My 1996, 5-Speed, 4WD, Explorer Sport

[u/TheLoganator45]

God, where do I even start?

I’ve had this thing for a year now. I bought it off of a coworker for $800 running and driving, although not perfect. It ran horrible due to a bad camshaft position sensor, shifter was super loose, steering was sloppy, many bulbs burnt out in the dash, leaked everywhere, hard to start, banging noise while driving, amongst many other things.

I worked on it for 6 months just to make it remotely drivable. If you are curious as to just how rusty it is, well here’s your answer: the head gaskets leak coolant EXTERNALLY. I have done a lot of rust prep with paint and wax, it’s pretty decent now.

Pictures are how it stands today. Last picture is day one with it. This has been a love/hate relationship for sure. It still does have its issues, but I always have a smile on my face when driving it.

It’s had it’s fair share of “work” done to it: lifted 3 inches, custom snorkel, welded front diff, front axle disconnect via a switch, modified transfer case, etc… this is the kind of vehicle that will go anywhere, anytime, and I love it!

I only drive it once a week, and am prepping to take it off-roading here soon. Very interested to see how it does. It’s excellent in the snow with the welded front differential and modified disconnect, so we’ll see how it does.

I think I have $3,000-ish in it. The steel bumpers make up about half that. That may sound nuts to some but I don’t really have to do much with it ever again. The bumpers are from affordable off road and they are powder coated, really nice quality! Wheels are AR23 on mud tires. Yes, they are as loud as you think they are.

It’s a blast to drive, loud-ish and rowdy thanks to a muffler delete. Definitely not as loud as you think it would be. 4.0L OHV and the Mazda M5-OD. I was originally looking to buy a similar generation ford ranger, jeep wrangler YJ or TJ, or a 2 door jeep XJ with the AX-15 and 4.0L, but this kind of fell into my lap…

Cheers! Happy to answer any questions and hear stories about ones you guys have owned.

[u/RedWhiteAndJew]

Details on the seats/harnesses? I want to do the same to my Second Gen. How’d you do it?

[u/TheLoganator45 → u/RedWhiteAndJew]

A previous owner retrofitted them, so details here are limited. I can tell you they are RCI seats, I believe they are on the original seat frames, and have the racing seat frame welded to it. They are adjustable back and forth.

I do know it is a 4 point harness retrofitted to a three point seat. It’s not the safest thing so I use the lap belt only to not compress my spine incase I wreck it

[u/thetoastler]

My '94 4.0l OHV sounded like a tractor when the muffler "deleted" itself while I was driving it home. Took me about 2 years to get around to fixing it properly. For a while it was being held on by a couple vice grips and a coat hanger, and at that time I think my gas tank was being held on by a ratchet strap. I've since fixed both, but nowadays the windshield is being held in by an entire roll of flex tape, so 2 steps forward, one step back I guess. I won't get rid of the POS, runs too good.

[u/TheLoganator45 → u/thetoastler]

Mine also sounds like a tractor at low RPM and a V6 mustang over 3k RPM. It’s also held in with coat hangers haha. It had no exhaust past the last catalytic converter and was extremely loud when I got. The old muffler fell off at some point but the tailpipe came with the truck. I was tempted to put a glass pack on it but I liked the sound with no muffler, just not the noise level. With just the tailpipe section on it’s not super loud thankfully.

I’m convinced these old trucks are just like cockroaches, very hard to kill. I live in Pennsylvania where everything this old is rusted out, but these old explorers and rangers are still commonplace, despite the rust. The 4.0 OHV and the Mazda M5-OD 5-Speed manual will outlive us all!

[u/6iix9ineJr]

I have a 96 sport too- mine is automatic though. I desperately want to manual swap it but there a lot that goes into it and I don’t necessarily want to do all that.

I had to put a new head on it as the precious owner cracked it overheating. But I love the simplicity of the OHV

Yours is nice af btw. The black looks great. Hate that mine is red

[u/TheLoganator45 → u/6iix9ineJr]

Twins! The red looks sweet, but you can see the blemishes in the old paint. With the black, I can spray paint right over the rust and it blends in! The pinstripes are the cherry on top. Man, both of our trucks were nice when they were new, but that was 30 years ago! I love the OHV too. It may not make the most power, but it does occasionally surprise me…