I recently bought 48 F1 that is very toasty. it needs everything, I would like to make this truck look like a 48 but drive like a new one. I was told a 1989 to a 2001 explorer rear end would be a good fit, if this is true how many other parts could I get from a donor explorer that would work, mabe the whole drive line, power barkes ,air cond, and so on? Does anyone have any experience with this, any help would be great. Thank you, Steve

 

Hey Steve,
Welcome Aboard! Lot's of info on this site for just about all modifications you may want to do with your '48. Hmmm... It's difficult to say too much about what you may need from an Explorer without seeing your truck. You will have better luck getting responses here if you can post some pics. You generally have to save them to a place like photobucket then link back to them. If you are a member you can post them from your harddrive. There is a lot of good info about what fits into our trucks up on the "starting" links up at the top of the page.

Ok - Let's see - I've got a 1950 F1 that was tore down & re-done totally.
We used a 2001 Explorer 8.8 inch rear end to get the highway friendly 3.73 gear set. It also came with rear disc brakes. It's a pretty straight forward installation - you will want to re-position the shocks & you have to re-set your driveshaft when done & you may have to shorten it a few inches. We also pulled the Explorer's emergency brake set up including the cable & lever for the cab.

The Explorer rear end has 3 leaf springs vs. 8 on your original truck.
It rides pretty well - less stiff than the original springs. I've hauled a few things - seems to work just fine.

The Explorer has different lug layout than the original truck so you have to get some new wheels/tires. If you want them to match up front you will need to change the front to match via a mustang II IFS kit or a conversion kit. We also ended up flipping the Explorer rear springs to get the stance lower. The most common rear end modification is to use a Ford 9 inch common on older F150's.

The most common engine swapped into these trucks is from the 289/302/351W family of Ford engines so if your Explorer donor comes with one of those - lot's experience is available on this site.

Good luck & welcome aboard!

Ben in Austin

 

First Off Steve, Welcome to FTE, Plz post some photos of your new truck :-) We here at FTE Love photos. Also Before going out and buying parts and parts for your truck.. Make sure you can get a clean title in your name.. Lots of guys are going out and spending a ton of money on there's trucks and then after droping $$$$ and getitng road ready go and get a title and they can't get one.. Also tell us how you came about getting your truck.. LIke on Ebay, or Barn find ect ?.. Also post the Vin tag number.. The Vin number will tell us alot about your F1..

Enjoy your time here, Lots of great guys and they know there stuff.. Also is your truck still stock ? meaning it have a motor and tranny ?.. If so why not work with what you have ?..
Best,
-Cody

 

First of all thank you for the welcomes to this forum I have never done this kind of thing before, and I will work on some pics for you.

This truck was bought in Texas and I found it on ebay, I live in Ohio, it had a lience plate on it dated 1970 so the last 42 years it looks like it has been baking in the hot Texas sun. That said the metal is in decent shape but everything else is toasted.

Origanlly it had a flat head v8 with a 3 speed, but that is all tied up and wont brake loose. I got a 51 cab with this truck and it is in really nice shape except for a few dents here and there, so I am going to use that instead of trying to replace floor boards and cab corner on the 48 cab, and also get a better veiw out the back with the larger window.

I have always been a mustang nut, I have 3-65s, 1-2001 for my son, and a 2010 for my wife, they are all orignal condintion. It must be mid life crisis or something, I want to customize this truck and drive it every day rain or shine, thus reason to have it drive like a new one. Any help with this would be greatly appreciated.

I hear you loud and clear about the title thing, I already went thru all of those pains.

Looking forward to hearing form any one that can help me in my mid like crisis. Thanks Steve

 

mid like crisis (ENJOY IT), thats the fun you get out of growing old. Also welcome to the nut house of truck owners, Garry

 

Steve, Which part of Ohio are you from ?, I live 30mins south of Lansing, Anyways would you want to part with your 48 cab and doors ?.. I'm in need of a better cab for my F1 project.....

Cody

 

Welcome to the game for starters . Yeah Explorers make good donors for the driveline.

 

We are not to far apart Iam about 45 miles west of Toledo. Sorry not right now on the cab not until I get my plan all figured out, and I still need the doors for my 51 cab.

 

Welcome! Great people here willing to help. Into Mustangs?, then use a 289 or 302 with a C4. C4 is small and easier to mount, will have to modify the tranny cover some. You can go with a Mustang front end kit, lower the rear and you're driving a Mustang with a F-1 body! Sort of...good luck, you're at the right place

 

Nice ride ZOOT that is the look Iam after, how much did you lower this, did you use the mustang II front end kit and the explorer rear end?

 

I found and purchaced a 96 explorer with 130,000 miles on it. It has a 5.0 motor, auto trans, and rear disc brakes, it has a small anti freeze leak but have not found the source yet but looks like it is going to work out just fine. It also has the check engine light on but seams to run just fine, any thoughts on what this might be? My 17 year old son and I have started to disasemble, he likes this part for some reason, imagine that.

 

The check engine light could be anything. You can go to many auto parts stores (O'Reilly's here) and they will loan you a code reader. Just plug it into the port under the dash and it will give you the code. The tool usually will tell you what the code is for, or you can look the code up on the net.

 

As I recall, the '96 Exploders used a 5.0 with several unique pieces to comply with OBDII. It could become very expensive and difficult to find those parts if you retain the stock EFI. Hopefully someone with more specific info can confirm?

 

In my humble opinion, there is not a single Exloder that is worth its weight.
I detest those miserable pieces of junk....LOL, and I'm a Ford fan

Bobby

 

Welcome to the site Steve. Ive got a 50 F1 with 302 / c4 combo, and it seems to fit the personality of the truck, I also favor the stock front axel, When and if,its tight. A toyota P/S conversion would help for parking, but I run mine stock. Its your truck and defenitly build it the way you want to fit your needs, I only mention my set up, to let you know that there are many ways to go. I look forward to watching as you set her up the way you want, and like everyone else here, help if I can. Good luck, and happy building. Oh yeah, I think its great that your son is involved in the project.