minelson17
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- June 23, 2008
- Messages
- 180
- Reaction score
- 5
- City, State
- Keizer OR
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 1992 Ford Explorer XLS
Hello All,
So thiss will be a first time post, but I've done a lot of research on this site before, so here it goes...
I have a 1992 Ford Explorer XLS Manual Transmission. Upgrades include: K & N Cold Air Intake, Custom 3" Flowmaster exhaust. I put a 4" Rough Country Lift Kit on with 33" x9.5"s (pizza cutters kick ass in the mud and snow, personal theory). Everything has been great with this rig, I've got over 160k on her with plenty of off road miles. Everything else is stock.
Well, after my recent adventure, I managed to break a few things, most of which easy fixes. The one that posed a problem is that I locked up my front end and punctured a hold in the top of the front differential gear housing. So I essentially have a 2WD explorer until I fix it. I have plans for this baby such as a bigger suspension, 35" mud terrains, 4.88 gears, leaf over conversion in the rear, snorkel, Custom bumper n winch, and some engine mods. The way I see it i have 2 options:
A) Swap out the stock axle and suspension and find myself a solid axle, Dana 44 preferrably. Start really researching custom fabrication jobs and get this thing underway. Benefits include stronger axle and better performance among other things.
B) Replace the gear housing and the front and rear gears to the 4.88's I mentioned before. Swap out the the current 4" suspension with the Superlift 5.5" or the Skyjacker 6.0" in order to get those 35's in place. Benefits include a simpiler mod, much cheaper mod, and much quicker install.
So the question is, which way should I go? What are the pitfalls to the stock front axle design compared to the solid axle? Keep in mind a few things, this is my daily commuter so I can't have it out of commission for more than a couple days, and I'm on a pretty tight budget (I'm also restoring an old 62 silverline boat with a slant 6 225 right now). Also, i don't ever plan on getting any bigger than 35"s, and I don't plan on entering any off road competitions anytime soon, i just want to be able to go play on the weekends, nothing too serious.
Thanks for you help!
So thiss will be a first time post, but I've done a lot of research on this site before, so here it goes...
I have a 1992 Ford Explorer XLS Manual Transmission. Upgrades include: K & N Cold Air Intake, Custom 3" Flowmaster exhaust. I put a 4" Rough Country Lift Kit on with 33" x9.5"s (pizza cutters kick ass in the mud and snow, personal theory). Everything has been great with this rig, I've got over 160k on her with plenty of off road miles. Everything else is stock.
Well, after my recent adventure, I managed to break a few things, most of which easy fixes. The one that posed a problem is that I locked up my front end and punctured a hold in the top of the front differential gear housing. So I essentially have a 2WD explorer until I fix it. I have plans for this baby such as a bigger suspension, 35" mud terrains, 4.88 gears, leaf over conversion in the rear, snorkel, Custom bumper n winch, and some engine mods. The way I see it i have 2 options:
A) Swap out the stock axle and suspension and find myself a solid axle, Dana 44 preferrably. Start really researching custom fabrication jobs and get this thing underway. Benefits include stronger axle and better performance among other things.
B) Replace the gear housing and the front and rear gears to the 4.88's I mentioned before. Swap out the the current 4" suspension with the Superlift 5.5" or the Skyjacker 6.0" in order to get those 35's in place. Benefits include a simpiler mod, much cheaper mod, and much quicker install.
So the question is, which way should I go? What are the pitfalls to the stock front axle design compared to the solid axle? Keep in mind a few things, this is my daily commuter so I can't have it out of commission for more than a couple days, and I'm on a pretty tight budget (I'm also restoring an old 62 silverline boat with a slant 6 225 right now). Also, i don't ever plan on getting any bigger than 35"s, and I don't plan on entering any off road competitions anytime soon, i just want to be able to go play on the weekends, nothing too serious.
Thanks for you help!
