Which first upgrade from stock is best

[ExPloRedFord94]

I drive a 94 stock explorer Xlt. i have passenger tires and i went muddin today and it did ppretty good. climbed some hills and the low range really kicks ass. i definetly want to go through some sh*t with it.... any good idea on some upgrades first?? tires first?? lift??

 

[pughman]

best up grade just to go play would be tires, but then you wont like it stock hight, so you lift it, then the tires you just got look small, so you go out and get biger tires, then the gearing if off, so its time for gears.....see where im going ?

ask your self where you would like to go with your truck (d-driver, offroad only, mix) then read on here and look at other people's trucks, then how much money you have, befor you start just buying stuff....

 

[Yeeehaw86]

fix everything on it. even if it's only a little weak. you'll be happier in the long run if your truck runs nicely, instead of doing lots of mods to make it capable and it end up breaking down on a trail somewhere. in other words, fix everything before the addiction overcomes!

 

[little x]

Def. listen to what pugman said. once you start you can stop. That being said, it's a lot of fun. Most people go out and get their lift first (I did) then soon after or at the same time get new tires. Then you need to regear and get lockers. Then you'll want a more flexible lift, probably sas. Then it's time for an interior roll cage. Or you could go the unlifted rout and just buy some new tires and lockers. That would still give you a very capable 4x4. Realistically more capable then a lifted truck w/o lockers. Personally I love my TSL super swampers. They work well enough on the road. Great in the snow. And amazing on the trail. I've had mine for almost 2 years and hardly see any wear (on a DD).

 

[Arthur]

As of august my explorer had absolutely nothing done to it... the fever hit me and six months later this is what i have done... and the sad thing is that I've barely scratched the surface on what I have planned for it. Believe me when I tell you that the fever will hit you hard!

I started by installing a good stereo system in my explorer. I built a custom subwoofer enclosure and everything. Then I blew a head gasket and rebuilt the engine. I added kkm intake and cleaned up the engine compartment with red accents. I tinted the windows with 20% tint all the way around. I then installed a cb radio in the dash with a PA speaker under the hood. I took apart the suspension and replaced all the worn bushings with hyperflex polyurethane bushings, f150 coil spacers, and bilstein shocks. I needed new tires so why not go bigger? Why not get new wheels at the same time? Well I went bigger and I got new wheels. Now that my tires are bigger I want more lift and thats where I'm at right now... not even 6 months into it.

 

[gsx220]

i started with tires i got a nice set of 31x10.5's and then i did intake and exhaust , stereo now i think ill do shackles and TT maybe a body lift but from what iv been reading it seems to be the more difficult of the two.

 

[pope_face]

I'm working on mine slowly because I don't have too much cash to put into it, and I don't have the time to take it off the road to do any real work to it... so far I've gotten my stereo and alarm down... I want to go with bigger tires, and seeing as I like the security of having a spare tire and not wanted to keep a spare wheel inside or on top of the truck, I'm getting a BII rear tire carrier... that'll allow me to move the spare tire out from under the truck and hopefully have enough room to replace the muffler with a single in/dual out so I can fake having a dual exhaust... I need to replace the power steering pump, as mine whines like a little *****. I think I've got valve tick, but that's not something I can do myself at the moment, so I'm going to try an oil change and see if that helps. I want a small lift for now, so I'm going to try to pick up some Warrior shackles and the F-150 coil seats this weekend... then probably a set of wheels off a Ranger or BII and some aggressive 31's... Once I get my welder, I'll be making my own bumpers, brush guard, and safari rack... After that... the sky is the limit...

I would recommend upgrading your intake at the very least... get a larger MAF and TB and a KKM intake if you can... and a nice sounding muffler... it won't make you immediately offroad capable, but it will help your performance for when you're ripping through the muck... at the very least, it'll give you a nice tone... It's harder to impress people when your X doesn't sound like a truck...

 

[rlfknlorangers]

that was an easy call for me...i just dont like to wheel so all i wanted was a look...im more at home on the street my real toy is a body dropped ranger. but my ex has the basic tt and add a leaf and ive got the body lift and a set of 32x11.50 15s waiting to go on when i get motivated.. but because of thise forum it made all those decison a lot simpler and easy to know exactly what to do get the look i want

 

[CodePoet]

Best bang for your buck will be a lift, lockers, gears and tires. Stock routed intakes suck...litterally, they can suck water up easy. Best thing to do there is build a snorkle. i wouldn't spend much on exhaust either...if you have to rely on tone to impress people...you won't impress many haha. Research ttb lifts and you'll find that they can perform pretty well when done propperly.

 

[pope_face]

i wouldn't spend much on exhaust either...if you have to rely on tone to impress people...you won't impress many haha.

Lol... ok, I can agree to that...

But... what do TTB and SAS stand for? I think when I get around to doing a serious lift I'm going to go with the leaf springs in the front... I saw a thread on it in the offroad forum and thought it was pretty interesting... I like the idea because it seems a lot simpler once it's actually done. It would essentially replace the struts, springs, and radius arms, wouldn't it?

 

[CodePoet]

TTB=twin traction beam
SAS=solid axle swap

The ttb can perform very well IF setup correctly, longer radius arms, softer coils etc can make a very capable front end. There are advantages to a solid axle though. All the info can be found here. On a first gen though I don't see any real benifit from doing a leaf spring sas...Coils are easy!

 

[pope_face]

I have no idea what either of those mods entail... Time to search I suppose, unless someone wants to tell me what the major difference are between SAS and TTB...

Fil

 

[CodePoet]

A ttb is not a solid axle, it's an early form of IFS. Do some searchs on lift kits...those are your best bet.

 

[Arthur]

look at it this way solid axel is just what is the names says... its a solid axel similar to what you have in the rear (except you can still turn your wheels of course)

TTB is as codepoet said an early form of the independent front suspension with two separate ibeams which makes an alignment necessary with any added lift because the tops of the tires stick out further than the bottom

 

[bikeboarder]

I think I've got valve tick, but that's not something I can do myself at the moment, so I'm going to try an oil change and see if that helps.

when you change your oil try putting 4.5 quorts of oil and .5 of ATF. ATF has some good stuff in it and can really clean out the sluge. it is also light and can get in to places easier then oil (lifters). it might help.

 

[pope_face]

look at it this way solid axel is just what is the names says... its a solid axel similar to what you have in the rear (except you can still turn your wheels of course)

TTB is as codepoet said an early form of the independent front suspension with two separate ibeams which makes an alignment necessary with any added lift because the tops of the tires stick out further than the bottom

I see... I think I know what you mean then... in this case I'm assuming that an SAS is likely somewhat simpler, though not necessarily better or worse than a TTB... I understand that each may have it's pro's and con's, but when it comes to things like this I'd rather keep it simple... Now, in order to do an SAS, is there a particular axle I can purchase used that would work on an Explorer, or are they aftermarket? And although I know that coils work excellently for a lift, I'm feeling particularly stubborn and stuck on the idea of front leafs... Does anyone happen to know more or less what it would cost to purchase a solid axel, leafs for the front, and drivetrain components to get an 8" or 10" lift? I'm assuming I'll need the basics... larger tires, different gearing, longer shocks, driveshafts, etc... but is there anything else, or is this a fairly simple (even if not easy) swap to do?

when you change your oil try putting 4.5 quorts of oil and .5 of ATF. ATF has some good stuff in it and can really clean out the sluge. it is also light and can get in to places easier then oil (lifters). it might help.

Thanks for the post... I'm planning on doing an oil change this weekend, so I'll try that... should I just use the same stuff I'd put in my tranny? And will I need to change the oil again soon after, or can I run it with the ATF in it for the regular 3000 km?

Fil

 

[vroomzoomboom]

best up grade just to go play would be tires, but then you wont like it stock hight, so you lift it, then the tires you just got look small, so you go out and get biger tires, then the gearing if off, so its time for gears.....see where im going ?

ask your self where you would like to go with your truck (d-driver, offroad only, mix) then read on here and look at other people's trucks, then how much money you have, befor you start just buying stuff....

i like his answer. back in the day i had a little B2 that i started playing with. i started with a 3 inch body lift, then tires that were a little to big, then 4 inch suspension, then the tires looked to small, then got bigger tires. then it was coffin out wheel bearings, then the transfer case chain when, then smoked the tranny. to make a long story short i just got sick of fixing it every weekend, took everything out of it and sold it. do i miss it, yes. do i like having my weekends back to do what ever? hell yes!

 

[bikeboarder]

it does get dark a little faster but i think it may just be the red die that make it look dirty. I use the same stuff as the tranny. my auto tech. teacher told me you can even use 4 QT oil and 1 QT ATF. he used to work at a ford dealership and he has an '85 Baronco with 250,000+ miles that has never had the motor rebuilt or replaced that still runs quiet and smoth so i take his word for it.

 

[have2goski]

first thing I would do is add an aux trans cooler and filter. I know, your asking what does that have to do with playing in the mud. But for under $100 you might be extending the life of that tranny that is going to be a costly item to fix if you tear it up "playing"

The way I had done this was get another stock trans cooler and double it up front in the stock location. It will fit behind the grill, look stock and it only takes a couple longer bolts, some hose and a spacer or two to make work.

I got my aux trans filter kit from summit. I mounted it to the pass. frame rail above the sway bar and would change it every 3000 miles with my oil changes. once i put that filter in my trans fluid always looked good.

Adding these 2 items will increase your trans fluid capacity, cool it, filter the fluid better than the stock filter in the pan alone, and with the 3000 mile change of the filter you replace a little of the fluid at a time instead of waiting and doing a flush every umpteen thousand miles.

 

[SVO42]

The best bang for the buck? If you're going wheeling AT ALL, the first thing you do before you but a lift, tires, lockers, etc., is to make (or have made for you) a set of LOWER SHOCK MOUNT SKID PLATES for your rear shocks. Since I don't have a welder, I had a local 4x4 shop make some for me for $30. They have saved my rear shock mounts almost every time I have gone wheeling. There's an article on this site about it here: http://www.explorer4x4.com/shockplate.html. The shock mount plates mentioned in the article are now obsolete from Ford, but steel plating for the job isn't hard to get.

Skid plates may not be as cool-looking as a lift & big tires, but you should start smart. You should also, as another cheap mod, extend your axle vent lines up high so they don't allow water into your diffs.

Next, I'd do a 2" lift. Front: either 2" lift coils or F-150 spacers. Rear: Warrior shackles and an add-a-leaf. You'll fit 31s fine, maybe 32s with after market wheels with less backspacing (stock is 4.5", go for about 3.75"). I got a good deal on some 33x9.50s and they fit after some trimming. I have the rear setup I just mentioned and Skyjacker 2" lift coils. To get it aligned after the front coild cost me $150 at the alignment shop because they had to add camber shims.

Then, but a lunchbox locker in the rear axle. I have a Lock Right and I love it. You could even get the locker before the lift and tires. The main thing is to learn how to drive off-raod and practice. Go out with some others who have done it before, then watch, learn, ask questions, and HAVE FUN!