Hi all! Just thought I'd post something about my own Explorer for once.
I'm a 18 year old Minnesota college student, therefore I needed something cheap and reliable to drive to and from campus. The first car I had ever driven was a 2000 Explorer XLT, which is now my sister's. I loved driving it, even with its transmission problems.
Anyway, I found this gem of an Explorer on craigslist for $400 last April, bought it for $325. It only had 124k miles on it when bought! I don't have much of a before/after comparison sadly, except for the one picture of the drivers side turn signal. Hours of blood and sweat (figuratively and literally) have gone into getting her up and running.
Anyway here's the only picture before all of my work on it.
According to the previous owner (It was a single family car), the son's friend backed into it on the drivers side front fender, and an atv hit it on the passenger side front fender.
Here's a few photos as of October 17. I've done quite a bit of work with the front end in general.
Interior is actually really clean. Aftermarket Pioneer radio header is installed.
So far the work I've done to it
-Replaced radius arm bushings
-Fluid flushes
-Replaced fenders, bumper, headlight housings, grille
-Replaced speedometer cable, cluster, and speed sensor
-Replaced brake calipers
-Replaced gas tank skid plate
-Had my mechanic replace passenger upper and lower ball joints (I don't have knowledge or tools to do so)
I still have a few quirks to work out. After all, it is 22 years old.
-4x4 does not work. It's the transfer case motor for sure.
-Auto locking hubs are supposedly blown (I replaced them but my mechanic later told me they were blown again. Thinking of going with manual)
-Rear passenger doors are a bit troublesome. Drivers side doesn't open from inside and passengers side is hard to open from outside.
-Sometimes has trouble starting, but has always eventually started.
So far owning a First Gen Explorer has been a great experience. I've had the occasional headaches, but it's been something I can easily work on and learn (Even though I'm a computer science major) and something that's pretty reliable. I've even started taking it out on my friend's 46 acres of land. Even with just 2 hi it goes through mud and dirt easily.
I'm thinking of eventually investing in a brush guard, some off-road lights, and maybe a small lift and bigger tires. But that's probably not for a while. After all, college is expensive!
I'm a 18 year old Minnesota college student, therefore I needed something cheap and reliable to drive to and from campus. The first car I had ever driven was a 2000 Explorer XLT, which is now my sister's. I loved driving it, even with its transmission problems.
Anyway, I found this gem of an Explorer on craigslist for $400 last April, bought it for $325. It only had 124k miles on it when bought! I don't have much of a before/after comparison sadly, except for the one picture of the drivers side turn signal. Hours of blood and sweat (figuratively and literally) have gone into getting her up and running.
Anyway here's the only picture before all of my work on it.
According to the previous owner (It was a single family car), the son's friend backed into it on the drivers side front fender, and an atv hit it on the passenger side front fender.
Here's a few photos as of October 17. I've done quite a bit of work with the front end in general.
Interior is actually really clean. Aftermarket Pioneer radio header is installed.
So far the work I've done to it
-Replaced radius arm bushings
-Fluid flushes
-Replaced fenders, bumper, headlight housings, grille
-Replaced speedometer cable, cluster, and speed sensor
-Replaced brake calipers
-Replaced gas tank skid plate
-Had my mechanic replace passenger upper and lower ball joints (I don't have knowledge or tools to do so)
I still have a few quirks to work out. After all, it is 22 years old.
-4x4 does not work. It's the transfer case motor for sure.
-Auto locking hubs are supposedly blown (I replaced them but my mechanic later told me they were blown again. Thinking of going with manual)
-Rear passenger doors are a bit troublesome. Drivers side doesn't open from inside and passengers side is hard to open from outside.
-Sometimes has trouble starting, but has always eventually started.
So far owning a First Gen Explorer has been a great experience. I've had the occasional headaches, but it's been something I can easily work on and learn (Even though I'm a computer science major) and something that's pretty reliable. I've even started taking it out on my friend's 46 acres of land. Even with just 2 hi it goes through mud and dirt easily.
I'm thinking of eventually investing in a brush guard, some off-road lights, and maybe a small lift and bigger tires. But that's probably not for a while. After all, college is expensive!
