3
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. Explorers initially came in 4 trim levels: base XL, XLT, Sport (only available on the two-door version), and the upscale Eddie Bauer edition. For the 1993 model year, engine output was increased by 15 hp (11 kW) for a total of 170 hp (127 kW). The Limited edition, added for 1993, was available only in the 4-door body style and was positioned at the top of the lineup above the Eddie Bauer edition. It featured automatic headlights, foglamps, an auto-dimming rear view mirror, a center roof console with compass and outside thermometer, unique wheels and grille, and an automatic transmission as standard equipment. Both the grill and headlight trims on the Limited model were paint-matched to the body color, unlike the chrome or black versions on other trim levels. Technically similar to the 4-door Ford Explorer, the 2-door Explorer came in both rear-wheel drive and four-wheel drive variants. It replaced the 2-door Ford Bronco II, and was larger than the Bronco II. A variant of the 2-door Explorer Sport was sold by Mazda as the Navajo, which won Motor Trend's Truck of
the Year award but was discontinued in 1994. Many, but not all 2-door Explorers are badged as Sport models. 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 systems aided 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 Explorer saw significant exterior, interior and suspension updates in
Second generation (1995–2001)