot of great stuff about your headers and im gonna try to buy a set when i can get some cash (I'm goin back to college so im broke)