Ford Explorer parts reviews

I replaced Defenders with CC2s on an Explorer and they’re a much better tire for New England weather.

We had gotten a chip on our 2018 ford explorer and that thing didn’t budge/spread at all! 2 years after it happened, many road trips later and it never got bigger.

Put a set on my 2017 Ford Explorer Limited up sized slightly 255/55/20 . Had for 2 weeks and have been very pleased with the performance. We have had heavy rain, Snow and ice and they have been very predictable.

Petronas is a pure virgin oil.

Great for UAE road and climate.

I personally use Petronas oil or petromin oil.

Great performance and good mileage getting.

I also have a 2018 Sport. Just changed mine at 35k miles. It had orange in it but the replacement is Motorcraft yellow. I highly recommend you do not use anything else. The motorcraft coolant is better than the ones you will find in stores. I used the 50/50 mix and was able to get the orange out with 4 gallons of repeated drain and fill. The orange and yellow are compatible but the new yellow has more corrosion inhibitors.

I currently have Firestone LE3's on my 14 Explorer. They have a little over 26k miles on them. 255/50/20's for $930 mounted/balanced back in 2021. Overall pretty good tires, especially for the money. Smooth, good traction in the dry/wet and pretty good in the snow. They did seem to get louder fairly quickly, but I don't think they've really gotten any worse over the last 15k miles. Wet roads seem to exacerbate the noise. Last time I looked at them (few k miles ago), they were wearing really well. I can't say I'd buy them again yet, but if they get us another 26k miles without getting significantly louder, they (or their successor) would be on the list. In the past I had OE Hankooks (good dry/wet, excellent life, absolutely terrible in the snow) and Michelin Premier LTX (good in all conditions, short life, overpriced for what they were).

My first set (255 55 R20) lasted for 4 years. Same size on the 2nd set I had installed in late October of 2023. Superior wet traction in the heaviest of downpours. 80 mph on the parkway with no hiccups! Superb snow traction as well, as I was able to negotiate steep snowy roads with my 2020 Ford Explorer Limited Trim without losing traction.

Go with an OEM unit by Motorcraft even if it's more expensive. Not somethin you want to do twice, learned this lesson with my Explorer. Threw on an aftermarket unit and it doesn't communicate with Ford's smart charging system correctly so it doesn't provide correct voltages as needed, therefore throwing a charging system warning constantly.

The 3.5 5th generation Explorer has an internal water pump driven by the timing chain. It’s an enormous pain to change requiring significant disassembly (nearly 12 hours of labor) and generally includes replacing the timing chain in the process since you’re already in there, plus when it fails it can easily mix the coolant with the oil and destroy the engine, all that’s keeping them apart is a little seal.

I have a vendetta against Firestone since they exploded on my Explorer and nearly wrecked me, only had like 10k miles.