My 2000 5.4l Eddie Bauer 4x4

[ExplorerTom]

Hey Tom - can I do this same simple lift if I have the stock air suspension?

I don't know enough about the air suspension Expeditions to know.

 

[ExplorerTom]

I noticed my axle seals are leaking on the rear axle the other day, so I decided before I get a chance to fix them, I should check the fluid level in the rear diff. Glad I did. I was nearly 1 qt low (3.3 qt total).

 

[justKen]

Hey Tom - can I do this same simple lift if I have the stock air suspension?

I don't know enough about the air suspension Expeditions to know.

The short answer - No. If you wish to keep the air suspension, you can move the height sensors (one rear/ one front) just a bit and achieve maybe an additional inch or so of lift.

If you're interested in getting rid of the air suspension (and the associated troubles that will be along with it in due time), you can order a kit from Suncore, Strutmasters, Monroe, etc. I ordered the Suncore kit; it was on sale, and I think I ended up somewhere about $135.00

When looking over your kit, you want one with coil-over front shocks; this will compensate for the softer torsion bars used in conjunction with the front air springs.

The time to install this slight lift is when you're swapping out the air suspension. Order the rear lift spacer of your choice (you'll benefit from an aluminum spacer over a welded steel piece).

Once you have all of your parts, tear into the truck/ swap out the rear air springs, and seat the lift spacer along with the coil springs in the rear. In the front, remove the air springs and replace with the coil-overs in the kit. Once all together and buttoned up, adjust the torsion bars to lift the front to compliment the new rear ride height. Go get an alignment.

When I undertook this project on my '98, I also rebuilt most all of the front end as well - it truly drives like a different truck, not to mention being safer.

/K

 

[aeorn]

Makes sense. Thanks Ken!

 

[ExplorerTom]

Took care of some projects that have been laying around. Good to finally get them off the workbench.

Bought this light bar off a buddy and finally got it mounted and wired.



These brackets aren't made to fit the front of the roof rack. But I made them fit.




Left switch is the light bar, right switch is for.......


I don't have any night pictures, but I can assure you, both sets of lights are plenty bright.

 

[ExplorerTom]

Went on a 3 night camping adventure. Had a 7 rig convoy in the way down.


We drove over Medano Pass into Great Sand Dunes National Park.





We then drove over to another area called Whale Hill.




We then drove over to an old mine.




We then drove up to Hancock Pass and got snowed on a little.


Great trip. Expedition did great. Handled some technical 4wheeling just fine. Really need to figure out better storage for the rear though.

 

[poorboy1964]

Looks like a fun trip. two weekends ago I followed an old train track bed and had a blast the ex did great even when the raised bed got a little narrow.

 

[ExplorerTom]

Well, my radiator is leaking.

AGAIN.

I replaced it just over a year ago (2/19/17). I haven't taken the fan shroud off, but it appears to be leaking where the fins meet the plastic end tank on the rear passenger side. Same reason I replaced it originally.

I'm extremely tempted to go with the Mishimoto all aluminum radiator. Or I could throw another $100 piece of crap in there and hope to get another 12 months out of it. And repeat that for 4 years straight and I'll have the same cost as the Mishimoto.

Well, I went with the expensive Mishimoto radiator and here we are 6 months after install and the radiator is leaking again. I thought it was just the drain plug that dribbling fluid out but last night I saw more fluid than I thought possible to leak passed the drain plug- bigger puddle on the driveway, fluid all over the wheel well splash shield, a puddle on the radiator support.......

And it seems to be leaking from the same place as before: passenger side where the core meets the end tank. This thing does get used offroad a far amount- a lot of forest access roads, washboarded roads, slow trail driving..... Perhaps the abuse from that kind of driving? Maybe the rubber isolators aren't soft anymore? These factors combining to put extra stress on the radiator.......






Now to start the warranty claim process with Mishimoto. I'm sure that will be a quick and painless process.......... I ordered a Spectra Premium radiator as a replacement since I'm sure one way or another I'll have to send back the Mishimoto and I'll need something so I can drive.

 

[1955moose]

Tom we had the same problem with our fleet of Taxi's. Crown Vic's with 4.6. The shop manager said he tried every brand, but he had a stack of 30 deep that failed. I'd change every grommet, every tie down, and figure a way to secure it. My 2000 is going on 4 years with me, and haven't lost a drop. But Tom mines never gone off road, well except for one time going through loose sand at the beach parking lot. If even the best are breaking, it's a mounting thing. I don't know what's in mine, but it sure ain't no expensive aluminium one like yours, and held up. I don't know if this matters but the previous owner switched my coolant to red long life Ford stuff. Maybe that's why he or his mechanic did it. Might be worth doing, flush all the green stuff, and try it along with the new Japanese unit. You ought to see if they can send a new one by buying it, then refund you. It's not worth swapping out the Misimoto one, putting in a cheap one to drive it, then have to do the job again. That's what I would do at least, pop it on a credit card, then have them credit you back when the old one is returned. One last thing, make sure your motor mounts, trans mount, and radiator baffle where it mounts to are not rotten and flexing.

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[98eb5.4]

original oem on mine was good until ~ 10 years ago & have been thru 3 since, no off roading

 

[1955moose]

Maybe an oem one is the only way to go. Just getting tiring how more and more products can't hold up, even with ridiculous prices.

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[ExplorerTom]

Maybe an oem one is the only way to go. Just getting tiring how more and more products can't hold up, even with ridiculous prices.

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I had to go back to 4wheel Parts to get a copy of my receipt for the warranty claim. The guy behind the counter said: "plan on it leaking again. We've been seeing a lot of Mishimotos come back because of leaking. I'd try to go with an OEM replacement."

Problem is, I can't find one. Rockauto doesn't show any Motorcraft, nothing at the local part stores, even parts.ford.com only lists a heater core when I search for "radiator".

So that sucks.

 

[Trainmaster]

I was starting to run into part availability problems with my 2000 also. Seems as they get older, the only parts you can get are Chinese or otherwise cheap crap.

The 2010 Explorers have radiator problems too, and much of it was attributed to electrolysis due to bad grounding. You may want to read up on that and see if it might apply to you. The cure was to ground the radiator somehow I think.

Or it may just be from flexing off-road combined with poor quality parts. Try to call the people who made the thing and see if on a chance you can find someone intelligent with a clue to speak with.

Good luck my friend. Wish I was out there instead of in New York.

 

[1955moose]

Grounding is definitely critical any time you have aluminum heads/ aluminum radiator. Yeah if you dont ground properly, you not only get problems with the radiator itself, but problems in the cooling passages of heads too. I've posted this before but old buddy Danny didn't ground his small block 350 Chevy motor, and wondered why he was starting to overheat in hot weather. He did all the obvious stuff, thermostat, radiator new water pump,etc. Well he had to pull his aluminum Intake off for some reason, I forget what. You should have seen how plugged the cooling passages were after only 10 k. Cleaned out Intake, got ground straps, and voila, no cooling issues after that. Tom's case though I think is just due to cheap manufactures. Tom if you have a radiator shop near you, you might want to have them build you a good one, like Ron Davis quality. It won't be cheap, probably around $700.00 clams but it will be good. You might want to also call Ron Woods and see how much a customer built one is. I'd sure get tired of yanking it every year. Coolant is so expensive these days.

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[ExplorerTom]

I actually do have a ground strap on my radiator.

 

[1955moose]

I figured that wasn't your problem. Electrolysis is a whole different deal. OEM 2000 radiators are long gone, called my Ford dealer around 2:30 today. Theirs none throughout the dealers in the country. Every time you get a symptom with yours Tom, mine does same 2 weeks later. My turn signals went out right after you posted yours taking a dump! I've smelled coolant when I was checking tranny fluid. I better start shopping too. I've got a radiator shop 4 blocks from me, think I'll see if he's got anything that's not junk, probably not these day's.

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[ExplorerTom]

Got to talking to someone in the hallway about my radiator leaking problems. Without me mentioning the radiator mount, he suggested it. He said it's also very common on Jeeps with the old 4.0 motor (that are also pretty old).

So I ordered some. Hopefully here by Friday.

 

[1955moose]

What's the part # of the radiator mount? That sounds about right. Didn't know their was such a thing. Made of rubber right?

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[ExplorerTom]

F65Z-8124-AA

Yeah- rubber. Hopefully soft rubber. I know my upper mounts are pretty stiff now.

 

[JExpedition07]

I’m sure there is some good top shelf aftermarket radiators available.