Opinions wanted

I have been driving the 92 XLT for seven years. About a year and a half ago I had to have the automatic transmission rebuilt because the transmission spacer went out. A year before that I had to replace the radius arm bushings because they went bad. According to the mechanics who repaired them the spacer and bushings were made from inferior material. Ford has since made these parts out of better material for the later model Explorers. I'm getting a 2001 Explorer XLS next week and I wanted to know if I should be expecting anything like what I ran into with my 92. I know I should have gone for the 2002 model but I can't afford that right now. What change did they make to the 2002 did they move from twin I beam to struts? I hope the 2001 runs as well as my 92 has. Thank you for any information you can give me on the 2001 XLS.

Reply to
David Hunker
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The 2001 has a totally different front end suspension than the '91-'94's. No redius arms, it uses more conventional control arms and has a much smoother ride.

I'm told the auto tranny is a variant of the A4LD your '94 has. The

5R55 uses the 2nd gear and OD planetary in combination to gain an extra gear, and also has electronic shifting.

The SOHC 4.0 engine is a modified version of the pushrod 4.0. Rumors persist of cam chain follower / cassette problems. Ford had an extended warranty up to 72,000 miles on the early SOHC's, they since claim the problem is fixed. I'm still leery of this, especially since you have to pull the engine to change a rear chain (or so I'm told).

Mike '94 XLT, 150K miles

Reply to
Mike

I have almost 45K on my 2001 and it's been relatively trouble free. Had an oil pressure sender and AC compressor replaced under warranty, and the rear wiper doesn't work.

Reply to
Ed Mann

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