What would you do if you had a severely wounded truck? Would you go to great lengths and expense to make it right? Would you drop-kick the metallic mess and look to a new horizon? Our '01 Ford Explorer Sport Trac had been good-looking on the outside, but was a mechanical mess on the inside.
In August, we talked in general terms about what was done to bring our 'Trac back from the mechanical brink of death. This time, we'll delve further into the details as we repair the frame, mount the shock hoops, and route a pair of custom brake lines.
To date, we have several thousand miles on this front end. If we had to do it again, would we choose "restore" instead of "recycle?" Absolutely. The truck now handles the bumps and curves in fine style. No more bumpsteer. We're not done though, because a big part of this truck's cool factor is the long-travel suspension combined with four-wheel drive. Right now, we don't have four-wheel drive because the front diff vanished somewhere in the truck's past. We miss it. We've been stuck a time or two, and it wasn't fun. Stay tuned. Our Sport Trac will soon be sporting the best of both worlds - long-travel four-wheel drive.
 No, that's not a shadow, it's...  No, that's not a shadow, it's a big crack! The old shock hoops' design placed major stress on the frame. Without sufficient gusseting and plating, the old shock hoops stressed the frame enough to crack it. We bought a little time by welding up the cracks, but in time cracks reappeared in the same area. |  To repair the frame, we started...  To repair the frame, we started by cutting out the worst of the damage and welding patches in place. Several gouged spots remained. Short beads were welded to fill in the gouges. |  When the gouges were sufficiently...  When the gouges were sufficiently filled, a grinder fitted with an abrasive flap disc smoothed the surface |