time to get MY ex!

[sickboarder]

YES! I FINALLY will be getting MY OWN explorer within the next 6 months or so . i just wanted your guys' input on what would be the best model to get for my money and my needs. were looking at a price range of up to $10,500. i want to get one of the new style explorers, preferable 96'-and up. i dont want a sport its gotta have 4 doors. all the cars i drive at home are sticks- so manual is something to consider, but its not a must. this car will primarially be used to drive to school and around town, but ill be using it alot for making snowboard trips up to big bear during the snowboard season, so the more power for those passing lanes, the better. we do go up to mammoth and wright wood also quite often in the winter, so 4x4 would be very usefull for those snowy roads. i would LIKE the v8 or the v6 SOHC but it all depends on what i can afford. gotta have leather . i wont do any MAJOR offroading in it- but i do my share (when they leave open the back gates into the hills). and i will have some money to play around with for mods. my mods wish list is:

-little lift, prolly 1.75'' torsion twist with some 31's.
-kkm true rev kit
-custom exhaust from exhaust shop
-a system with 2 12's or somthing.

so, what do you guys think would be the best (year/model) explorer to meet my needs/price range?

thanks a lot guys!!!

 

[leenjen]

well the manual transmission is only available on the OHV pushrod V-6. the SOHC V-6 came out in 1997, but i dont think a 97 would be a good choice. a lot of the first year SOHC V-6s have problems.

if you want a good 98 SOHC or V-8, then check www.ebay.com (search "ford explorer" then click "highest prices first" then scroll down to your price range) there are plenty of great deals on there.

 

[espnfreak]

sounds like you were a little more educated than me, i knew v6-v8, but couldnt afford v6, i didnt even know what a sohc was, so if i did it again i would get a sohc, or v8

 

[tbomb]

im with lee. 98 is a great year. get a v8 if you can, but if not, the SOHC is pretty powerful, but sometimes its a pain in the ass; on the other hand the OHV is much more reliable and efficient, but its way underpowered, especially on a 4 door (theres also a lot more mods you can do to the OHV - cant barely do anything to the SOHC, even though i saw i on your mods list, you dont have many engine mods, but its something to think about.)
as far as what model, here are your 4 door options: XLT, eddie bauer, limited, (and im not sure if the XLS was out in 98 or not - the XLS is just a base XL with an appearance package, it is NOT the same as an XLT.) i would go with the XLT, its a little cheaper than the eddie bauer and limited, so maybe you can get the leather you want, or a v8, or some mods done right when you get it.

good luck, and post some pics when you finally do get it

 

[01EB5.0]

I would go with the V-8. If i could have afforded it back 2 years ago I would have opted for a 98 V-8 AWD Eddie Bauer. if the truck your looking at is older then 99, i would not consider the SOHC. Plus the AWD system can control the torque a little better in the snow.

 

[01EB5.0]

The reason I like the v-8 is they are a tried and true engine and the transmission isn't known for failing after 100,000 miles as it is on the V-6 trucks

 

[crossman]

My mother's Explorer is a '98 Limited with the V8 and it is just an awesome truck. Lots of power and the AWD is really nice when it gets slick out. The gas mileage isn't really too much different that her '94 XLT got. It gets around 18 mpg average and 20-21 on the highway. If you can get the V8, I highly recommend it.

 

[sickboarder]

thanks for the replies, i'll look into getting the 98 v8. does ayone else have any other suggestions?

thanks again,
Chris Cushingham

 

[sickboarder]

I'd really like to hear some opinions from some more people on the board- this is a big decision and i want to make the right choice. plus my dad is helping me out with the financing for the explorer and so he wants some convincing on why i should get the v8 (right now hes kind of against it cuz he thinks it will just be a "TOTAL GAS HOG!"). does anyone with a 98' v8 XLT know the gas milage it gets- and if the mods i listed (kkm, exhaust, superchip...) would affect it at all. my dad thinks he know a lot about cars but he really dosent, i just need some guys who know their stuff to give me some FACTS about this v8 business to show my dad. ALSO- do you think that i should get 4-wheel drive, or just 2x4. im thinkin i should get 4x4 for all the snow driving/ minor offroading. but again, my dad feels that 4-wheel drive is unnecessary, he thinks that it will raise the cost of the car thousands of dollars and skyrocket the gas milage. so if anyone can give me any good info that i can use to show my dad, id REALLY apreciate it.

thanks

 

[leenjen]

if you get a V-8 it is either 2WD or AWD. i think the AWD would be better. but if you want better MPG, plenty of power, and 4X4 for offroading, get the SOHC V-6.

 

[sickboarder]

oh thanks leenjen, does anyone know how many miles/gall the V8 AWD gets compared to the V6 SOHC 4WD? also everyone says that the SOHC is a pain in the ass. what kind of problems does it usually have? are they easily fixable but just frusterating... or are they some major problems?

 

[sickboarder]

well ive been looking in the paper and in autotrader at explorer prices, and it looks like right now the 98 xlt v8 is out of my price range. they are selling for around 12-15,000. so i have a few options:

1. since i dont NEED the car until around june of next year, i could just wait a while and HOPE that the prices will come down to my range. (also the explorers will be older and with more millage;and i will have more money)

2. i could start thinking cheeper. instead of v8 AWD, the XLT SOHC 4x4. also i might look at the 97 instead of the 98. the thing im worried about with looking at a 97 SOHC is that it was the first year they came out with it (correct?) so is the 97 have more problems than the 98, being its first year? if so, is it worth opting for the 98 to avoid those problems?

what do you guys think? INPUT (johnny-5)

Chris

 

[Jason_25]

hmm why not look into a '96 V8 AWD? They should be a bit cheaper and the tranny is far more reliable than the A4LD/4R55E/5R55E in V6 explorers. The engine is tried and true also. Oh and definitely get the AWD, it's worth it.

 

[01EB5.0]

Yeah, i would look at a 96 or 97 AWD V-8 with eddie bauer or limited package. (The limited package has 4 corner air suspension which is a nice feature) I would try to find the truck with the least amount of miles you can afford and also make sure it wasn't in an accident. A few of the dealers we looked at had trucks that were way below the price of the same truck somewhere else, but we fouond that the trucks had been involved in collissions. The delaership told is the trucks were never hit, but we contacted the old owner and it had in fact been hit...so watch out.
The V-8 also doesn't get that much worse ga smilage. maybe 1 or 2 less MPG city. The added power and reliability far outweighs the price of filling the tank. Trust me. I had to replace a tranny at 91K and it cost me $2,750. If I would have known it was going to happen I would be the proud owner of a 96 AWD Eddie bauer right now.

As for mods. On my V-6 I have done a bunch (exhaust, throttle body, K&N, plugs and wires, etc. WHen I first bought my truck I was averaging around 15MPG. now I average 19MPG. I also am running larger tires now, but my gas milage is still pretty good. I keep my engine in excellent shape and run synthetic oils in everything.
i saw you were itnterested in getting a superchip. Well, I would get an exhaust, K&N, and a larger throttle body first. I was going to get a superchip, but after i did the above mods i was satisfied with the performance and I don't think I'll mess with anything else. Your truck will be pretty darn fast in it's stock form since it has the V-8.
Good luck!

 

[sickboarder]

hey what does a larger throttle body do? is this an expensive mod? im a new commer to this kinda stuff.

 

[sickboarder]

anyone know?

 

[Jason_25]

A larger throttle body increases airflow to the engine.

Generally speaking.....more aitflow=more HP....to a certain extent.

 

[sickboarder]

how much does a new larger throttle body cost? i searched around and it seems that the 66mm one is popular (i forget the brand). is this what im looking for?

 

[Jason_25]

Yes I think that's what you want. Have you done any other intake mods to it yet?

 

[sickboarder]

na if you read up- im planning on getting a used explorer with in the next 6 months or so and im just tryin to put together what i model i want and what im goin to modify when i get it. but so far my engine mod list is:

KKM true rev kit
custom cat-back exhaust
super chip
(larger throttle body)

maybe headers. i dont really know anyting about headers or throttle bodies. i have no idea on price/perfpormance gains/ or if i will need them. as of right now im lookin at gettin a 96' XLT V8 AWD. do you think i should get headers/ tb?