Some questions about my recently acquired '91 XL

[RallyEX]

Howdy, I just purchased a 91 XL with a good bit of rust on the rockers for $1000. I'm new to this explorer thing, and searched for some of my questions but with no solid results.

A few things I noticed, thought maybe someone could help me with them...

The heater produces heat, but the blower doesn't work... you turn the switch and it doesn't do anything at all? What could this be? Switch? Blower? maybe a relay? How much does a new blower cost?

It has a solid front axle...? Was this common on 1st gens? I see a lot of people talk about the Solid Front Axle swap around here.

Quite a bit of rust on the rockers and the rear hatch, common? Any way to stop/slow it down/repair this?

Engine has a tick in it, but seems to go away/quiet down when engine is warmed up a bit. What could this be?

All help greatly apprecieted!

 

[X-1]

Welcome, and congrats on your purchase, I will try to answer some questions for you.
1. Probably the blower motor, mine was around 30 bucks from the auto parts store, simple repair.
2. If it is stock then it has a twin traction beam front end, more specifically a Dana 35 axle, this is a well built front end, the straight axle conversion is a modified front end.
3. Rust is like cancer, you are better off to get rid of the damage before it starts to spread, if you know anybody that does body work, these parts can be removed and replaced.
4. Lifter tick, is probably from either dirty or low oil, I would run a thicker oil if it is high on mileage.
I hope this helps, beware this is an addicting vehicle, especially with the support of this site.
Good Luck.

 

[Robb]

We need more info on the front axle.........if you bought a SFA Explorer for $1000, you got a helluva deal!!! Got any pics? Better description?

Robb

 

[RallyEX]

Well, after looking at some pics, i'm not completely certain. Here's a bit more info.

I've been wheeling a bit since I was 16, however I'm very young. All the vehicles my brother and I ever wheeled in were IFS trucks/suv's with the exception of an 87 K5 Full Size Blazer.

I looked at the Explorer and it has a nice big pumpkin, and seems like a solid front axle.. but perhaps I do not know enough about them, and my eyes deceive me. I'm pretty familiar with AWD and FWD car systems, as I work on import auto's quite a bit, but very rarely do I mess with 4WD anymore, and once again they were mostly IFS Setups. My 97 Blazer and 87 4Runner were both IFS, and I never did a conversion/swap to SFA.

The truck was totalled about 4 years ago because it was hit where the bulk of the rust was (rocker panels and fender), however the owner put a new fender on it, and sold it to a friend of mine for around $1500 with 90k on it.

My friend put it up for sale for $1000, and I jumped on it. It now has roughly about 106k miles, and runs well except for the tick/knock. After a new U Joing, 4WD works great. It has many new brake lines, and the interior is IMMACULATE. Won't be for long though, gotta mount the ham radios/CB

It has Lock-In/Lock-Out hubs on the front axle. Also, it has some pretty good tires on it... Uniroyal A/T's of some kind. The wear is very even, and there is no frame damage from the accident... only minor cosmetic damage, but due to it being in a rusty area, that caused the ins. company not to want to pay to have the rust repaired as well, so they totalled it. Pics will be on the way on tuesday of this week.