Hello everybody

[A J]

Hi Dr. Nick





Hello so I just got up to finally becoming a member, though, I've had my Trac since September of this year......I've been trolling on everything on this forum and trying to consume as much as possible.



A little bit about my Trac:

2002 Ford Explorer Sport Trac 4x4 158k miles blue with minor rust on the body and got for free!

My buddy moved to Kansas in September and had a "sports car" (Chrysler 300 SRT8) and didn't need the truck anymore. Now, he had this thing in the garage for a couple years and didn't use it, as he called me up one day and said "hey want my truck, it's not running ?" I said bring it over, and an hour later it was sitting in my garage. The next morning I replaced the positive terminal and battery with a Motrocraft battery that my local parts store priced matched from Walfart, and after that I actually got it to start. No check engine lights or anything, knowing the maintenance from my Mbundu wasn't kept up. So I did an oil change, changed the spark plugs and wires right away with all motorcraft parts. I also cleaned the throttle body out and replaced the air filter and added some Lucas fuel injector cleaner in the gas for a complete tune up. It started and ran great, however there was this pesky smoking coming from the engine bay from either a leaking valve cover gasket or exhaust manifold gasket was bad. Any ways it was doing great.

I soon there after replaced the front and rear sway bar links with MOOG parts. Also replaced the front sway bar bushings with MOOG parts.

I recently just replaced the front brake pads, rotors, calipers/brackets, and wheel bearing / hub assemblies.

Hanged out the the fuel filter, pcv valve ( which I still don't think is fully locked into place, as that was a pain the rear end...), replaced front and rear differential fluids, transfer cas fluid, and did a coolant flush.



So I'm basically Fourteen to fifteen hundred bucks into this things.





So what I think I should do next is ball joint in the front, just because they look past due and wouldn't hurt and change the shocks all he way around, which I am going to grab some rancho raps five thousands or five thousand x. Just haven't made my mind up.



I do want to solve my concerns,





Oil leak in my engine, power window switch should be replaced as I ran into not being able to roll my window up today. I did get it up which took for me to remove the bezel and unplug the switch and plug it back it in. Finally getting it to roll back up. So some intermittent issues with the switch. Also want to figure out what the biggest tire I can put on the stock set up. I want to get some BFGs all terrains maybe mud terrains, Minnesota can have it all.



So I would like some suggestions, advice and answers from anyone that can help.



Thanks

 

[EddieS'04]

:welcome:



Ask any qustion. Lots of knowledge her and good helpfull members. There are no dumb questions.



:welcome::driving:

 

[swshawaii]

You're on the right forum, lot's of sharp ST fanatics here. In case you haven't seen it, check the "Projects" section on the left for great info. As Eddie said, any questions just ask. :supercool:

 

[A J]

Well I want to start with tires and shocks, I have 255/70/16 on them now, stock I believe. I want to get a set of BFG all terrains, curious on the biggest size tire of that model I would be able to fit without rubbing on stock suspension.

Also I think rancho rs5000 or rs5000x are the shocks I see people most using , just want to know the difference between the two.

I've read a lot on the projects, as I did my pcv valve from it, though I think it's not locking, I've tried a bunch. But it's still in there after two days of driving with no leaks coming from it.

 

[swshawaii]

I want to get a set of BFG all terrains, curious on the biggest size tire of that model I would be able to fit without rubbing on stock suspension.

265/70-16 - Possible chance of slight rub lock to lock. The 265's are 30.5" tall, and that dimension can vary from tire to tire, mfg to mfg. Some members report running 275/70/16 with minor rubbing as well.

<--- From FAQ "Wheels and Tires"

 

[swshawaii]

Rancho Brand Introduces RS5000X? Shock Series for LIFTED Trucks, SUVs (November 4, 2014)



Engineers Combine Classic Rancho RS5000 Shock Design with New Features for Added Performance, Global Appeal

 

[Jim Levesque]

Just a little Info 4 u from experience THIS week. I have a 02 and replaced the pcv about a year ago. Sometime within the last month it fell out of the VC ... finally thru a 1450 code and I went looking. .. found it laying on the back of the VC. Couldn't get it to lock on so I had 2 use super glue (I know haha).

But the real find was all the ENGINE OIL in my air filter box bottom. Got sucked in from the pas side tube just above the MAF and drained down the intake tube through the air filter. WOW what a mess to clean up.

 

[JC2008SportTrac]

That sounds, to me, like you need to check your PCV vales, right? They're there, to make sure that oil is filtered out of (or stopped from going into) the places you don't want it to (where the gas goes). They've a wear item, as they have a little 'ball' in them that moves around that helps filter. If the ball stops moving, it stops doing its job. And we have a couple of them going from valve covers to air intake, etc. So, sounds like you could use a PCV valve change. They're super cheap, and super-easy to change. But can help with all kinds of issues. check/change your PCV valves!