Newish member. With a few questions

[Brennan99sport]

Hey y'all. I'm brennan, I recieved a 99 ex sport 4.0 awd with 200k a couple months ago. It's a great lil rig but I'm looking for some improvements I have a extremely limited budget.
1) I need a good set of a/ts for pretty cheap. Any suggestions?
2) my trans recently went into limp mode. Any ideas on what it could be?
3) multi leaf swap, is it worth it? And what options do I have for slight rear lift?
4) exhaust mods? And cold air intake? What options do I have with a very limited budget.
5) sound system upgrades head unit wise any suggestions?
Thanks. Brennan

 

[98 MERC]

Cheap A/T's thats harder to find.Not impossible but harder.I paid 750$ for 4 BFG KO at's and like 750$ for 4 Good year all terrain adventure kevlars for wifes vehicle.My brother n law buys the Hankook dynapro AT's for like 450$ or something like that.He likes em.My bfg's are soft and my good years are very hard.I am not a hankook guy, i tend to be brand biased.If i were you i would try the hankook's.

 

[Brennan99sport]

Cheap A/T's thats harder to find.Not impossible but harder. If i were you i would try the hankook's.

Thanks. I'll. Be sure to look into them

 

[98 MERC]

As for the Trans being in limp mode.You really need a scanner on that thing to read the codes.

The rear of my mountaineer sags a bit and i use the coil over shocks to bring it back up.You can buy em at autozone.They are like 105$ a pair.But if you buy em online and ship to home, they do 20% off most times.Some people buy longer leaf spring shackles for a slight lift.You can buy new leaf springs too.Thats gonna cost you like 350$.

As for exhaust and intake.I just bought a ebay intake and threw away my stock air box.I have the air filter positioned behind the headlight so air gets sucked in from the front grill.I had my muffler and resonator cut off and straight piped at a muffler shop for cheap.

 

[chefduane]

Prolly the most cost effective set of tires is Goodyear Wrangler Radials Pretty good A/S semi-A/T tire. I say semi A/T as it has an aggressive tread design for an A/S but not a true A/T. Tire Rack usually has them for $75-$85/tire. Ran them on my '98 for years. Not the best tire but good bang for the buck.

Best inexpensive rear lift would be to put on coil-overs. Got me about 2" for low cost.

Can't comment on trans issues because without more info it might could be a $200 or a $2000 fix.

IMHO cold air intakes are a waste of money. Exorbitant cost for marginal, if any, performance boost.

You've got a 18 yr old car with 200k (and increasing) miles on it. 4.0 to boot. Why do you want to sink a bunch of money into a car that old that may grenade at any time? Just get it up to snuff with maintenance, fix what's broken, and drive on.

I would agree that you might go ahead and spend some $$ on a sound system. Makes it much more enjoyable to drive - creature comforts and all that. Go to www.crutchfield.com to explore (!) your options. Verify which system you have first (single/double din, amp/no amp, sub/no sub.. etc), then set your budget and start shopping. Speakers are relatively cheap if you install them yourself. Check for sales at the big box stores for the best prices.

That's all I got. Good Luck!

 

[98 MERC]

If you want to stay on a budget Crutchfield is the last place to shop.I am in car audio myself and my buddy owns his own shop and we find out our part numbers and cross reference with cheaper companies.Like www.sonicelectronix.com. that is a Budget store with great customer service.Great people.

As for cold air intakes.They are not expensive man LOL.They are like 40$ on ebay.They do make a difference if you keep them away from heat and give them access to fresh air.I have one so i know.They sound cool as hell.


I am doing a full restoration on my 98 mountaineer.Why because i can.I dont need a reason and neither does he.

 

[chefduane]

As I said, you can go to Crutchfield and explore your options. They have a nice configurator tool also IIRC. You don't have to buy there. See my comments about sales at big box stores.

Even an inexpensive CAI is not worth the trouble to install it IMO. Again, marginal benefit for the money installed on 200k+ mile car. But if you gotta' have it and it sounds really neat-o, then go for it.

If you are doing a FULL restoration, then I agree - do what you want. But Brennan's original post said he was on an 'extremely limited budget.' On a limited budget with a 200k mile 18 year old car, I'd punt a CAI and figure out what's wrong with the trans and get a set of tires on it. Best of Luck!!

 

[Brennan99sport]

Ok. So I figured out what was wrong drivetrain related. It was the TC. It was stuck in 4low even tho the switch was in auto. which is weird. But I got it out of low and back into auto.

 

[toypaseo]

A couple decent priced 235/75r15 (if that's the size you are needing)...

Pathfinder is a private label of Discount Tire. Made by Kumho. The tread design might have been in Kumho's tire lineup as SAT KL61.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1-NEW-P235-75-15-PATHFINDER-SAT-75R-R15-TIRE-/191814128406?fits=Section+Width:235|Aspect+Ratio:75|Rim+Diameter:15&hash=item2ca9035316:g:9eYAAOSwnHZYXVnf&vxp=mtr

Kumho Road Venture AT51. This is what I am currently running. Got an unimaginable deal from Tirebuyer on eBay.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-P235-75R15XL-KUMHO-ROAD-VENTURE-AT51-108T-2357515-235-75-15-/222457398746?fits=Section+Width:235|Aspect+Ratio:75|Rim+Diameter:15&hash=item33cb7e85da:g:u94AAOSwzgBY3Xcu&vxp=mtr

 

[Brennan99sport]

A couple decent priced 235/75r15 (if that's the size you are needing)...

I'm looking for either 255/70/16 or 265/75/16s. But thanks for the response