Grownkoski Blog: 2011 ford explorer sport trac adrenalin

Saturday, October 15, 2011

2011 ford explorer sport trac adrenalin

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The Explorer has also been involved in controversy, after a spate of fatal rollover accidents involving Explorers fitted with Firestone tires. Both two-door Explorer Sport and four-door models of Explorer have been sold. Part-time four-wheel drive is an available option, and since 1995 this has been a 'shift on the fly' system with full protection against being engaged at high speed. A specially modified Special Service Vehicle version is also available from Ford Fleet for law enforcement agencies, fire departments, and EMS agencies. Explorer was also the name of a trim package offered on the Ford F-Series trucks from 1968 to 1986. The 2011 Ford Explorer was named North American Truck of the Year.

The Explorer was released in March 1990 as a 1991 model. It was equipped with a 4.0 L 155 hp (116 kW) V6 engine and either the 4-speed A4LD automatic transmission or 5-speed M5OD manual transmission. Like the Bronco II it replaced, it was an SUV derivative of the Ranger pickup, and came equipped with many of the Ranger's optional features. Like its direct competitor, the Chevrolet S-10 Blazer, it was available in both 2-door and 4-door body styles, and with rear or four-wheel drive. The four-wheel drive versions were equipped with a Borg Warner 13–54 part-time four-wheel drive transfer case. The 13–54 was available with "Touch Drive" electronic push-button shifting or manual lever-operated shifting. Both were "shift-on-the-fly" designs that allowed the Explorer to be shifted from two-wheel drive to "four-high" at any speed, although "four-low" was only available when the vehicle was stopped. All Explorers were equipped with the 8.8 in (22 cm) Ford rear axle in either a limited slip or open version with a variety of available gear ratios. Four-wheel drive front axles were the TTB ("Twin Traction Beam") Dana 35 with some Dana 44-spec components.

Common complaints about the first generation models mostly came from the A4LD automatic transmission, which was not well-suited for towing and was unable to cope with higher power output from modified engines; improved fluid cooling using aftermarket transmission coolers can alleviate these issues. The automatic locking front hubs also tended to fail prematurely; the manual versions, made for Ford by Warn, suffered from fewer reliability problems.

The 1995 Explorer was the first production vehicle to use a neon center high mount stop lamp.[citation needed] This was replaced with a more conventional LED lamp when the liftgate was refreshed in 1998. A slight change in front end design came in 1999, at which time the XLS name replaced XL as the base model.