2001 Ford Explorer Sport mods?

[roOism]

Hello all,

First post on here, so a quick intro. Found this site through a referral from zombiesquad.org. I've been an outdoor enthusiast most of my life, though most of my expeditions have been on foot. I moved to AZ from Idaho about 6 years ago and my outdoor adventures have taken a steep decline.

Glad to have found this site, great info and inspiration on here.

No onto business. I own a 2001 Ford Explorer Sport. It currently has about 93K miles on it, has had some problems with shorting wires in the past, but otherwise has been a good vehicle for the last few years.

I haven't taken it too far off the beaten path, but it has performed well enough for a stock vehicle.

With that in mind, I would like to make this more off-road worthy. I have searched around the web and haven't found much info on mods being done to this particular vehicle.

First off, is this a vehicle worth putting money into to soup up?
If so, any direction on what worthwhile mods to be done would be much appreciated. I wish I had more specific questions but I am very new to this whole concept. Also, any info on mods specific to the desert environment would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance, I look forward to spending more time here and learning much.

~roO

 

[FROADER]

If it's got enough room for you, then it's worth putting money into. The 4.0l SOHC is a great engine and there are a few ways to make your rig off-road worthy. www.explorerforum.com/forums is a huge/awesome/endless resource for your vehicle.

Below is Jenn's '03 (same as an '01 and maybe bigger than you want to go) with 33s and about a 3" lift. She also started building a platform inside to sleep on. Here is her thread on explorer forum.

Typical questions for a request like yours.
Is the rig 4wd or 2wd?
What type of driving do you want to set it up for?
How big of a tire do you want to run?
What is your budget? <-- will most likely determine what method to use for lift.

 

[lllateralus]

Since it is the sport, I'll assume its a 4.0 V6 with 4WD. GREAT engine. Yes, in my opinion this is a great platform for off roading. These are durable trucks that will take a pounding off road and the sport would look pretty awesome in off-road prep form.

 

[roOism]

Spot on assumption, yes it's a 4.0 V6, 4WD.

Thanks for that picture Froader that tire size looks about what I'm wanting to do. I don't want to do any rock crawling with it, but I want to be able to take it out in the desert over rough terrain without worrying about bottoming out.

As far as budget, I don't want to go crazy, but I make a decent wage and have few debts.

Aside from lifting, I'd like to do whatever needs to be done to make this run well both as an offroad and a regular day use vehicle. I keep up on regular maintenance, but as I said aside from the basics I'm pretty lost on auto mechanics. I'd like to learn how to dive in and do most of this stuff myself (I'll check out the explorerforum, thanks for the link) and for the most part just haven't taken the time to do it yet.

 

[00V8]

Here is my old explorer, I got rid of it and missed it bad so I purchased a newer 5.0L Model. It was lifted with a 3" body lift, 2" torsion bar twist and shackles on 33x12.50 tires. I had about 1500 in the lift, wheels, and tires. It was great in most all conditions.

The new one is getting the same treatment, maybe a slightly smaller body lift though.

 

[SteveG]

http://www.dixonbrosracing.com/content/blogsection/2/6/

 

[Scott B.]

I'll second what Froader said.

My '93 Ranger (the one in my avatar) has over 300K miles on it. Virtually the same truck as yours (wheelbase difference obviously.)

Great trucks - lots of people tinker/modify them, so there is a lot of information to be had.