Ford Explorer 4x4 conversion
- Thread starter Medracr
- Start date
D
Deleted member 9101
Guest
Shouldn't be very difficult.... But its not really worth all the effort. Just sell it and buy a 4x4 and you'll be leaps ahead of a conversion.
icthusrulz
New member
Pretty simple (bolt on) if you have the parts (can pull from parts yard). Your truck already has the 4WD suspension.
Parts Needed:
- 4WD Spindles
- 4WD Front Wheel Bearings
- CV Axles
- Front Differential (gearing matched to rear)
- Front and rear driveshaft (rear gets shorter due to transfer case)
- Transfer case
- 4WD transmission (or 2WD trans rebuilt with 4WD output shaft, which is a different length)
- 4WD computer (or other controls)
- 4WD switch
- 4WD ECU if you want everything to play nice (you can use 2WD, but not everything may not be operable, like speedo reading correctly in 4 Lo).
If you keep an eye out on the explorer/ranger forums, sometimes you'll find someone who pulled most of this off to SAS their truck who is willing to let this go for a song.
I'd get electrical parts from the same year/model as your truck, but hard parts can be pulled from a bunch of different trucks. There are some slight differences in parts, but most should work.
Donor trucks to look for:
1998-2011 Ford Ranger/Mazda B-Series
1995-2001 Ford Explorer/Mercury Mountaineer
2001-2003 Ford Explorer Sport
2001-2005 Explorer Sport Trac
You'll need more details than I give here, but it's not rocket science. Ten years ago I priced out the used parts to do this to my Ranger Edge and I want to say parts were going to run $700-1200.
If you're serious about this, head over to explorerforum or one of the ranger forums to get more info.
Parts Needed:
- 4WD Spindles
- 4WD Front Wheel Bearings
- CV Axles
- Front Differential (gearing matched to rear)
- Front and rear driveshaft (rear gets shorter due to transfer case)
- Transfer case
- 4WD transmission (or 2WD trans rebuilt with 4WD output shaft, which is a different length)
- 4WD computer (or other controls)
- 4WD switch
- 4WD ECU if you want everything to play nice (you can use 2WD, but not everything may not be operable, like speedo reading correctly in 4 Lo).
If you keep an eye out on the explorer/ranger forums, sometimes you'll find someone who pulled most of this off to SAS their truck who is willing to let this go for a song.
I'd get electrical parts from the same year/model as your truck, but hard parts can be pulled from a bunch of different trucks. There are some slight differences in parts, but most should work.
Donor trucks to look for:
1998-2011 Ford Ranger/Mazda B-Series
1995-2001 Ford Explorer/Mercury Mountaineer
2001-2003 Ford Explorer Sport
2001-2005 Explorer Sport Trac
You'll need more details than I give here, but it's not rocket science. Ten years ago I priced out the used parts to do this to my Ranger Edge and I want to say parts were going to run $700-1200.
If you're serious about this, head over to explorerforum or one of the ranger forums to get more info.
85_Ranger4x4
Well-known member
Up until like 00-01 Rangers had vacuum hubs which are best avoided so avoid them for stuff related to that.
IMO watch for a parts truck. They can go pretty cheap and you have a chunk of something to get some more $$ out of when you get done with it. If you nab an Explorer the rear axle can be worth a couple bucks too... and if you find one with a 5.0 they can be worth some money in good shape if you don't want it too. Then scrap what is left.
SAS is kind of involved but an option worth checking into. Probably the route I would go actually but it wouldn't be for everybody. Little Jeeps (YJ/TJ/ZJ/XJ etc) are about the same width with the same 5x4.5 wheel bolt pattern. XJ has a high pinion and is the best (Rubicon stuff aside but good luck finding that) Keep in mind your body on frame Explorer will run a little heavier than a little or unibody Jeep for durability though.
And try to seek out a manual transfer case... it will make your life much easier.
IMO watch for a parts truck. They can go pretty cheap and you have a chunk of something to get some more $$ out of when you get done with it. If you nab an Explorer the rear axle can be worth a couple bucks too... and if you find one with a 5.0 they can be worth some money in good shape if you don't want it too. Then scrap what is left.
SAS is kind of involved but an option worth checking into. Probably the route I would go actually but it wouldn't be for everybody. Little Jeeps (YJ/TJ/ZJ/XJ etc) are about the same width with the same 5x4.5 wheel bolt pattern. XJ has a high pinion and is the best (Rubicon stuff aside but good luck finding that) Keep in mind your body on frame Explorer will run a little heavier than a little or unibody Jeep for durability though.
And try to seek out a manual transfer case... it will make your life much easier.
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