I may have a chance to pick up a kinda wrecked up 95 Exploder, and was wondering what some of you thought about using it as a base for a trail rig?

It has 4.0, Auto, etc...

I would pretty much just want it for the body/frame to have room for the family - I already have a 4.3L V6, TH350, Dual Toyota cases, and F&R Dana 60's, and some 42's that would go in/on/under it...


Any thoughts?

It belongs to a buddy of mine - he says airbag went off, some side panel and fender damage, maybe bent frame, etc. I have not seen it yet, but I am told would cost $5k plus to repair, and a local junk yard offered him $1k for it "as is" (too low IMHO).

Well? :confused:

Oh yeah, any idea on what I could get for the vitals parting them out? 4.0, fresh rebuilt auto w/ warranty, and I think this has the good 8.8 rear w/ disks, no?

Any clue what I could sell this stuff for reasonably to recover some of my costs?

I'm currently building a 4 door 94 Explorer. Keeping the 4.0L. Adding a C5 tranny and a 4.3:1 Atlas 2, RD D60 front, D60 rear, both with 5.13s and Detroits.

My Explorer Buildup (http://crlong01.homestead.com/Explorer.html)

The 91-94 would be a better base for a build up because the frame of the 95+ in the front are totally different and would require more lift to clear the axle.

It came stock with the torsion bar IFS which is the reason for the frame being lower. You would also have to adapt a different style steering box onto it to really get it to work properly.

The stock auto tranny is an A4LD. They are pretty much pieces of junk.

The 4.0L is actually a very good motor.

The 8.8" is a 31 spline unit with discs. The only problem is that it is a c-clip rear. However the disc brakes semi-solve that problem.

If I were you I would buy it to part it out. You could easily cover the $1000 between the motor, tranny, and rear axle (depending on gears). Then you have a t-case (electric I am sure) you could easily get rid of. The radiator should be pretty nice (4-core aluminum) and fetch a pretty penny.

If you don't want it, let me know where it is and I will come down and tow it back here!

Email me with any other questions you have and where you need to go to sell the stuff should you do it.

Yep.... there surely are posibilities... and if ya wanna know more, www.explorer4x4.com would be a good place to sell stuff off on... as well as a ranger board. But, the chances to chuck 42's under are possible!
Pete

I met a guy at Tellico who had one with a coil over setup on it. It has some SERIOUS flex and one time when it was flexing out the rear window just shattered! I thought i was hilarious because the last thing you expect when you see a truck like that flexing is for the rear window to go! Funny thing was, the guy got out and goes, "Damn! That's the third one this year!" I asked him about it and evidentally it flexed so much and tweaked the frame and body so much that the rear window just couldn't take it! :D

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

J. J.

I say go for it. The Explorer is a pretty good starting point. I wouldn't choose a 4.3L myself but if that's what you already have then go nuts. One thing is for sure it is nice to wheel in a comfortable vehicle. I've ridden in a few of my friend's Toyotas and my back can't take it.

So what's the scoop?

hey, sound good. The size won't be a problem and you can sleep in it. Check on e-bay and see what things sold for.:cool: