I am more than certain that I found the right place to get help with my problem. Any advice is much appreciated.

I bought a 1996 Explorer AWD V8 for $800 to pull my boat back and forth to the lake (about ten miles from where I live.) I knew it had some problems but really thought that was a heck of a deal. There were only three major poblems, the rear hatch wouldnt open, which I have fixed, there is an exhaust leak somewhere (which I was told was no big deal) and that the previous owner took out the front driveshaft to get better gas mileage. I did not know that was going to turn out to be my biggest nightmare.

Well I hooked my boat up and headed to the lake last summer when I backed down the ramp and parked it to get in the boat and unload, it started rolling back. Thankfully I was.able to jump back in and apply the brakes. Long story short, E brake doesnt work either.

I was told that because it is an AWD model that the front driveshaft has to engage the rear driveshaft in order to not roll back. And it seems like an easy enough fix, since the previous owner did have the driveshaft in the backseat, to just reinstall the driveshaft. My problem is the bolts are missing, along with the straps.

I dont want to have to sink alot of money into it. Thats over $100

SURELY there is somewhere, other than a Ford dealership, where I can buy such parts? $16.00 a bolt seems pretty excessive when I need 8 of them. I don't even knkw what the bolts are called to even begin looking. I just know I need 8 bolts and 2 straps for the ujoints.

I really dont want to spend over $100 in parts when I have to pay a guy $50 to put it in to find.out that it may not be the solution. It would be different if the vehicle wasn't 17 years old and I know dealerships are notorius for markup. They said a wheel hub was $140 and I got it new on ebay for 48$.

So can anyone pleassssssssssssse tell me if there is somewhere I can get these bolts cheapier? or what size they are, can I use a different bolt? Probably a stupid question, but I'm a woman, I ask dumb questions on a regular basis! Haha.

Sorry for any spelling errors, its hard to correct when im on my mobile phone.

Thanks,


Lexi

 

If I recall, they are special bolts to start with. You may have to bite the bullet and purchase them. Can you call a salvage yard near you to see if they will sell you those bolts? They may be used on more than one model Ford.
When you say straps do you mean the end caps that go over the u-joint?
Another salvage yard item. Some of these things are pretty special and you may have to buy a complete u-joint kit.
Hopefully someone will join in and suggest other measures you can try.