I wouldnt say that about fords. Its personal oppinion. I am driving a 98 explorer now and am happy with it, just wish it had more ground clearance and bigger tires (to make it easier to change the oil and a slightly more agressive look.) Every car out there has the potential to be complete junk, its all a matter of how well it is cared for. I can say that GM products have really lousy brakes since Im always selling pads and rotors for them, and Jeep has a very poor choice in tires and sizes for the liberty, etc. Yes, explorers can have tranny problems, but with some preventative maintenance, flushes, an external cooler and external filter, they can last a lifetime, same with isuzu. The explorer 4.0 is a really nice motor, not a power house, but makes a good bit of low end torque, almost as much as the 3.2 DOHC motor, but the newer 4.0 SOHC motor makes close to the same power but more torque than the 3.2. Sure, the frames arent boxed but it does weigh a good bit lighter than the trooper. IMO the explorers, the older ones 95-01 are more on par with the rodeo. The myth about them rolling over is just that, a myth, my explorer handles about 10 times better than my rodeo ever did, and I thought that handled really well. The explorer was built and marketed as a grocery hauler with the ability to hit the local logging road to get you to your hunting or fishing spot. Now the trooper and Montero are probably better at that with the slightly beefier suspensions but are all pretty close stock. The V8 explorers came AWD or 2WD only. The newer explorers 98s and up came with a 5 speed manual or 5 speed auto, which is really nice and close ratio for really good acceleration even with the smaller motor. The trannies are no weaker than the 4L30E. Sorry for the long post, but everyone seems to think they are problematic, but any vehicle can be, its just a matter of taking care of them. I also know a local guy who did a SAS on a 98 Explorer sport. Now thats one mean looking rig. Did I mention the Explorer sports, like I have, have a 102" wheelbase, which is shorter than the jeep liberty and close that of a wrangler. Make for a fun vehicle around town. Again, sorry for the smileyesk post.

Dan

92 Rodeo, 3.1 TB crank, custom bumpstop spacers, DOR shackles, Flipped ball joints, D44 Rear, 4.56s and new magnaflow cat and dynomax ultraflow muffler Since been replaced by a 2 door Explorer on 31's shackles, cranked torsion bars and full exhaust