Tired of my vehicle being a conversation piece! | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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Tired of my vehicle being a conversation piece!

RadioFlyer91

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I just felt the need to blow off a little steam about my truck. Does anyone else notice the increased number of people you do not know, or for that matter know, pointing out and asking you about the recent safetly flaws with the explorer? Making your truck either an ice-breaker or conversation piece? Not a day goes by that someone does not ask me if I have Firestone tires, or aren't you afraid it will roll over? I purchased my vehicle as an SUV. Sport Utility Vehicle. I purchased it so that I can transport more than 2 people off road, and because of the storage space offered. The speedometer clearly reads 55 in red so you are advised not to take it over that. However it makes the interstate trip at max speed quite often, safely. I have the common sense that my truck could roll if I drive it at 85 mph and then swerve to avoid a car I overlooked while drinking my coffee, talking on the cell phone, reading the paper, and adjusting the radio station during rush hour traffic! It just seems as if the vehicle has been damned by the gods, and being a strong advocate for the manufacturers, I usually avoid the topic vehicles should be safer, because it gets me in an uproar! Some people should not be driving these vehicles.

Here's to the 10 years and 87 thousand miles my vehicle has travelled up and down the highways safely and promptly, and formerly on Firestone ATX Tires! No airbags, no passive restraints and no tip overs!
 



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Don't worry about it. In a couple of weeks there will be something else that stupid people will use to start conversations or get you riled up. Just say "I did not know that, thank you for your concern." or some other smart remark and walk away. Unless of course it is cute girls that are asking you, then you are obligated to take them for a ride to show how safe Explorers are. ;) :D
 






Amen! To the gilr part! I agree, It will be something else in a couple.
 












OK but you know...guys ask the same stupid question.. all I have to do is stop at a Wawa for coffee and I get all kinds of questions... I just shrug ...tell them that some roll overs happen mostly because the salesman lied and told these people that the Explorer can be driven like a car...I talk to alot of Explorer owner soccer moms that loved their Explorer "because I don't feel like I am driving a truck..." To get my point accross to them I pointed to a Ford Ranger in the lot and asked them if they thought they would drive that differently than an Explorer...Can you guess? I got " well yeah because that is a pick up truck and you drive trucks differently" or " yeah because a pick up truck is heavier than a car and can't stop as fast or turn as quick" ok are we now wondering why so many roll overs? I mean...are people really that stupid? I don't profess to know everything nor do I feel like I am especially knowledgable about cars..trucks.. but come on...
I mean sometimes its like comparing flying a Cessna to a Jumbo Jet..knowing how to fly does not mean you can fly anything I still love my Explorer and look at it like this.... so now that the Explorer is not so popular...it will lower the price for me and I can buy another one soon...:)
 












Call this ignorance, but what is a Wawa? I am in Illinois and have never seen one.

Dave

BTW, I too feel that people should realize that these are trucks and that they are not meant to be driven like a sports car (although I do).
 






Originally posted by BigDave
Call this ignorance, but what is a Wawa? I am in Illinois and have never seen one.

It's a convienance chain store...like Sheetz or something like that.
 






I've got it!!!! When someone asks you a dumb question just tell them that your Explorer is a rental and you aren't concerned. They will get a confused look and walk away. This would be especially funny if your Explorer is modified in any way. :D
 






I had a fellow at a gas station ask me about the truck.. white letters out so you can CLEARLY see the 'BFGoodrich' label. He asks me if I were worried about having a blowout with those bad Firestone tires. I told him that the BFGoodrich's I had weren't part of the Firestones recall. Then he says, Why? Are they made at another plant?


Later it finally dawned on me.. I think, he thinks the BF stands for Bridgestone Firestone...It is the only thing I have thought of that makes any sense of that.

If ignorance is bliss, why isn't the world a happier place?

Never heard of WAWA or Sheetz,.. Circle K or 7-11 I do know of though.

If they did have rental modified 4x4's wouldn't it be cool?
 






wawa,sheetz,circle k,7-11, all pretty much the same.

Modified 4x4 rentals....THEY DO EXIST!!! One place I know they have 'em is in Cape Hatteras, NC, specially geared for surf fishing! Nothing to fancy, just bigger tires and some have a little lift, with some fancy exterior mods for hauling beach/surf fishing gear.

As for peoples' Firestone/Explorer comments, I usually say "hey, no matter what I drive or what kind of tires I drive on, I always check them, it's no different than needing to check you oil. Prevention is the best safety feature!"

[Edited by Ru Dawg on 10-16-2000 at 07:55 AM]
 






You know the reason everyone talks about the Explorer? Because, it's the number one selling SUV nine years in a row. That’s why. And when there are hundreds of thousands more Explorers on the road then anything else in the SUV arena its no wonder it's always up front on the news. It's the same reason people hate Bill Gates. He's the richest man in the world. It's not because he has a monopoly. If it where, why not pick on the owner of YKK? What's YKK you ask? Look at your zipper. There is a 98% chance it has the YKK logo on it. Talk about a monopoly. But is anybody busting his but? No. He's not number one. So next time you hear of Explorers, rest assured it's because it's the number one SUV in the world. So just smile and have pity on their envious cries of jealousy.
 






Anytime people see my Explorer its always the conversation peice. :) Just yesterday some 11 or 12 year old boy saw it and was like jaw dropped and said "Can I have your truck". LOL I told him naw... :) I am used to it since its happened the whole time I have owned it.
 






I especially like it when my neighbour says "Where is your Jeep?" :rolleyes:
 






I especially like it when girls whistle! One day I was driving down Bowles (for those that aren't in LIttleton... basically a semi-main street, between 4-6 lanes depending on where you get on...) I have my windows down and these two girls pull up in their Jeep Grand Cherokee and yell "hey nice Explorer!" I say "thanks!" stupid me... STUPID... I should've said "you want a ride in it?" but that just proves how stupid I am sometimes. LOL. I love being spotted in that thing... I was even told that one of Riffman's friends spotted me and had no idea who I was! Just said "I saw this black explorer with a ****load of lights!" LOL. I have people ask me about the Firestone thing too... there like "are you worried that you might roll over with firestones?" I just want to slap them sometimes. 1) I don't have anything that closely resembles a Firestone tire, not even as a spare! 2)If I was worried about rolling I certainly wouldn't be as high as I am and 3)I can never even HOPE to get fast enough to blow out a firestone, LOL. I usually just come up with some dumbass comment like "I sold my Firestones the second I bought the explorer... poor sucker"
 






Its funny but I never have been asked about the Firestone thing. I never even had them! I have no idea what type of tire I had on the thing when I got it some generic brand of some sort. I can't even remember how long those lasted. Maybe a month before I got some new BFG All-Terains. Course those All-Terrains lasted a month then I got the Muds in the big size! :)
 






My mother in law calls it "the Van" (we used to have an Aerostar van). My wife and son go up to see her every once in a while, or to to pick her up and bring her back for a visit, usually on a Sunday. Well, Steve (Jr.) likes to drive the old man's Lexus on the weekends, and they sometimes drive it up there instead of the Explorer while I'm home watching football in my underwear and eating potato chips. Whenever they do that she says "Why ain't you drivin the Van?" Steve comes home and says "Dad, she called the Explorer a van again!", he;s very proud of the truck and it really pisses him off. Another time we were at the beach and we had just gotten out of the Explorer, at a putt putt or something. Well, we have the automatic lights. This woman says "Sir, is that your van over there? The lights are on!"

Does this mean I need mods or something? :D
 















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Hmm.. Well to be simple and to start little. I would do some stuff for the power. :) I would honestly start with the KKM filter. That was my first mod and I still say its the best one for Horsepower so far. You honestly will like it the best for your mountain trips and any heavy foot needed application in driving. Its a tad bit louder but it sounds good to my ears. :) You already got Michlens if I remember correctly which accually do really well off-road. My dad had them on our Isuzu Trooper for about 70k+ miles before he replaced them and they did really well off-road. Hmm... Wet your appitite with that and that will just probably get the ball rolling. :) It can be a landslide so watch out.
 






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