ExplorerTom
Explorer
I've had this truck for awhile now. I bought it in October 2010. I didn't buy it with intentions of doing what I have ended up dong with it- I got bit by "the bug" somewhere along the line.
When I bought it, it was your typical 2nd gen Ford Explorer:
It had about 117,000 miles. V6 SOHC motor with the 5 speed auto transmission, 3.55 gears, open diffs, and the "Control Trac" 4wd system. The Control Trac is Ford's take on the "auto" 4wd where it engages the front axle when the rear slips. Luckily there is still a switch on the dash to engage 4hi or 4lo.
When I first bought it, I spent a bunch of time going through it. The brakes pulsed at speed, the temp gauge never fully warmed up, the coolant looked bad, the plugs were original, the tires were probably what replaced the Firestones during the recall in 2000......
Brakes were up first. I went with some Duralast Gold Cmax pads and Duralast Gold rotors. The old rotors needed the BFH to remove:
This solved the pulsing problem but I wasn't thrilled with their cold bite. That initial application of the brakes on the highway wasn't the greatest.
Next was the thermostat and coolant. I immediately figured out why the temp gauge and heat output wasn't very good. The thermostat is supposed to be a single piece- not 3:
And the coolant was probably original. This is what I drained and flushed out of the radiator:
Next up where spark plugs and wires. Again, pretty sure these were original:
Rancho RS5000 shocks were put on to replace the unknown "blue" shocks that felt pretty horrible. The ride improved.
I'll update more later.
When I bought it, it was your typical 2nd gen Ford Explorer:
It had about 117,000 miles. V6 SOHC motor with the 5 speed auto transmission, 3.55 gears, open diffs, and the "Control Trac" 4wd system. The Control Trac is Ford's take on the "auto" 4wd where it engages the front axle when the rear slips. Luckily there is still a switch on the dash to engage 4hi or 4lo.
When I first bought it, I spent a bunch of time going through it. The brakes pulsed at speed, the temp gauge never fully warmed up, the coolant looked bad, the plugs were original, the tires were probably what replaced the Firestones during the recall in 2000......
Brakes were up first. I went with some Duralast Gold Cmax pads and Duralast Gold rotors. The old rotors needed the BFH to remove:
This solved the pulsing problem but I wasn't thrilled with their cold bite. That initial application of the brakes on the highway wasn't the greatest.
Next was the thermostat and coolant. I immediately figured out why the temp gauge and heat output wasn't very good. The thermostat is supposed to be a single piece- not 3:
And the coolant was probably original. This is what I drained and flushed out of the radiator:
Next up where spark plugs and wires. Again, pretty sure these were original:
Rancho RS5000 shocks were put on to replace the unknown "blue" shocks that felt pretty horrible. The ride improved.
I'll update more later.
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