Varsity's 2000 Explorer Sport

[Varsity]

The wider flares do not look good with stock size 15's (235/75/15). Seen a few, wasnt pretty. They look great with wider tires.

I appreciate the word of warning! Haha, I can totally see what you mean by that though. I see the wider flares sometimes and think "YUCK!" because they're obnoxiously wide, but then later I think it's the coolest thing... So many choices... But for now (and probably forever) I'll just stick with the thin little trim found on the "base model" sports like mine as I like to refer to them. The ones with cheap plastic looking front bumpers, plain black rear bumper, 2WD, and the pinwheel rims. Plus, I'd have to worry about painting the trim b/c grey probably won't match with gold and that could be a pain in the behind.

 

[beturner51]

Hello Varsity,
I recently purchased a 2000 Ford Explorer Sport and I love it. It has a few mechanicalproblems that I am attempting to solve i.e. automatic door locks click but only the hatchback locks and unlocks; po171 & 174 issues; minor rust issues that I will tackle when it's warmer - no garage. I love your pics and I have not been able to pload mine as of yet. I actually purcahsed a 99' Ford Explorer Sport that I kept for a year and had to sell it. Great truck though. I see you are in Chicago Ridge. I am located in Wheeling.
Bet

 

[Varsity]

Hey thanks for the compliment!! Much appreciated. These are pretty sweet trucks to have and I love mine to death. Mine could never pass as a race car but that's alright with me. Unfortunately the Sports seems to be the worst for rust but if you catch it early, it makes for a fun DIY project. And explorers for the most part are relatively cheap and easy to fix. Can't wait to see pics of your truck. Maybe if we play our cards right, we'll see each other around.

 

[Varsity]

Another quick little project under my belt and added to the truck. I saw this on a truck or two on this site and sorta had the idea on my own as well.

I mounted my big ol' Maglite. Looks pretty nice and is super accessible. Plus, it's a little bit in, so someone walking by can't just lean in and swipe it. I'll definitely edit in a better daytime pic in a day or two, but I was just excited.

 

[Keeper0311]

Nice man. I'm gonna be mounting a flashlight up front along with a small fire extinguisher.

 

[sport97]

Still haven't decided where to mount my mag. I wanted it in reach up front but couldn't find a decent place. I may just throw it in back like you, looks good there.

 

[Varsity]

Thanks guys,

Keeper, a fire extinguisher is a strong possibility for me too after seeing how nice this maglite install went. Just gotta decide where

Sport, I was thinking the exact same, since there were no spots up front that really caught my eye. I was gonna hang it on the side right by where the gate closes, but my light is too long and it looked kinda awkward there. Along the side gives it a hidden yet accessible look and kinda neat as well.

This "install" got the gears turning in my head as to what else I could stick back there...

 

[Keeper0311]

Thanks guys,

Keeper, a fire extinguisher is a strong possibility for me too after seeing how nice this maglite install went. Just gotta decide where

I've got a 5lbs extinguisher in the rear where you've installed that mag-lite. Good location and out of the way. Gonna be adding a small one up front. Not gonna be for anything other then to give me time to bail out of the truck if need be. The bigger one is to put out a fire.

 

[Varsity]

Well, nothing fun to report, other than some "maintenance." Since I am out of school for a bit, I decided to throw my spare tire on just for fun to get it included and shake the cobwebs off. While I had it, I decided to paint in black as well to match the rest of my rims. Hey, black beats rusty brown right? Either way, who knows the last time the spare was used since it looks brand spankin' new, but I threw it on for a few days, got a little over 105 miles on it and all seems to be well. It handled fine in the rain, cold and 60+mph. After this, I'll probably try to throw it on for a day or two every year just to make sure it stays fine. But here is a pic of me spraying it with some rust reformer. No idea why the shot came out vertical.

 

[sport97]

First time I used my spare was scary. It was so rusty and the tire was bubbled up too. Took a good 3-4 miles to stop the nasty shake. Its an old firestone model, probably a recalled one to boot.

 

[Varsity]

First time I used my spare was scary. It was so rusty and the tire was bubbled up too. Took a good 3-4 miles to stop the nasty shake. Its an old firestone model, probably a recalled one to boot.

Now THAT'S scary. My rim was pretty rusty but then again, most spares are so no surprise. I guess I'm lucky to have a Goodyear Wrangler for a spare.

 

[Varsity]

Next fun project was something a few guys here ended up convincing me I needed. I just kept thinking what else I could add to the other side of the truck to balance out the maglite. Well, I broke down and put a little 2.5lb. fire extinguisher on the other side. I doubt its good for much, but it looks cool and you never know. The plastic bracket is kinda deceiving, since there's a sheet of aluminum plate underneath holding the bracket there for extra support. I doubt the little screws would be a great idea by themselves.


And on a side note, my rear wiper now works like it should. It never really made full contact with the glass, and from my reading, the 98-01's never really worked too well. So, after some reading around here, I tried grinding the little nubs on the arms and now it works great! Now we just need some snow or rain so I can try it...

 

[Varsity]

Got a little fancy on the way home from work...

 

[Varsity]

Had to wait a day before making this update because I was so excited. Finally did what I consider my first "big" mod, new muffler. I went with the Dynomax Super Turbo muffler since I have the OHV and want sound quality over loudness. I actually went to a local performance shop who did an incredible job for a pretty nice price. I don't know why, but not many shops wanted to put it on, and even fewer wanted to make me a custom pipe out the back, since I wanted to go diagonal instead of straight out the back. I gotta say I'm pretty happy with it overall, since its pretty quiet but gives my truck a little deeper tone without sounding awful. Being a V6, I'm kinda limited, but definitely made the right choice. Thanks for everyone who gave me the suggestion and help.
Even showed my Dynomax love too. It's kinda a mini photo bomb so be careful.

 

[sport97]

I had a heck of a time getting a shop to because noone wanted to make a y pipe. I had it all welded up and a new tail bent for a hundred bucks.

 

[Varsity]

I had a heck of a time getting a shop to because noone wanted to make a y pipe. I had it all welded up and a new tail bent for a hundred bucks.

You made out a little better than me, mine was a bit over 200. The hardest part was just finding a place who wanted to deal with me, since three places turned me away since I didn't want to use "their" recommended muffler. The only shop that was gonna do it cheap like that conveniently "ran out of wire" when I came in. Thats like McDonalds running out of fries...I took that as a sign and found a much better place. I know I could've gotten it done cheaper elsewhere but this was a nice place with super friendly people who let me in every step of the way. They did incredible work too. I usually do my own work so my shop hunting skills are pretty awful. Either way, I couldn't be happier with the place or job they did or even the muffler. I feel like I supported local businesses too.

 

[Varsity]

On probably the worst day of the season, in the midst of hail, freezing rain and snow, I made a quick trip to the junkyard and snagged some stuff I've been waiting for for a LOOOONNNGG time! I grabbed the Sport cluster out of a '01 Sport and an almost new bug shield too. Funny enough, I grabbed the Sport emblem off the truck and decided to see how it looks on the bug shield for now. I'm pretty impressed. Once I warm up and things dry up a bit, I'm gonna go throw the buggy thing on and work on the cluster over the weekend. Also gonna try my luck at resetting the odometer on the cluster.

Pics are terrible, but its from my phone since my camera is dead. You get the gist of it though..

 

[sport97]

Nice finds, and I kinda like that sport emblem there. Looking forward to seeing that on the vehicle.

 

[Varsity]

It's been awhile since I have done anything fun with the truck as far as mods go. Winter has been fun so far, not too much snow, but decent amounts sometimes and since I drive super early in the morning, I usually see the worst of it. I really haven't let 2WD affect me too much as I've still found plenty of fun things to do with the snow.

But, I mentioned a nice pick at the junkyard on Tuesday so I spent yesterday putting them to use. First was a bug shield, no big deal to most, but I threw a newer Sport logo in the corner and I definitely like. I really haven't seen decent bug shields for less than $40 or so, and I got this one for $10, so no complaining from this end .

I also FINALLY found the white faced gauges from the '01-03 Sports after searching for a couple of years now. They have a much sportier appearance and have been worth the wait. The best part of the whole deal is that I swapped the faces from the white one onto mine, so I still have my dash and odometer. I'd much rather have my 98k miles showing rather than 187k. The only downside to the swap so far is that my gas gauge isn't quite accurate... I had no idea that the needles would be such a pain to get back in the right spot. I was hoping they'd align themselves. They didn't. It shows my full tank as 3/4 which I guess is better than the alternative. I've checked with a tool so everything else should be pretty much accurate, but the gas might be off. I'll browse around here to see if I can find something, if not, I may turn to the forum directly. The gauges are right, I can't get the needle itself to display accurately.

Lastly, I put an LED in the headlight switch. Some genius at Ford decided to have the switch glow on every time the key is in so it burns out super quickly, why 99% of Explorer owners don't even know its supposed to light up. I see why Ford would do that, but its still dumb. I know where my switch is, so I put an LED in and tied it into the dash lights, so its not ALWAYS on.

It was a really productive day and I couldn't be happier. Just need to clear up some details and I'll be fine.

 

[Varsity]

Got somewhat of a sad update. As my truck nears the big 100k, I had my first accident. I got rear ended from a dead stop while sitting at a stoplight. Totally not my fault. The other car was perfectly fine, yet my rear bumper took a big hit. It's bent pretty good. No idea what's going on as far as repairs or insurance but it doesn't seem like it's gonna be an easy process... Cooperation is pretty so-so right now but at least I have a police report to back me up, I guess. It's pretty much a waiting game right now. I'm not gonna go into much detail or post too many pics until I figure what's gonna happen but I can post the rest in a few days once I get some more feedback.




I was too choked up to even talk at the time. It just sucks that even if you do absolutely nothing wrong, someone can still come and destroy what you have. Luckily she's still driveable and all, but I still get sad every time I walk by it.