Shopping for a new truck, advice needed!!

[dmaster79]

I currently have a '93 Eddie Bauer 4x4, still runs decent but will be needing some work. I would rather just buy a new truck since I do some towing and need a bit more towing power. I'm guessing my max towing will be somewhere around 4,000lbs...I've towed around 3,000 with my current truck, but it was a bit rough on some hills. At first I started looking at a late model Expedition, alot more towing cap. but it don't look as if it will fit in my budget. My next choice of course is the Explorer, but I really don't know a whole lot about the models 2000 - 2005, most likely I'm looking at a 2001 or 2002 with under 60k miles, can anyone offer any advice, what the good or bad is. I see the 2002's have a built in class II hitch, I'm not crazy about them since I use a class III as it is. How adequate is the newer 4.0L for pulling, and how would I know if it has a transmission cooler. I tow this amount maybe 10x a year, so not a huge amount, but I don't want it to be more then the truck can handle...thanks for any advice you can give!!!

 

[jayhawkexplorer]

You're talking about a wide range of Explorers. 2000-2001 was the last two years of the 2nd generation truck. 4.0 OHV, SOHC, and 5.0 V9 engines were offered, some had tranny coolers. They don't come with hitches standard usually, a good can be picked up pretty cheap from etrailer.com. Easiest way to know if it has a tranny cooler is to look at the radiator and see if there's a smaller "radiator looking thing" attached to the front of it.

2002 is the first year of the 3rd generation Explorer. Bigger, roomier, independent rear suspension, and the debut of the 4.6 V8. Engine choices are now the 4.0 SOHC or the 4.6 V8. They'll tow what you're talking about with ease, either engine. The non-towing package 2002+ Explorers come with a class II hitch, the towing package ones come with class III.

I would think you could buy a 00 to 01 Expedition for as much as a 2002+ Explorer. Expeditions have horrible resale value, especially considering Ford can't even get rid of the brand new ones right now because of the gas mileage and the falling popularity of giant SUV's. You can get a brand new one for 10K of MSRP, so a used one is likely to be had cheap as well. Good luck.