1992 Ford Dora the Explorer Build

[turboki]

Hi all, my buddy Martti (recce03 here) suggested I post my build on here, but I have not really had a lot of time. But now I'm sitting in Bali (vacation from my vacation) enjoying a monsoon rain storm and find myself with some time so here goes nothing. I hope you enjoy it. Also, if you want to follow along with my trip/truck you can check out my blog: www.turboki.com

Anyways, about 3 months ago I started my Pan-American journey from San Diego, to Fairbanks, down to Ushua (or however far the truck/bank account take me) and I'm doing it in a 1992 Ford Explorer. Now this is not your typical overlanding vehicle I know, but I've put a lot of thought and time into this build and I think it's now more than capable of doing what I want it to do.

When I first started planning my trip I had a list of criteria that a vehicle would have to satisfy:
1. It has to be 4x4
2. It has to be reliable
3. It has to be abundant throughout the Americas
4. It has to be field maintainable
5. It has to get reasonable milage
6. The overall budget (vehicle + equipment + repair + mods) would be under 15k

 

[turboki]

That last one really limited me. I know a lot of you spend that much just on lighting, but I wanted to quit my job, and travel as long as possible so I limited my budget. In my garage I had an 07 Honda Fit and a 65 Chevy C10 so I had nothing lying around I could use, so I went on a hunt. Right off the bat I started looking at Yodas, Rovers and Mitsus, but all of these had issues. In the Yoda category my only real option was the second gen 4Runner, but those trucks are tragically under powered and ridiculously complicated to work on. Land Rovers were a similar story. Most of my budget would go to just the base vehicle without making it bullet proof. There were a few Mitsus and Datsuns, but nothing really caught my eye. I was hoping to find a nice FJ60 with minimal rust under 5k, but that was proving close to impossible, and then a poor, abused little 92 Explorer XLT dropped into my lap.

This truck belonged to my buddy Will, who has had for almost 20 years and has used it thoroughly, but it was free. This meant that I could dedicate the bulk of my 15k towards rebuilding the whole thing exactly to my spec, and in the process I'd learn everything about it. At first I thought this would be a 5k build total, but the reality is rarely that generous, and so far I've been almost exactly on the 15k budget. It did, however kind of hit all of my selling points. It's 4x4, has the german built OHV 4.0L V6 that will run on 2 cyl if it needs to, it's simple as can be, shares most parts with the Ranger, both of which litter every nook and cranny from here to Argentina, is way more torquey than the other trucks I was looking at (ehm 4runner) and surprisingly gets 14-15mph. In terms of modern trucks this sucks, but for the price range, this is actually pretty decent.

The first impressions driving it home, however, were a little scary. It ran really rough, what was left of the tires felt like they were made of chunky peanut butter, the breaks did not exist and 3rd gear synchro was no longer in the gearbox. It was also covered in a very fine layer dust and dog hair, inside and out. But, it made it back to my garage and I get to work on it. The first step was to do the basics. Oil change, spark plugs and wires, all filters. I also started the tear down of the interior to clean it out. My surprise when I found a nice layer of gravel. Every latch, spring and joint were seized with dust and hair. Turns out my buddy Will used to shovel gravel/dirt/yard trimmings/etc whenever he needed to haul something. I think however that the gravel may have spared the floor from rusting, so not all bad news.

 

[turboki]

After an initial cleanup, I turned to debugging the motor issues. There were no codes being thrown, and the motor ran really smooth and strong with gas, but on idle it sputtered. It also smelled like crap and I knew there was no way it would pass smog. After running a series of tests I found that the compression in one cylinder was low, and that it was the head to blame. So I tore into the motor.

 

[turboki]

What I found was that one valve was bent and had been for a while. The intake was totally caked in soot. The heads made their way to the machine shop and I got on the problem of bad accessories. I swapped out the PS pump, cleaned up the alternator and determined the AC pump was totally shot, so I disconnected it, for good measure. I also saw how rusted the water was in the motor so I flushed and replaced the radiator, lines and thermostat. Well, the news was a little worse than I thought. The bent valve was just the start of the problem. The head was actually cracked at the valve so there was no way to repair it. Instead I had to get a whole new head, but luckily, these things are pretty cheap so $400 later I had a nice new top end. Surprisingly, this made the truck actually pass smog on the first run and I got new plates and registration shortly there after. The next phase was fabrication. I wanted a front bumper with a hitch receiver and skid plate, rear bumper with a 6th tire and jerry can mounts and a safari rack with 4 roof top lights.

 

[turboki]

The fabrication looked good, but the guy doing the work for me screwed me and did not deliver what I paid for. The front bumper and the rack both came out good, but the rear bumper did not have any mounts. I'll spare you the horror story, but 2 months of chasing him down, I was happy I got at least a complete truck back. The next step was to paint the truck and install some accessories. Being on a budget, and knowing the truck would get some abuse I opted for flat black rattle can style. I also installed 4 classic KC Daylighters and a Warn 8000 winch.

 

[turboki]

The next step was to get some new shoes on the truck. I got 2 extra wheels from the junk yard, and picked up 6 new Yokohama Geolander tires. I also swapped out the front and rear pads. The tire shop I went to did not have what I would call the most sophisticated tools, but the tires were cheaper than anywhere else I could find.

Now that the truck was all nice on the outside I decided to fix up the inside. I replaced most of the broken panels and switches and I also decided to rhino line the back, instead of returning the filthy carpet.

I still needed to hook up the lights, so I drilled holes in the roof, ran grommets then siliconed everything in place. I also attached a layer of plastic over the wiring and waterproofed the inside of the roof, just as extra protection. I ran three switches to the front console: front inside, front outside and rear.

 

[turboki]

I then started thinking about the electrical system. I don't need to run anything crazy in the truck, but I did want to put in a fridge, power the lights and also be able to run the winch without killing my battery. I thought about putting in a second battery, but space is a concern so I opted instead for a high gauge wiring upgrade and a HO alternator. I ended up getting a 225 amp from Mr. Alternator (great amp btw) and installing 0 gauge wire. Initially I went with CCA wire since it was CHEAP and 0 gauge is so over the top for the current I will be running, but it very quickly became apparent that CCA is crap of the highest caliber and I ended up rewiring everything with very expensive solid copper wire.I also added power distribution blocks in the back of the truck for the rear winch mount, 12v outlets and the fridge power drop. For the power source I added a 400amp fuse and a 600amp relay that switches on when the truck is on. The upside is that the entire electrical system is isolated when the truck is off, so no chance at drainage, but the fridge is off too. This is not too much of a problem as the fridge I got seals really well. Speaking of which, the fridge I bought is the Edgestar 80qt fridge freezer. It was 1/3 of the cost of the smaller ARB one but has worked flawlessly for 3 months now. It has this fast freeze option too that comes in very handy when I add fish or meat into the box. I also ended up cleaning up the factory electrical system by replacing all the fuses, stripping out an old ****ty alarm and upgrading all the ground and alternator wires to 0 gauge as well.

Next step, suspension. All new bushings, control arm and shocks. I went with budget shocks up front, but the rears I upgraded to load adjusting Monroes. I knew how much I would be hauling so the extra coilover made that shock very desirable. I was toying with the idea of lifting the truck, but I'm not planning on going anywhere too crazy and if anything broke, I would rather be closer to stock.

 

[turboki]

Well, at this point the truck is running great, handles great, even had all the wiring done, but there was a problem of only having 1 spare and no extra gas, so my dad and I decided to augment the rear bumper and add the swing out. What we did was pick up a CJ bumper with a wheel mount, splice the two bumpers, and fabricate some jerry can carriers. Not the prettiest solution, but it was cheap and works really really well. We sealed it, painted it then rhino lined it for extra protection. I also decided to add some flair and added astro turf as padding in both the jerry can holders and for the back of the truck. I also added a CB antenna mount, which proved to be useless since CB radios kind of suck. I got my Ham licence since so next step is getting a proper radio.

The last thing on my agenda was to get the AC working. I replaced the entire system, no pics unfortunately. All lines, pump, etc and its now blowing cold, but the black paint made the truck heat up like crazy, so it was time to go back to rattle cans and paint the truck white...well more police.

Equipment wise, the truck is sporting a Warn M8000 winch, Tepui roof top tent, Garmin Nuvi GPS, Jensen touchscreen media player, a full array of rescue and tow straps and hooks, 2 axes, shovel, hatchet, machete, hi-lift with wide base, 10 extra gallons of fuel, 6 gallons of water, a surfboard, my mountain bike, an entire array of spare parts all camping and survival gear and probably 12 other things I forgot about.

This is what the truck looks like at the moment:

I need to paint the hood back to black, cause the roof lights cause some crazy reflection. There were other things I've done to the truck that I have not really documented, like new speakers, entertainment, new muffler, rust repair, new windshield, new driver side rear door and tons of crap that just needed to be fixed.

The truck has so far made it up to Alaska and back down to San Diego with pretty much no issues. The only problem I've had is that it pings under load and I'm actively working on fixing it.

 

[turboki]

In the meant time I've had to rebuild the top end again cause a faulty PCV valve caused a minor coolant leak and I found the seals in the MBC were going so I replaced before it got me killed. I also found that the rooftop tent is nice, but sometimes you just want to sleep where you park so I ripped out the back seat and converted the entire back to storage and a bed. Unfortunately I lost my phone that had the latest pictures, so I don't have the final product pictured, but I have all of my stuff in the truck now, instead of on the roof, and I have a bed I can sleep in if I don't wish to camp.

 

[turboki]

As I said I'm in Bali at the moment and my WIFI is crap, but I'd do my best to answer questions if you guys have any.

 

[garoNC]

Ya know, of all the builds I have seen here on EP, I think yours epitomizes the build for the common working man. No fluff, just stuff that works. You did a very good job and I really enjoyed reading about it. Happy and safe adventures to you.

 

[4x4junkie]

Very nice build. Owning a couple closely-related vehicles myself, I've always enjoyed reading builds on these rigs since they seldom are recognized for their excellent potential.

I had some issues with pinging in the past on my Ranger (4.0L) which replacing the O2 sensors with Bosch parts helped. Certain brands of gas seemed to cause more pinging than others too (Mobil was especially bad, but oddly, it rarely pinged on Arco or most other so-called "cheap" brands of gas). A dirty MAF sensor can be a culprit also. Some things you might check for anyway (under-torqued lower intake bolts from the factory were a known issue also, though since you've already had yours apart, you should be OK there).

Just in case you haven't found them yet, you might check out www.therangerstation.com, and www.explorer4x4.com. Just about everything you could possibly ever want to know about upfitting it for offroad work to making simple repairs and helpful maintenance tips.


About your CB issue... There are infact very good radios out there, but you do have to look around a bit (don't just buy at the bottom rung). What's more important though is mounting your antenna up high and in the clear where much of the antenna isn't blocked by the vehicle's body (this could be why you had an issue).
I've always liked the Uniden PRO-510XL or 520XL for inexpensive (but good) no-frills radios. These have nice clear transmitted audio and a decent receiver with low noise (both are rare in their price bracket). They are also quite compact in size.
Of course this still leaves the issue of the greatest radio in the world not helping if the person with whom you're trying to talk to also has an inferior station... (you can blame Wal-Mart for this, among others)


Good luck with your build. Get to know it well and you should find the Ex to be more practical than some of the other more "popular" vehicle choices out there (certainly this has been the case with mine anyway). I see you have a stickshift... Get it running well and you should see 21-23 MPG if you keep it at stock height and ignore those asinine tire PSI numbers that are on the door placard (this as long as you don't have 3.27:1 axle gears).

 

[98dango]

I love the the green this is wicked cool.

 

[Socal4X4]

Awesome build!!!!

 

[turboki]

Very nice build. Owning a couple closely-related vehicles myself, I've always enjoyed reading builds on these rigs since they seldom are recognized for their excellent potential.

I had some issues with pinging in the past on my Ranger (4.0L) which replacing the O2 sensors with Bosch parts helped. Certain brands of gas seemed to cause more pinging than others too (Mobil was especially bad, but oddly, it rarely pinged on Arco or most other so-called "cheap" brands of gas). A dirty MAF sensor can be a culprit also. Some things you might check for anyway (under-torqued lower intake bolts from the factory were a known issue also, though since you've already had yours apart, you should be OK there).

Just in case you haven't found them yet, you might check out www.therangerstation.com, and www.explorer4x4.com. Just about everything you could possibly ever want to know about upfitting it for offroad work to making simple repairs and helpful maintenance tips.


About your CB issue... There are infact very good radios out there, but you do have to look around a bit (don't just buy at the bottom rung). What's more important though is mounting your antenna up high and in the clear where much of the antenna isn't blocked by the vehicle's body (this could be why you had an issue).
I've always liked the Uniden PRO-510XL or 520XL for inexpensive (but good) no-frills radios. These have nice clear transmitted audio and a decent receiver with low noise (both are rare in their price bracket). They are also quite compact in size.
Of course this still leaves the issue of the greatest radio in the world not helping if the person with whom you're trying to talk to also has an inferior station... (you can blame Wal-Mart for this, among others)


Good luck with your build. Get to know it well and you should find the Ex to be more practical than some of the other more "popular" vehicle choices out there (certainly this has been the case with mine anyway). I see you have a stickshift... Get it running well and you should see 21-23 MPG if you keep it at stock height and ignore those asinine tire PSI numbers that are on the door placard (this as long as you don't have 3.27:1 axle gears).

Thanks bud!

I've been glued to all the ranger and explorer forums for a while. I've already eliminated the MAF, the intake, the vacuum lines, fuel pump and filter and ignition system as a culprit. I'm down to sensors and ECU. It's gotta be the O2 or barometric pressure sensors. The 92s don't have a knock sensors or EGR so at least I don't have to replace those. I'll track it down eventually, and hopefully I'll get it running perdy! I might even just do a full block rebuild. The machine shop I use charge $1500 for a total rebuild (everything including overbore) so it may be worth it if I can't get it to play nice without.

It is a stick shift, but I think I do have the 3.27 gears cause this truck has never had better than 15mpg millage. If I could hit 20 I would be soooooooo happy.

What do you mean by asinine PSI numbers? Should it run higher or lower psi?

As for the radio, I'm running the Uniden 510 and it works great if I'm convoying with others, but when I was in the Yukon, and there was no one around for miles, it kind of made it useless. Same story will be down in Baja and parts of South America, so I wan't to replace it with an Ham radio that I could get hundreds of miles of range and the use of repeater stations all over the world.