What should I do to my SUV first?

Question

I bought a 2002 ford explorer sport, not a big fan of ford but I liked the look of it and the price was right. Well I found one online and they look really nice lifted with bigger tires on them and since im moving back to arizona and do alot of offroading Im really intrested in doing this. So I was wondering what I should do first? I do want to lift it but not till I move to arizona but Im thinking of things like K&N , Exhaust and things like that.. Oh and are there any magazines that are strictly for ford explorer that I can order or something . Thanks alot

Answer 1

You can find all the info you need at ford-trucks.com.
It's a Ford truck forum with vehicle specific forums. Registering would be an excellent opportunity to learn ALOT of info.

First things I would do is open the engine up. Intake and exhaust. Reduce friction of air intake (K&N or similar) and open the exhaust to reduce back pressure. Get a performance cat-back exhaust (Magnaflow, Borla, Bassani, Flowmaster etc.).

Answer 2

Sell it and buy a Jeep if you want to do any offroading. It seems like everyone I talk to that lifts an explorer has problems with it, squirrly steering, rolls over easily, etc. I personally don't like the explorer as they seem more top heavy than does the jeep. There are offroading magazines, but none catering to the explorer.

Answer 3

You could go with a nice dual exhaust system and headers. A cold air intake set up would do it some good. Those two things shouldent cost too much. A chip tuner will probably gain you a lot but those might be costly. If you go with really big wheels and tires you may need to change gear ratios to a lower gear.

Answer 4

Do not do any KandN , if you want to keep the motor from being worn out in about 60k to 80k miles. I would just drive it for a while and see what others have done and see if thats what you want.