[cajunfj40]

OK, so update on the situation.

I replaced the rear brake line in Green Truck with a custom-bent one. I bought a straight piece with fittings from the parts store, took off the old rusty one, and sat down and bent up the straight piece to relatively match the old one, then put it on the truck. Had to tweak a few bends to get it to fit right, but wasn't a bad job. Bled the brakes and it worked. Garage cleared in time for Cookie Season, so that's a win!

Drove it for a while like that - RWD still because of the busted bolt in the front flange. One day Green Truck just up and refused to restart in the parking lot at the grocery store. No amount of jiggling wires, rocking the truck in gear, tapping the solenoid, etc. would get it to budge. No click, no grind, no headlight dimming, no crank. Battery was fine. Called a tow-truck and had my wife pick me and the groceries up. 3 hours later met the tow truck driver (drove White Car) and on a whim tried to start the truck - fired right up. Got it towed anyway (locked into paying tow truck anyway at that point) and had the mechanic check it out. He figured starter, and I have a spare, so I declined fixing it. He did give me a deal, though: if I supplied the parts, he'd replace the front flange and reinstall the front driveshaft, no warranty. Trick is getting the preload right without taking out the axle, so you don't burn up the used bearings. I paid for that so I didn't have to do the work in the bitter cold we had that week. That worked well enough that I got 4WD back right after a nasty snowstorm. Drove Green Truck into spring, with a few more no-crank incidents (all cleared in ~15 minutes, not sure what's up with that - probably either a bad solenoid contact, a connection that gets too high a resistance when hot, a bad starter commutator segment, or something like that) until one day it started herky-jerky binding when backing out of a parking space. Took it over to a wide-open parking lot and dove under it - gear oil everywhere, the front flange seal had given up the ghost and dumped the fill. Unplugged the transfer case and did some slow figure-eights. No real change, still a bit of binding, but I figured leaving it unplugged would put less load on the front diff which obviously now has some bearing issues due to lack of lubrication. Drove over to a parts store, bought a cheap 3/8" ratchet set, a hose-equipped funnel, and a bottle of gear oil. Refilled the diff in the parking lot - gorram blind fill plug (3/8" square drive) was a bear to reach. Drove home carefully and parked it, spreading gear-oil stain and sulphur stink and all.

So, Green Truck is currently down needing a front axle transplant. Driving White Car again. Seriously dispirited about the whole thing.

Got another strike against these trucks: tow rating, or lack therof. As it turns out, the manual trans is an Achilles heel in these trucks, at least on paper. The 2nd Gen Ford Explorer is rated 2300lb towing with OHV V6/3.55/man (what I have), 2800lb with OHV V6/3.73-4.1/man (what I can swap in from Black Truck), 4760lb with OHV V6/3.73-4.1/auto, 4740lb with SOHC V6/3.55/auto, 5740lb with SOHC V6/3.73-4.1/auto, 5620lb with V8/3.55/auto, 6620 with V8/3.73-4.1/auto. 50 square foot trailer frontal surface area limit. The wheelbase, brakes, axles are identical and approximate curb weights are not very different for all of those ratings. For liability reasons in case I hit someone else on the road while towing, I'm limited to 2,800lb so long as I can prove that I have the 4.1 gears swapped in. Without proof, or if they disbelieve the proof, 2,300lb is the limit. This is bumper-ball hitch stuff - no reciever needed!

If I want to take the family with me off-roading, my wife has made it clear that she will require A/C to have a chance at enjoying herself. (Not an unreasonable ask - she's got some lung issues.) A regular on-the-ground tent is already right out - she wouldn't be able to get back up in the morning (spinal disc issues). So we're into the need for a camper trailer if I want to go anywhere that's not convenient to a hotel. 2300lb/50 square feet means a popup camper, fabric tent variety, small. At least they are cheap and will fit the garage! A buddy here at work has used one in the past that had A/C, and he said the A/C kept comfortable even in the summer despite fabric sides.

If I want to have a wider range of camper choice (like a hard-sided popup, to get better insulation and access to bear-prone areas), I need at least an automatic trans to up the GCWR and tow rating. To swap that in, I will need: automatic trans, flexplate, automatic-specific starter and back of engine shim, engine computer with automatic calibration/connections, engine/trans/transfer wiring harness for automatic, steering column for automatic, gauge panel for automatic with PRNDL indicator, any other under-dash wiring that is different. With already needing to pull the entire top of the engine off to fix the coolant leak and/or swap engines, this is the same amount of effort it would take to put in a V8 or SOHC engine. And no matter what, if the other people in a hypothetical towing accident have a lawyer that can make it stick, I'd still be limited to the 2300lb rating based on the VIN of my truck, regardless of all the changes I made to it.

So, realistically, I will need a different truck at some point if this off-road bug takes hold. I can get by with a cheap small popup tent camper if the bathroom situation is tenable to my wife (campground bathhouse with flushables/showers or camper equipped with acceptable bathroom/shower.) I'll need to call around and see if I can rent one - this is a Ford Explorer, of the notorious Firestone Tire Blowout and Rollover vintage. Some places may still refuse to let me tow *anything* with it, for liability reasons. If I can't rent one out, and I can't find a dirt-cheap used one that meets the weight ratings to use a few times at bathhouse-equipped campgrounds, it makes zero sense to put any more money into these trucks - or any other 2nd Gen Ford Explorer.

So seeking some vehicle recs again, with the new wrinkle: 5000lb minimum tow rating - achievable with an SOHC auto 2nd Gen Ford Explorer, so if I find a zero-rust truck to buy and build with the goodies I have from these two trucks - and I can rent a camper with it - that's the low-cost/high-labor possibility.

Looking at: Jeep Liberty V6 or CRD 2005-2010, 2005+ 4.7 V8 or 2006+ 5.7 V8 or CRD Jeep Grand Cherokee to 2010, 1999+ V6 4Runner, 2000+ V6 non-S/C Xterra, 1999-2006 V6 Pathfinder, 2004-2011 VW Touareg TDI, 2007-2009 Kia Sorento 3.8 V6, 2008-2009 Kia Borrego, 2006-2010 Ford Explorer.

Exotic options: 2009 Durango/Aspen two-mode Hybrid (needs transfercase swap - AWD only), 2008-2013 Chevy/GMC GMT900 two-mode Hybrids (big tho).

Big, but meet the numbers: 2011+ Ford Expedition, Chevy/GMC GMT9XX chassis based 5.3 V8 SUV/SUT, 2005-2010 Toyota Tundra. Probably some others, too - the Explorer Sport Trac might fit, or Nissan Frontier, or similar.

A buddy of mine, ex-coworker engineer, has a 2006 Toyota Tundra Double Cab SR5 4.7 V8 Automatic 4WD truck with 6700lb tow rating for sale that is in absolutely immaculate condition, with every service record from new and 197k miles on it. It's nearly due for the next scheduled timing belt change and automatic transmission service. $9700. I was seriously tempted for a few days, and I test drove it, too. Very nice deal, but it is the size of a new Crewmax F150 - big truck! Not as big as my old 3/4 ton Dodge extended-cab longbed was, but big. Not an ideal or even desireable rig for off-road work - the sheetmetal is too nice for the narrower trails I used to do in my FJ40. Plus that's a lot to shell out with the known house projects I'll need to spend on this year - it represents me selling off all the unfinished projects/vehicles and not buying anything "truck toy" related for a year or few. Basically I treat it as "I need a new vehicle anyway, this is basic transportation, paying more to have a reliable vehicle is reasonable and prudent and can be budgeted for". 10 mile each way commute means the fuel cost per year isn't horrible - I just hate burning that much fuel. Maybe I could spring for skidplates/sliders to protect the sheetmetal, but it has new all-season tires so I've no "excuse" to spend for upgrades there. So I'd be commuting in it, and know that I won't be using that tow rating for at least a year or few, aside from maybe renting a camper trailer a few times in lieu of a hotel to offset the rental cost.

Thoughts, other vehicles I've not thought of that have 4WD, low range (or easily added via transfercase swap), 5000lb min tow rating, preferably not in size Huge by Large? Hoping to beat 15mpg gas/17mpg diesel average. Diesel only makes sense if it gets ~2MPG better than a roughly equivalent gas truck due to local "diesel costs more than gas" pricing. E85 only makes sense on FFV vehicles that get at least 11mpg on it, again local fuel pricing. Plus with corn planting issues this year I expect ethanol prices to spike by the end of the year or so.

Going to start another thread on "interesting cheap car" options vs. replacing the brakes/struts on White Car. Basically an option to give me something "new-to-me and nifty" to be reasonably happy with while I spend the effort fixing up the Fords and/or something else cheap I can trade/bargain for that might be more interesting to fix up instead of the Fords I've gotten mad at.