At the beginning of the
90’s there wasn’t a wide variety of 4x4 vehicles here in Argentina. Most
of them were old Jeeps refitted with spare parts and engines from several
Argentine cars.
At that time, I had a ‘68
Jeep Gladiator (I don’t know if you know it as a “Gladiator” but
it’s similar to your Jeep J20.
Then, imports of SUVs from USA and Japan started. As I am a Ford fan,
I bought my new Explorer XLT with a manual transmission in 1994. For six
months my stock Explorer remained the same, I drove it daily in the city
and sporadically on light off road trails. Afterwards I started to modify
it, coming up with a more extreme off road vehicle.
In this country, substantial modification of SUVs with imported equipment
and/or spare parts is unusual.
Moreover, there are few qualified mechanics to do so, and their fees
are expensive. Therefore, I managed to do it myself helped and guided by
specialized magazines as well as your web site.
I have driven my Explorer through the Andes mountains, on the Patagonia
snow, on the sand –all along Argentine, Uruguay and Brazil Atlantic Coast-
and I have also done almost all our best know trails, but I hope to do
a "Serious Exploration" on some of your famous trails there in the USA.
There is one little problem I have to solve: since I drive into deep
water and mud frequently, the ball bearings of front wheels are usually
broken down and they have to be replaced.
I had one serious problem six months ago when I was driving across
a small river and my Explorer dived down. I had to disassemble the interior
in order to dry it out –it took two weeks of work-.
At this time, I also had to repair the front floor at the union with
the firewall, since the frame suffered too much torsion in the mountain
trails.
In the near future I will install Borla headers, larger MAF and throttle
body, aiming to improve the performance of the engine. I’m not sure about
installing a supercharger since I think it is not necessary according to
the offroading that I practice
Pinamar (Buenos Aires - Argentina)
|
Gualeguay (Entre Rios - Argentina)
|
Engine: |
4.0L SOHC V-6, Borla exhaust, Hypertech power module (I "waterproofed"
inyection module with nylon and tape) Custom air intake with K&N air
filter, Accel 8.8 spark plugs wires, Platinum spark plugs
|
Transmission: |
5 speed manual |
Tires: |
31" BFG M/T's |
Front Suspension: |
Black Diamond 4" lift kit with extended radius arms custom made, custom
brake lines and spring over conversion in the rear axle, Rancho RS
9000 shocks (not shown)
Energy Suspension Master Set bushings kit and bump stops.
|
Rear Suspension: |
Central traction bar in rear, Rancho RS 9000 shocks |
Differentials / Gearing |
ARB Airlockers front and rear with 4:10 gears. |
Misc. |
Rear disk brake conversion from Stainless Steel Brakes (photo 2 - partial)
Rancho steering stabilizer
2 Dick Cepek C1000 front and 4 Hella Rallie 1000 on top.
8000 lbs Warn winch
Ramsey grille guard with 4 tow hooks
Optima battery
Auto Meter vacuum & water temp gauges
Yaesu VHF radio
Garmin GPS
Quality S rear hitch with 2 tow hooks
Lund accesories for grille, rear and front windows
Husky floor mates front, rear and cargo area.
Eclipse stereo system
Tinted glasses
Thule cargo bars with Hi Lift jack support.
Tow straps and all kind of recovery tools
4 chains for deep mud o snow
|
|