98' Ford explorer towing Q's

[twintrades]

Well heres the setup. Baby on the way and we need 2 family Vehicals.

Wife is getting a 99 grand am for $2,500 and has 100000 miles on it.

I wanted a f150 but with our Baby girl ( mikenzie ) only a month away i had to make a choice. And we are buying a 1998 explorer. Has 4x4 and is an auto. My wife needed to beable to drive it and our baby needs to be safe as well. And i have a 93 thats falling apart. So i know how to work on them.

Will i be safe pulling our boat with it ? Its a marktwain around 2500 lbs. We have a reese hitch too. Not shure about a tranny cooler though. The farthest we would pull it would be 400 miles one way.

SOHC 4.0 i think. There taking the tranny off to fix a spring or valve.

Oh and the cool part about buying these vehical's is there from our local repair shop. And we took them out for a test drive. Found out whats wrong with them. And what we wanted to get fixed. There going to fix them both and were not getting charged for it !!

So i thought 2200 for the 99 grand am and 3500 for the 98 explorer was a good deal. ( grand am lowerd the price if we bouth both.

So would i be " good to go " With towing the boat ??

 

[iBrent]

Re: 98' Ford explorer towing Q's

Short answer: 2500lbs: Yes.

Long answer:
Those 4.0 explorers are definitely work horses. What's the rear end on it? Was it originally equipped with the tow package? You can find the rear end on the door sticker (inside the driver's door jamb). Its called the "axle code". I think even the V6 explorers with 3.73 gears is rated for close to 6k. If you have the 4.10 limited slip (not sure if they were available with limited slip in 98) then you're rated over 6k. The 4x4 reduces the amount by about 250lbs but having the low range 4x4 on a slippery ramp is more than worth the reduced weight.

Here's a good reference:
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=176988

1998 is in the second post.

 

[Huron Angler]

Re: 98' Ford explorer towing Q's

I have a '99 Explorer XLT 4-door and I say you will be just fine.

One question- do you plan on using a properly mounted hitch?

I assume you will, reason I ask is that mine has a bumper hitch mount(which I have not used and do not forsee ever being used for anything except maybe one of those chairs that attach or a bike rack, etc) that after much discussion this forum has decreed to "not be the way to go".

Congrats on the baby girl.

 

[windsors03cobra]

Re: 98' Ford explorer towing Q's

With a newborn baby in the car I would sure rather see a person get a 5.0 AWDriver for that money, those early SOHC 4.0's were the absolute worst of the 4.0 SOHC timing chain tensioner woes.
3 Timing chains, 2 with plastic tensioners prone to breakage, 3 cams, a balance shaft and its chain.
Ford 4.0 V6 OHV>SOHC

I have a 99 5.0 AWD Eddie Bauer with heated seats and all that jazz and I love the truck and with great mud/snow tyres on it I am not afraid to go anywhere in it and have never gotten stuck in it. When the heavy snows comes down I go out to play and have lots of fun.
Currently rocking and a rolling on untouched axles, t-case, trans and motor, alternator, radiator, ac, starter and all that junk is original and works great, run great, drives great and looks great
I have replaced the front wheel bearings, idler pulleys, lower ball joints and it looks like its going to need front CV axles soon. 182k miles

I wouldn't trust an electric shift transfer box as far is I could throw it. And I refuse to drive a 2wd in the snow anymore. Lot's good trucks on the cheap out there, get a good one, designed right from the factory.

 

[Old & In the way]

Re: 98' Ford explorer towing Q's

Hi

I have a 2002 Ford Explorer XLT V8 4x4 on the door capacity 5520 lbs.

Great tow vehicle. I think the 98 is a gen 2 and the 02 is a gen 3, so there are some differences.

and I was raised on Chevys.

Ed

 

[twintrades]

Re: 98' Ford explorer towing Q's

Thanks i would like to find a 5.0 but there are none to be found.

THe sohc Are the only ones around. And this one has the front end locked in all you have to do is turn the knob on the dash and you get 4x4 I have a 93 and it has the 4x4 disabled cus it would intermittantly kick on going down the hwy. It would slow you down for a sec then BOOM !!! sounded like a 1 inch chunk of round stock steel just broke in half ! It would scare the hell outa me. But they fixed that by the 98.


Later

 

[Huron Angler]

Re: 98' Ford explorer towing Q's

My '99 SOHC 4.0 has automatic 4x4 that kicks on when the tires spin...makes it so that I cannot properly do doughnuts in all the nice snow that we get up here

I'd like to be able to only have it kick into 4x4 when I flip the switch like my old Jeep Cherokee. The SOHC 4.0's are rated for 5600lbs of trailer weight according to my manual as long as 10% of it is resting on the hitch.

 

[ne7800]

Re: 98' Ford explorer towing Q's

IMO with a baby on the way i would get a Grand Cherokee lol. The only reason i say that is i have worked on lots of rolled over vehicles and the grand cherokee survives the best, Chevy S Blazer #2, Dodge Durango #3, and Ford Explorer #4. That being said the Explorer is a nice vehicle with a good ride and the 4.0 is a strong motor with plenty of pulling power.

 

[twintrades]

Re: 98' Ford explorer towing Q's

Thats what i waned to hear. But ill have to stick with the explorer Just because of the combo price. A car and a sauv for only 6 grand. And all the problems fixed in the shop included with the price. I cannot turn that down. Oh and there giving us a 3 month or 3000 mile warrenty.

Night

 

[Lou C]

Re: 98' Ford explorer towing Q's

Well back when I was looking to get a 4x4 I looked at the Chevy Blazer...Ford Explorer and Jeep Grand Cherokee....this was back in 98.....and I wound up with the Jeep for a couple of reasons...one was I preferred the 4.0 inline six to the V-6s in the Ford and Chevy, the Jeeps 4 wheel drive system (Selectrac which can be left in full time if you want or put in part time for off road) engaged with a simple lever instead of electronics....and in general the suspension design (live axles on coil springs front and rear) seemed better thought out. But for your purposes the Explorer can be fine...I'd check out the engine (esp after a cold start) for timing chain tensioner noise..it was a common problem. Make sure the 4x4 engages correctly....and check all the electrical stuff as well. Explorers of that vintage have rear leaf springs that easily sag so it may not cope well with the tongue weight...unless you replace the springs or add Air Lift air bags. I put them in the rear coils in my Grand Cherokee and they work great for towing smaller boats.

I'd go over to www.explorerforum.com and look around for information about the mechanical things to check out...it's a very active forum with a lot of knowledgeable people....

 

[H20Rat]

Re: 98' Ford explorer towing Q's

IMO with a baby on the way i would get a Grand Cherokee lol. The only reason i say that is i have worked on lots of rolled over vehicles and the grand cherokee survives the best, Chevy S Blazer #2, Dodge Durango #3, and Ford Explorer #4. That being said the Explorer is a nice vehicle with a good ride and the 4.0 is a strong motor with plenty of pulling power.

i was thinking the same thing... i love how people get a suv thinking it is safer, and for some reason completely ignore the fact they are statistically 4x more likely to be injured compared to a car occupant.

 

[windsors03cobra]

Re: 98' Ford explorer towing Q's

I agree on the Jeep 4.0 owning both the Ford 4.0's and of course the 4.3 dexcool intake gasket bomb 4.3's used in the S-Trucks .
And the selec-trac lever is nice, quadra-drive also rules.

90% of SUV's are never in an accident, proper driving leads to this.
If I had to endure an accident I'd rather be in a Exploder Vs. a Ford Focus but I like livin.........

 

[Rancherlee]

Re: 98' Ford explorer towing Q's

You will be fine pulling that load. I have the WORST explorer setup for pulling with a 93' 4.0L, 2 door, 3.27 gears and a 3500# rating and It does fine pulling my 2500# pontoon setup IF there isn't a stiff cross wind. Most of the issues revolve around the short 100" Wheel base of the 2 door. I only use this if the wife is off somewhere with the 02' Mountaineer which pulls trailers quite well with the 4.6L, AWD, and 3.73 gears and handles stiff crosswinds pulling the camper or pontoon with ease.

Other advice on the Jeeps (Just Empty Every Pocket). While the 4.0L Inline six is probibly the best engine in the class the rest of the rig will nickle and dime you to death. A 4.0L GRAND Cherokee is hard to find as 95% are V8, a regular UNIBODY cherokee doesn't tow loads over 2000# too well. I Had a regular cherokee for a few years and like the explorers better.

 

[twintrades]

Re: 98' Ford explorer towing Q's

Im having them put a reese hitch. And if it dosnt have a tranny cooler then i asked if they could install one. All for half price!!

 

[dozerdoodle]

Re: 98' Ford explorer towing Q's

you'll be fine just keep it out of overdrive