Hey everyone, long time Chevy guy (still am) but my wife fell in love with the Ford explorer ST and got one..... I now too LOVE this damn thing. What a car. Super impressed and cant wait to start messing with it. My fiance can't leave anything stock and already ordered an intercooler for it, she has the itch to modify the car more then me I think sometimes. Would love input on first mods, maintenance items, things to change or look for etc. Thanks guys!
2022 explorer ST
55k miles
Welcome to the fun! Chevy guy here at heart as well, but I have to say, Ford makes a damn good vehicle. Ended up with an F150 instead of a Silverado when shopping for a truck because I couldn't get over how much better the Ford was.
While the Explorer's have had their fair share of issues, luckily the aftermarket has pretty much all the solutions.
The biggest issues that I've seen first hand are:
1. Differential Bolts/Bushing.
- The "Achilles' heel" of the ST happens to be at the mounting points of the rear differential. Ford decided to make many of the ST's with only one diff. bolt on the rear subframe, putting a ton of strain on that one bolt and the bushings within the diff. mounting. Under hard launching, especially when making more power, they are notorious for breaking that rear bolt or tearing the bushings. The answer? : an aftermarket Differential Brace/Mount, like these:
https://www.lethalperformance.com/s...lorer-st/lowering-springs/differential-braces . These add on a mounting point to diff., helping to distribute the load more evenly and secure the diff.
2. Premature Strut/Shock failure
- Not necessarily the end of the world, but ruined ride quality and clunking when you hit a bump is not ideal. If you're feeling anything weird, may not be a bad idea to swap 'em out for stock or upgrade them with something more sporty.
3. Intercooler / heatsoak.
- Ford put the wimpiest intercooler I've ever seen on these for some odd reason (cost I'm sure), and during the Summer, that'll kill your performance, big time. As crazy as it sounds, the stock intercooler on my Focus ST was about the same size at the Explorer's is. Although, it seems like you already got that fixed up.
4. Transmission fluid.
- Not necessarily an "issue", so to say, but the BEST way to keep the 10R's alive is keeping fresh fluid in them, as already suggested earlier. Changing the fluid every 40-50k is certainly not a bad idea, especially if you or your wife is a spirited driver.
My absolute biggest suggestion is GET A CUSTOM TUNE!
I get you may not want to add a ton of power to your car right away, but for driveability and transmission shift points alone, do yourselves a favor and get a custom tune on it from a reputable tuner (ZFG Racing is my personal choice for the platform).
I hope this tidbit of info is helpful! Let me, or anyone of us here at Lethal know if you have any questions or wanna get some more mods headed your way.
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