Newbie from England - be kind :)

[Mozzer]

Been on an owners' forum for my last 4 cars, so thought I had better join this one.

I have a 99 XLT with 58000 on the clock - every optional extra (apart from the fridge which the previous owner - my mum - decided to keep )

So what do I need to know about Explorers then - any thing inherently wrong with them ? And what can I do to it bearing in mind I come from conservative UK where jacking it up 2 feet would be frowned upon

M

 

[glfredrick]

Welcome to the board...

Explorers are fun trucks, and have a wide range of possibilities, from serious off-road work to nice looking street vehicles.

A lot of people are satisfied with increasing tire size a bit, and adding a slight lift, just to set their trucks apart from the crowd. It would all depend on your intended useage.

At your current mileage, you should have a long life left in your Explorer. Just take care to keep the fluids changed, and I would add an extra transmission cooler. That can never hurt.

Write back and let us know the sort of conditions that you anticipate and we can better assist you in making plans for the truck. Also, feel free to tell us more about England. It would be fun to know how things go day-to-day across the sea.

 

[Mozzer]

glfredrick - not really looking to do any serious off roading - used to do that in a series II landrover - that was great fun - get up to your sills in mud and water, then just hose it down and all is good again - difficult to do in the X

But looking to just make mine (which is stock) just that little different - induction kits could be a way forward, exhausts (mufflers), ECU upgrades, wheels, can't really do jacking as my fiancee is 5ft 3 and has a hard enough time getting in as it is , paint job a possible, ICE, etc,etc. just wondering what everyone else has done over the pond ?

UK is fine, all looking expectantly at the elections your end. All getting murdered by the oil prices - my X does 17 MPG and at $5.61 per gallon its a very expensive toy to drive, especally when my other car was a Skyline that did even less Had to sell the Skyline to get a more economical car, needed to keep the X to transport my dog.

M

 

[glfredrick]

Thanks for the reply...

Had to sell the Skyline... That hurts - we seldom even see those over here...

You can jack the truck - my wife is 5' 2" and I've had buit trucks on 38's that she has managed to deal with... Of course, she would throw the baby up on the seat, then proceed to climbing. It was fun to watch. Actually she likes big trucks - and wants me to get her something larger to command more respect on the freeway.

I think you are on the right track with the mods you are thinking of for your truck. Enhance the performance, and give it the off-road look without severely modifying everything. It would be different and catch the notice of the locals unused to seeing something like that on a regular basis.

You might want to do a couple exterior modifications to send the signal that this is an off-road vehicle - bumpers - rock sliders, etc, all easy to fabricate, if not outright purchase.

Alec's truck is a good example of one not lifted too high...

 

[IN THE STICKS]

So what do I need to know about Explorers then - any thing inherently wrong with them ? And what can I do to it bearing in mind I come from conservative UK where jacking it up 2 feet would be frowned upon

M

I'm also from your side of the pond , the first 'mod' I'm going for is converting it to LPG (only had the X for a couple of months ), it's less than half the price of unleaded and worth considering if you're going to do a few miles in it .Also have a look on Ebay for bits , I bought a set of double platinum plugs for £40 all in , Ford wanted over £12 each

Dave

 

[Mozzer]

Lpg

In The Sticks I don't know much about LPG :

What's the conversion entail ?
How much space do you lose ?
How much does it cost ?
Is the cost partly government funded still ?
Does every service station have LPG ?
Who are you going to use to do the conversion ?

TOO MANY QUESTIONS !!!

Cheers

M

 

[IN THE STICKS]

Mozzer ....
Try here for a bit of info http://www.lpga.co.uk . It's best to get it installed by a proper LPGA approved installer (too many cowboys about ) costs from £1500 , for this you get the latest fully sequential (ecu controlled) lpg system a 90 litre tank that replaces the spare wheel underneath the back of the car .I'm getting the tyres filled with a gel that does away with the need for a spare (I hope ) . It's quite a lot to stump up at first but if you do say 10,000 miles a year @20mpg , then you use 500 gallons ,this will cost you about £1900 a year (at todays 83p a litre (£3.76 a gallon )). LPG is about 39p a litre local to me therefore under half price , so the long and the short of it is in 2 years I should get my money back , plus it may make the car more sellable to the right person .The down side is the Government is sure to raise the tax on it as more people convert , but they have said that they will not narrow the difference between LPG and Petrol by more than 1p a litre over the next 2 1/2 years .
It's due to go in this week to have it done so I'll keep you posted (fingers crossed)

 

[Mozzer]

Lpg

It would be good to have an update once its done and you have had a chance to use it - you can be my guinea pig

 

[IN THE STICKS]

 

[Mozzer]

Anyone had the problem where the standard double din head unit keeps cutting out ?

 

[IN THE STICKS]

Anyone had the problem where the standard double din head unit keeps cutting out ?

Can't say I have a problem with it Mozzer

 

[Howard]

Welcome to another UK owner. I've had my 98 for over two years now and done some mods to it.

 

[Mozzer]

Howard

Thanks for the Hi Howard.

Just looked at your X, very nice - love the bull bar - where did you get it from ? Also what difference did you note from the K&N filter ?

Cheers

M

 

[Howard]

Cheers

I got the bars and steps from http://www.ns4x4.co.uk/side2.htm

The X picks up much faster with the K & N fitted.