Travis' 94 - The Culmination! | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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Travis' 94 - The Culmination!

Thanks for checking out my thread!

I've owned about a dozen 1st & 2nd gen Explorers over the last 8 years. I've done Dana 44's on a 1st gen, coilovers on a 2nd gen, uniball uppers, leveling kits, lift kits, fabricated a handful of front ends, shock hoops, bedcages, the list goes on and on. For my latest truck, I began my search towards the end of last summer & actually started out looking for a 2nd gen, (I really like the ones with the AC in the center console). Thankfully this truck was not needed as a daily driver, so I was able to take my time. I happen to stumble across this extremely clean 1st gen that reminded me so much of my favorite Explorer, which was also a white 94 with black wheels. I could not pass this truck up. Here in Southern California, these trucks are getting very, very tough to come by, and this was one of the cleanest 1st gens I have ever seen. Here are the specs:

1994 XLT
218,000 miles without a rear main leak, signs of a power steering leak, mostly clean oil pan & block, clean rear end & under carriage
4x4 - A4LD - Pushbutton 4x4 - Stock auto hubs
3.73 Limited Slip
Full power seats with lumbar & bolsters
A small additional lower exterior trim piece that seems to not be too common
31x10.50R15 Toyo AT knock offs on Pro Comp Series 51 steelies
Kenwood Deck with a pyle (o' ****) sub in the stock location


I'm 9 months behind on making this thread, and I have done A TON with this truck, so stay tuned for a lot of catching up!!!

Current pic
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Here are the photos from day 1 (October 13, 2019)
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October 17, 2019

Clear corners are my thing on these trucks. 1st mod, 4 days later. I splurged on the latest all clear aftemarket specials with LED DRLS.
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October 20, 2019

I quickly realized that the auto hubs were not engaging. This problem is so common, I consider it a mandatory upgrade on 1st gens. I switched them out to no name brand manual hubs, removed the front and rear sway bars, and headed to my first 4x4 outing. I watched the sun come up with my son at our local spot a mile from my house. We've made countless trips to this location, but it had been a while since we had a 4x4 capable of the hill. You'll see my son a lot in this thread, he's my motivation to explore. At 6 years old, he's got more dirt miles under his belt than most adults!
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November 1st, 2019

My son and I headed out to the Anza Borrego desert. Before this trip I made a couple other mandatory 1st gen improvements. The door strikers were replaced, and new panel clips went into all of the door panels. These 2 things always make a difference!

 
























December 1st, 2019

I swapped out the mirrors to the 2nd gen version with puddle lights. I also noticed that the actual mirror lense was slightly larger. I was able to keep all of the power adjustment, and tie into the interior door panel light for my 12v to the puddle light. I cut the harness out of the newer truck, so after it was spliced in, the mirrors just plugged in.
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December 21-22, 2019

I began to prep for a trip that I had planned for after Christmas. The truck got new pads & rotors, new hatch window struts, a larger clip on rearview mirror, a small lift with fullsize Bronco coils and a quick set of home built shackles. I built these shackles a little shorter than warriors with the intention of also adding an F-150 leaf pack down the road.
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March 28, 2020

We made a pretty long off road run from Julian CA, down the Oriflame truck trail, and into the Anza Borrego desert eventually going down diablo drop off, and into Fish Creek, (didnt take enough pics because we've done this run a million times!)
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I'm surprised we haven't run into each other on the trails. You seem to run the same trails I do when I take off for a spur of the moment run. I've gone through Oraflame Canyon dozens of times. Did Rodriguez Canyon to Blair Valley last month and Valley of the Moon in May.
 






Man I love those LED DRLs. I haven’t seen those on a gen1 before and it sure does update the look.
 






wicked cool thread the best part is the smiles on your sons face :)
Love the DRL lights!! Makes me want a gen I!!!!!!!
 



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I like where this build is going. Julian is my old hometown. Need to get back down there and do some exploring.
 






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