4 Vehicle Choice for Budget SUV

[Ranger Steve]

I found a killer deal on my WJ when I was looking for a ZJ. I would say to look for both and when the good deal pops up you jump on it. The WJ has a stronger unibody then the zj. You can easily find a set of used 31's on rims with 5x4.5 lug pattern for your zj. The WJ has 5x5 like the 07-newer wranglers and grands. I did a 3" lift and took 32" tires from a jk rubicon owner that upgraded to 35's and it's been working out great.

 

[Madmaxwell87]

Figured I'd follow up on this for everyone who helped. I ended up getting a 93 Explorer. It had only 105k on it! While it doesn't have the best engine power wise it is a fairly bullet proof drivetrain (once you get a trans cooler) that can be modified for long travel pretty easy for the future. It has a ton of cargo room and the parts are so plentiful and cheap it will let me explore more instead of saving for parts. I have a set of 31" mickey thompson baja mtz on the way. A set of bilstein 4600 shocks will follow and then it's off to find the limits of a stock limited slip and mud terrains.

 

[dar395]

Mine is a little different. As usual it's a small budget~$2500-3000. However I have done some research and have narrowed it down to 4 vehicles. Explorer (no 95-01 due to timing chain issues for ohc v6 and 5 speed trans with issues, v8 gets horrible mpg)

Ya I know what you mean our hill climber/Ice buggy has just 237k on her and just waiting for it to go!

 

[4x4junkie]

Figured I'd follow up on this for everyone who helped. I ended up getting a 93 Explorer. It had only 105k on it! While it doesn't have the best engine power wise it is a fairly bullet proof drivetrain (once you get a trans cooler) that can be modified for long travel pretty easy for the future. It has a ton of cargo room and the parts are so plentiful and cheap it will let me explore more instead of saving for parts. I have a set of 31" mickey thompson baja mtz on the way. A set of bilstein 4600 shocks will follow and then it's off to find the limits of a stock limited slip and mud terrains.

Congrats on the new rig!
105K is just broken in too. Those 4.0L motors regularly hit well past 300K when maintained. I also see an occasional A4LD hitting that mark too, so there's a chance for that as well with the aux cooler to keep it cool and taking care of it (the 3.73 gears help).

If you haven't checked it out yet, you might join up over at www.therangerstation.com. Just about every modification & maintenance tip you can imagine has been contributed over the last 17 years I think it's been by the site's members. Tons of great info for these rigs that is also very well organized.
Another you may find some decent info scattered about on is www.explorerforum.com, though I don't think it's organization is as good.

Keep us posted.

 

[Madmaxwell87]

Thank you! It was nice to end up in a Ford and with the suspension that I wanted (I want a bronco some day for the same reason). It wont be getting too many mods besides wheels, tires, stereo, maybe some clear outer lights and led interior lights. In a while it will get fiberglass fenders, longer radius arms, some nice reservoir shocks and be a great desert/exploring rig.

Thanks for the links. I'm on explorer forum a lot but not as much on the ranger site. I know they had the same drive train and suspension so there's a lot of nice cross over.

 

[Madmaxwell87]

Picture of it so far. Stereo, speakers, Bilstein 4600 for the front and Monroe Load Adjust for the rear to be installed soon

 

[32vsnake]

congrats.. looks like a good find

 

[Buddha.]

Looks like a good find, jealous of the 3.73 and limited slip.

 

[Madmaxwell87]

Thank you. Yeah I bought it because it was mechanically what I wanted (TTB front end, 8.8 rear and the gears and LSD) and mechanically perfect. It needs some cosmetic work and some key upgrades but it should do exactly what I want.

 

[4x4junkie]

Good score
Looks like a nice clean slate to work with.

 

[Martinjmpr]

Bet it was cheap, too. Care to share how much you paid? Or can we guess? I'm going to say $2000 or maybe less.
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Paint looks surprisingly good for a 22 year old vehicle, too. Must have been garaged.

 

[Madmaxwell87]

Bet it was cheap, too. Care to share how much you paid? Or can we guess? I'm going to say $2000 or maybe less.
Paint looks surprisingly good for a 22 year old vehicle, too. Must have been garaged.

It was cheap! The hood and roof paint are faded but will be repainted soon. The headliner has some rips in it but the rest of the interior looks pretty much new. I walked away with it for.........$1400. That allowed the wheel and tire, stereo and speakers, and shocks purchase.

 

[Martinjmpr]

It was cheap! The hood and roof paint are faded but will be repainted soon. The headliner has some rips in it but the rest of the interior looks pretty much new. I walked away with it for.........$1400. That allowed the wheel and tire, stereo and speakers, and shocks purchase.

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:26_7_2: Love it.
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You know, at the age of 53 I have to say that pretty much all the time I'm happy that I grew up when I did in the 1960's and 70's. I look at what young people have to deal with these days and it saddens me.
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But there's one exception: When I was in my teens looking for a used 4x4 they were hard to find, in poor shape if you could find them, and way overpriced (because they were rare, even in Colorado.) People who want a cheap 4x4's nowadays, OTOH, have a virtual smorgasbord of choices and the prices are astonishingly low.
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How low? I'll put it this way: I got my first 4x4 in 1979. It was a 1957 International Travelall in "so-so" condition. It was the cheapest 4x4 in running condition I could find and I paid more for it in 1979 than you just paid for your Explorer.