I have an odd view on things having owned and worked on a variety of trucks. I'll give you a brief statement on the Montero and Trooper But give you some more information on the explorer because the vast majority of comments have been negative.

I feel the motero and Trooper are more similiar to one another then the ford. The Up side to either the montero or trooper is their size. I'd have to say that the 95/96 trooper is a bit wider then the Monty but over length is around the same. You just have to decided whos parts engine and trans wise do you want to deal with. Mitsu or Isuzu. The both have about the same reliability. The Trucks have a more rugged and advernterous apperance and are better suited for longer trips.


The other thing to look at as is the suspension and drive line. In my opinon is the TTB front end rides better then a torsion bar front. And as far as off road the TTB Front offers more Droop then a Torsion bar front end ever could. Not to mention there are locker options out for the Dana front end that aren't for the import trucks. And yes if you deisre you can convert them to run manual locking hubs. The Rear 8.8 is a storong axle and i would compare it to the Isuzu 12 bolt rear as well as the Mitsu rear which are both extremely durable.

The other bonus is that Parts for the Explorers are a dime a dozen compared to the mitsu and isuzu. And Junk yards all over the US have a plentiful supply of used parts.

The down sides are first off the annoyance problems. The fords have a bunch of silly problems mainly dealing with the interior and features inside the truck. There fore i would stay away from anything with alot of Gadgets and doodads.

Second Explorers Eat Automatic Transmissions for Breakfast. Therefore i would look for one that has a 5 speed manual transmission. They were still availabe in the 1995 and 1996 model trucks.

And lastly the lack of a true 4x4 shifter I hate push button four wheel drive. What do you do when the button doesnt work ?

I hope this gives you a better view of the explorer you really need to decide what you want the truck to do. The Isuzu and Mitsu are Proven wheelers that see service around the world. The Ford is a bit of a super market crusier but for the years you are looking at the truck is easily modified and offerns an ejoyable on road ride as well as more power then the others.

- jason <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cheers.gif" alt="" /> [color:"black"] [/color]