Are you looking at building a prerunner? Do you want 4WD or 2WD. If you want an Explorer get a 91-94. If it's 2WD it will have I beams and 4WD will have TTB. You can get a lot of travel with them. The rear suspension will be your main hurdle. If you keep the leaf spring setup you will be limited on the amount of travel but with a 63 inch Deaver or National spring you can still cycle 18 inches. You will have to come through the floor for the upper shock mount though. If you want more travel than that you will have to link the rear. If that's what you want then get a Ranger instead.
The reason Ranger guys back half is so they can get more compression travel while maintaining a low stance for better center of gravity. Some notch the frame instead. There's no reason to go through all that. You can get a lot of travel using the stock frame.
Also, cost will be a factor. If you keep it simple with coil/leaf springs it will cost a whole lot less than if you build a link system and use coilovers front and rear. I’d like to coilover the front of my Explorer one day but that won’t be for a very long time.
|