Hydrolocked 1995 explorer

[Bpbuilt]

What’s up! Decided to start a thread on my explorer build. I’ve had a few toys over the years and most of them on the cheap side so this one won’t be any different. I’ve gone down the route of a full build on a ranger that snowballed well beyond my finances, not doing that again!

Anyways a little background on how I got the explorer, I had a Ranger I picked up for $1200 that was your standard high school bro truck. I need a daily and the price was right. All together I was into that truck maybe $3000. Had devers in the rear with shackles, 2.5” bypass, bed cage. Upfront east an upper arm, lift spindle, and a 2.0 shock. For what it was the truck did great, lots of dirt miles and laughs the whole way.

Well the wife finally got pregnant and I needed something with a back seat, so the search for a ttb explorer started! Looked for a while but the price tags people were asking was out of hand for a 30+ year old shit box. So my buddy Danny had a 1995 that had been sitting for a year with a hydrolocked engine from one of are previous trips. I didn’t want a-arms but for free I couldn’t pass it up! So sold the ranger and picked up the explorer on a Wednesday, found an engine with only 130k miles on Friday for only $800. The. That weekend I pulled the old engine that was full of water and got the new one in. It was a royal pain in the ass with being 4x4 and not being able to turn it over to get to the converter bolts. But by Saturday afternoon the new engine was in. Sunday buttoned everything up and and to my surprise it started right up and drove it around the block!

 

[Tree trunk]

Welp…. There goes the neighborhood.
Guess they let anyone on here

 

[Tree trunk]

I bet you pulled a plethora of bro hoes with that ranger….

Or dudes …..
probably dudes

100% dudes

 

[Bpbuilt]

Overall the explorer wast in great condition, paint needs a wax, tires were nearly new, interior was clean, but needed a headliner. Got that replaced with some fabric off amazon. Then built a few little things for it. Push bar light mount with ling long designs lights, center console for switches and a sick dust light cause this thing is a race car!So the first trip out was with a few buddies including tree trunk on here. We did 70 or so miles in the dirt out off big bear. This thing absolutely blew me away in stock form, led the trip all day which is kind of funny considering I had blown out ranchos and most everyone else had built vehicles. Two linked trucks, a jeep on coilovers, and a couple other rigs. Had a blast but the tires spent more time smashing the inner fender wells then anything else. At this point I knew it was not going to stay stock suspension for long.

 

[Bpbuilt]

I bet you pulled a plethora of bro hoes with that ranger….

Or dudes …..
probably dudes

100% dudes

You already know it, 98% dudes, and on one occasion your mom….

 

[bullnerd]

Nice. I had a 2000 AWD v8 version for a DD. Was a blast on the street and worked fine on the trails here in NJ.

I dig that bumper/push bar!

Nice tigz also!

 

[Bpbuilt]

Now on to the fun part, at this point I knew something needed to be done with the suspension, rear wasn’t bad all things considered but the front needed some help. I looked on marketplace pretty frequently for an old Dixon bros kit or btf kit but that’s about like finding a needle in a haystack with it being 4x4. Buying a new kit was out of the question, we’re on a budget.

So with a baby only a few weeks out it was the perfect time to build my own kit. I don’t like the way the explorers look with 4.5” over arms and wanted to keep it proportional. Landed on 3” wider and 1” forward to help keep the tires out of the firewall. Started collecting parts I needed, uniballs bushings, metal and what not. Kept my eye out for some used coilovers but hard to justify spending band new prices for some old blown out kings or foxs. So with this being a free explorer and only $1000 into it for the engine and everything else I did we are staying cheap! Yep I bought some FOAs on sale for 4th of July. Coilovers, springs, bump stops, and cans for $1000, can’t beat that! Yes I know they are crap but I’m not afraid to rip them apart and tune them up, it’s a explorer to go play in the mountains not a trophy truck!pulled measurements off the stock lower arms and made a fixture for the wider arms. Using 1/8” cold rolled for the boxed upper and lower arms. There will be some cromoly used for certain things like tabs, bump pads and bushing wrappers. Ended up needing to kick the uniballs cup up a bit for a better angle at ride height. To keep with the simplicity I’m using the stock spindles and axles which will be extended and sleeved. Welded the whole inside of the lower with the MiG blaster still on the fence if I want to tig or MiG these. Next up was to get these mocked up and figure out the upper arm.

 

[Tree trunk]

I’ve seen you drive compadrè….. it might not be a trophy truck, but you sure do drive it like one sometimes

 

[Bpbuilt]

So the factory upper ball joint has a pinch bolt that holds it in, I took a 3/4” bolt cut the head off and chucked it in the lathe to turn down the end so it would be a nice tight fit. Eventually when it goes together for the final time I will use a grade eight or maybe f911, and keep this grade five as a spare. Got everything mocked up and tacked some scrap from the upper uniball to the pivot bushings. Pretty much repeated the process as the lowers, made fixture and started forming metal. I made them out of plate just because I didn’t want to go buy tube and run to a buddies house to use the bender, looking back on it that would have been way easier but you live and you learn. I had to have a pretty good kick up close to the pivot bushings to clear the frame. But everything was clearing. Ended up mesureing like 12” of travel metal to metal wish isn’t a ton but will be be fine for what I’m doing. Also turned the misaligns down in the lathe a bit and ended up getting another 1.5* out of the uniball. Still might do a little more since there is so much meat left in them.
All the plate work has either been cut with a plasma cutter(which kind sucks) or on the bandsaw which is pretty quick too, then sanded on the belt sander. Probably going to tig weld the uppers at least, these outside corners go pretty quick, and mi MiG welding skills aren’t the best.

 

[Prerunsilverado]

Are those bump stop cans zinc plated?

 

[Bpbuilt]

Are those bump stop cans zinc plated?

I believe they are, kind dumb considering you weld them on, but a little Sanding will fix it.

 

[Bpbuilt]

Started mocking up the coilover which is a pretty tight fit with the spring on. Got it to were everything cleared and cycled ok but the coilover was leaned forward pretty good which I don’t like. After talking with tree trunk and brain storming ideas I’m going to try some different things to see if I can improve the angles. It’s hard clearing all the factory ac components, and the upper arm might need to be notched some. Now we are caught up to present day, the baby is here, I’m on family leave from work and try to get out to the garage when the wife lets me…
Hoping to make some more progress over the next few weeks!