To answer the "is it worth it" question.
The truck is worth whatever you are willing to pay (what you think it is worth). This is generally based on prices of similar trucks in your area, condition, and your emotions.
In a high price market the best way to save money is to look elsewhere. The problem is that makes it difficult to look it over before buying. A local seller gives you opprotunity to check it over several times before deciding.
If money is the deciding factor you have to take some chances on what you are getting. I bought my 05 Explorer off E-Bay and went from New Mexico to Kansas to pick it up. I bought it based on pictures and description. I saved a ton o money, but took a risk. The truck was low mileage, not too old, and has turned out to be a great truck.
I bought my 97 Expy local, paid a lot (but not bad for the local market). It has been mostly trouble free, I like to drive it, and the money I spent 9 years ago is long paid off and doesn't bother me.
If you are planning to keep it until it dies and not worry about resale, the inital price is less important than if you are happy with it and like driving it around.
My 2 cents.

 

thanks 2 trux. I am planning on getting it for a long time so resale is not important. It is in better shape than any vehicle I have seen for 5500. So Im going to go ahead and get it. I was mostly concerned with it lasting since it is already "high mileage"

 

sorry for the late post on this one but after doing some reading and I mistyped one of my post I would like to say that even you on this one is wrong. In A4wd mode (I made the mistake saying that power to rear is stopped) when the rear end is spinning then power is given to the front axle, but ( here is where many fail to understand thinking its a true 4x4 mode) when the rear tire stops spinning then power is back to the rear and discontinued up front. So when in A4wd mode, you do NOT have a TRUE 4x4 for as I said (think I must say it again) when the rear tire spins, power is given to the front axle and once the spinning stops, it goes back to 2wd.. What good is it to have or say you have 4x4 in this mode when you never do.

 

What the heck is "TRUE 4x4" ? Power being sent to the front and rear axles sure sounds like TRUE 4x4 to me. You are grasping at straws to try and redeem yourself in the face of being obviously wrong. Just give up kid. If you want TRUE 4x4, then the Expedition NEVER has it, nor do 99% of the vehicles on the road that call themselves 4x4's. If you want TRUE 4x4 you need lockers in the axles, only a small handfull of vehicles have ever offered this, and it is worthless on the road.

The Expy has A4WD, let me write it in crayon for you sonny, that is Automatic Four Wheel Drive, which is an apt description using the generally accepted termanology. When slip is detected, 4wd is automatically engaged, ie: power is sent to the front axle. Just because it also can automatically disengage somehome negates the fact that it was in 4wd for a breif time? That is a pretty big stretch.

Show me where I am wrong.

 

Go suck on an egg *******, you sound as if you know everything and you dont. Sure the power is kept at the rear but its spinning when the front is activated or what ever term you need to use to make yourself seem so damn smart. Talking with you at times is like talking to a child, you get all mad and sometimes from your own posts, its as if you are about to cry a river. Dry it up, A4wd sucks oh and just to let you know on how dumb you are, i knew what a4wd stood for and know all about what lockers do. You also cry about todays 4x4 not being real or actualy 4x4, give me a break, no s h i t. What traction does anyone have with a spinning tire dumb a s s.

 

Well young man, I clearly know a LOT more about the subject than you. Since you can not make your point with facts now you want to try and take personal shots? I am up for that, you will lose that discussion as well


If I take my truck to a slippery incline, leave it in A4WD and floor it, the automatic 4wd will engage and stay engaged, spinning the wheels front AND rear. This is your "TRUE 4x4" isn't it?

You are able to understand the concept here aren't you? The control module reads front and rear driveshaft speeds. The shift motor is infinately variable. When the rears start to spin the front engages, the module goes for full enagement, just like selecting 4Hi, then it slowly backs off, if it detects a speed differential front to rear it keeps the front engaged. It is in 4wd as long as there is a speed differential front to rear. It will spin the front and rear tires as long as they spin the same speed, it will do this in A4WD. Explain to me how that is not your "TRUE 4x4".

I am not arguing the merits of the system. IMO it is a cheap way to give consumers additional traction when they need it. Most people have not been taught how to properly use 4wd and thus this system is a boon for them. I know better, I have taught off road 4wd skills for years to people whose trucks have real full time 4wd and three lockers. I prefer a better system but that system has a much higher price of admission than an Expedition. So sure it stinks compared to what is out there BUT, I find it very useful, and superior to a standard part time system on the road. If you really understood how it works and how to utilize its advantages you might appreciate it more as well.

What are we up to now, three lessons? Do you want my paypal address so you can remit payment for your heretofore free education?

 

You are clearly stuck on stupid and I will no longer waste my time on a fool as in yourself.

 

Probably a good choice since you utterly failed to defend your erroneous position.

You first claimed the rwd was disconnected. When you were proven wrong you changed to this "TRUE 4x4" argument which you failed to articulate as well. Wouldn't that be the ability of the system to drive all four wheels, which I have proven it can and does?

If I am the stupid fool you claim, it should be rather simple to factually articulate your position, no?

Trying to insult me does nothing for your credibility. You are just as bad at that as you are at trying to make your point.

Sorry sonny, but you will recieve an F, as in FAIL, for this course.

The next course you should consider is one where you learn to admit your mistakes gracefully. It is OK to be wrong sometimes, that is how you learn.

 

[snicker]

 

It is also good to be able to laugh at yourself....

 

And if you can't laugh at yourself, at least the lurkers can laugh

 

I find it amusing in these forums how "heated" a discussion can get because of semantics.
What is "TRUE 4X4"? I owned a '56 Jeep with a transfer case that was shifted with 2 sticks, one for 4WD, one for low range. The front axles were connected to the front hubs with splined caps and rotated all the time.
My '69 Bronco had a single stick with double linkage to shift into 4WD and low range. This had manually engaged hubs, allowing the front components to not spin in 2WD. There were also lockers in front and back.
There is also the option of "automatic" hubs that lock themselves.
My 97 Expy has an electric shifter with 2WD position, A4WD that uses clutch packs, 4WD Hi and Lo that mechanically connect. I also has a goofy vacuum operated splined sleeve to connect the two sides of the axle together. I assume with this system the hubs are always connected, keeping the front parts spinning.
My '05 Explorer has no 2WD selection and I assume connected hubs.
So as I look at "TRUE 4X4" is it a transfer case that only has 4WD mode and axles that are splined to the hubs, that can only be used off-road. A mechanically shifted transfer case with locking hubs, that you can drive on the street, but have to stop and shift into 4WD and lock hubs. An auto4WD that shifts itself into 4WD without any imput from you. Or something like an AWD car that powers front and back all the time with slippage built into the transfer case so it can operate on the street.
What is your definition of "TRUE 4X4"?

 

MY definition would be where all four wheels are locked together, meaning that only one tire needs to have traction to move the vehicle. This would denote only a very select group of vehicles as TRUE 4x4, and is not in keeping with more commonly accepted vernacular.

I think what Hodges was trying to argue is that the A4wd system doesn't go 4wd (4Hi) because it is reacting to rear wheelspin. Unfortunately for his argument, it is no more than a fancy part time t-case and it does in fact engage 4wd, sometimes just briefly, sometimes it sustains 4Hi for a period of time. A4wd can and does provide "TRUE 4x4" if you accept that the 4Hi setting on this system is "TRUE 4x4".

At first I don't think he fully understood how the system functions. Towards the end, once it was clearly explained, he was just battling his pride.

 

I would have to admit to doing that at times, usually with my wife.

 

A4WD is not a substitue for 4WD, it is more like an enhancement for 2WD should you have a momentary loss of traction. That's why you have the T4HI (True 4 Hi) selection right next to it on the dial.