Two problems related to clutch have been reported for the 1996 Ford Explorer. The most recently reported issues are listed below.
I have an Explorer sport with manual transmission. This car is will taken care of even if it has alot of miles on it. The manual shift shakes considerably. If there is a rough surface on the highway, it seems to be ready to take flight. At 165,000 miles I had the clutch, pressure plate, and throwout bearings replaced. The machine at the dealership couldn't tell me why it happened but he thought something was still wrong. Now at 212,000 miles the bearings and clutch are out again. While looking at some other Explorers at the dealership, I noticed that the newwer Explorers have a vibration damper mounted on the rear axle. Ford would be happy to put one on my car for $4,000. I am very upset since it was their design flaw that is causing all my problems. I have already spent alot of money trying to fix their design error.
Vehicle will stall when clutch is depressed. Ford is aware and has a technical service bulletin, but repairs will not start until possibly three months away.