SHARP !!!

ON the road and glanced at it and first thought it was a range rover sport !


The wife was wnting that or the new Audi q5 and given that we are NEVER getting rid of my Excursion.... have been trying to talk her into smaller (er, ah cheaper )


will have to go drive one soon as her's comes off lease the end of April ...

 

I too saw a new Explorer yesterday. It was dark red (Torreador maybe?) and looked great. Very impressed with its looks in person.

 

i personaly think its just a oversized wagon now. i love my body on frame live rear axle explorer. not a fan.

like yeaterday i had to run through a 3ft snow birm, my 98 expedition plowed right through it. who knows what plastic you would rip off and if you could even get through it. real truck suvs are a dying breed.

 

Agreed......

 

Unfortunately, the new explorer is just an oversized subaru.
What made the explorer/mountaineer great was its heavier duty truck heritage.

Sorry to see the body on frame go to the way-side

 

"heavier duty truck heritage"....like a flamin' RANGER was some heavy duty ground pounder.....

 

the 5.0 version had a pretty HD drivetrain.

 

A 4R70W trans and 8.8 axle, not sure about the TC but I bet it isn't an Atlas......

As for unibody construction:

Jeep Cherokee.

Railroad tank cars.

Tank trailers and tank wagons.

Actual military tanks.

747s and every other large and larger airplane built.

It remains to be seen if Ford has built a proper unibody here, but I would be it will perform as advertised, and be as capable offroad as any stock Exploder.

 

I think the new one being as nice as it is with its Sony stereo and cool knick knacks, I think it would lose against the good old lifted 90s explorers. It's more of a, dare I say, soccer mom suv, than a rugged off-road tank. Unfortunately

 

Isn't the original Hummer (military spec HUMVEE) unibody as well? Just saying...

 

Wow 85e150six4mtod, did I strike a nerve here?? All I was stating is that the old explorers had some "truck" in them and the new ones are an all wheel drive car.

The statements comparing them to tanks, airplanes etc is rediculous! At that point, I don't believe you are really comparing apples to apples.

If you already bought one (which sounds like you may have) then good for you.

If you havn't, try not taking peoples opinions so personal.

 

I have been places in a 4x4 Ranger no full size 4x4 would dare.......They ARE stout.

But the last serious off road capable Explorer was the 91-94, everything afterward is a soccer mom station wagon.

 

No, I have a '98 4wd, and it isn't heavier duty at all. You are right, the old one's did have some "truck" in them, but that doesn't mean the new one is a hopeless POS. As for unit construction, of course it doesn't compare directly, but again, just because something is unit doesn't DQ it from doing the job Ford claims it will.

As for the Ranger being "stout", again, with 7.5" axles? Or the dainty u-joints my '86 2wd had? That's not to say the Ranger isn't a good truck--clearly it is.

These are all "light duty" vehicles.

My suggestion: don't buy a new one. Hardly anyone here does anyway.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/9...ought-new.html