Car Electronics....

February 21, 2006, 01:10:35 PM

I have read this text several times, with i want to know if i understood correctly....Its called the "Brown Wire Mod" for the Explorer 96. They say with a simple switch you can engage the 4wd like a 4WD High, better for True 4wheeling.....

"'95-'96 to Engage the 4wd full-time

Access the brown wire and make the connections to the brown wire as described in the procedure for the '97-'01 Explorers. However, connecting to the switch will be a little different.

You will need to connect a splice to a power source in order to manually power the Transfer Case Clutch Coil. I used a Scotch-Lok to splice a wire onto the existing Cigarette Lighter circuit, but any power source will work, so long as it can support an additional 5A without blowing its fuse. Make sure to install a 10A fuse in-line as an additional safety. The transfer case clutch coil draws right around 5A on my truck, so a 10A fuse should be more than sufficient.

If you simply want to add 4high, use an SPDT On-On switch. If you want the ability to use 2 low as well, use an SPDT ON-off-ON switch.

Please note: If you want to use a lighted switch on a 95-96 and want to use 2low, you'll need a very specific type of switch (which I can recommend) or a DPDT switch and separate LED (which you can find at radio shack), and the wiring gets a little more complicated. It's not difficult, but it's a whole other discussion for another time. To keep the choices simple, I'll focus on the first two choices I mentioned here."

Heres the link...

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=149388

Ok, the only thing i need to do is, attach 2 wires to make a bridge between the brown wire, connect to a switch, and with a third wire, connect to a power source to "tell" the differential to engage all the time, connecting this wire to the other side of the switch. and when i turn on this switch, the bridge and the power will come in....

Is this right ?

Car Electronics....

Reply #1 – February 21, 2006, 03:39:07 PM

From what I can see by browsing that article, you would cut the brown wire at some point between the GEM and the transfer case - it would be best to cut the wire at the GEM since it is inside the car and protected from the elements. By using a SPDT on-on switch you can either turn the transfer case on or allow the GEM to control it. One switch position allows current to flow as normal between the GEM and the transfer case, the other position causes current to flow from the battery to the transfer case, causing it to lock. As noted in your quote above, you can give yourself a third "2WD Low" option by using an on-off-on (three position) switch. The wiring would be identical. The purpose of having 2WD low capabilities escapes me...

Looks like a pretty straightforward mod. If you want to be able to lock the transfer case, go for it. Just remember, though, that as that article states, the modification is not designed to allow unlimited rear wheel slippage, so no burnouts, no 2-wheel dynoes, etc