Need a little advice for my "newish-to-me" 1998 Explorer

Hey guys, just officially joined, but I have used this site a bunch recently with some fixes that I've needed on my relatively new to me 1998 Explorer and it's been really helpful. Sorry for the slightly extended first post, but

So, I had a 95 Explorer and a few months back she finally gave up on me after getting to just shy of 250,000 miles, but I had nothing to do with that feat as I admittedly did as little maintenance as I could to get by. I had to buy another car quickly as I needed it for work and found a great deal on this 98, but knew little about anything under the hood, so did one of those buyers inspections at a local shop (should have taken it to my guy, but the owner didn't want to take it that far). Long story short, I got screwed and ended up stuck with an Explorer that had been quite neglected and needed a lot of help. (So much for the great deal). After this, I vowed to never let it happen again and that I was going to be a much more informed and knowledgeable car owner and this site has been an absolute godsend.

I bought it with just over 160,000 miles on it and in my first six months or so I had my local mechanic do the following:

-Gave it an oil change and did a thorough once over (this was where I realized what I was up against - it wouldn't even pass a smog test for tabs!)
-Replaced the Rear Axle Assembly with a used one
-Cleaned the Mass Air Flow Sensor
-Replaced Air Filter
-Replaced front O2 sensors
-Transmission Fluid Flush

And some things I did myself, many with a lot of help from this site after I got it to pass that smog test:

-Full interior detailing including a slightly moldy vent system
-Full exterior detailing including a ton of much needed polishing
-Repaired badly weathered front grill with plasti-dip
-Restored neglected and yellowing headlights
-Replaced a couple burnt out tail lights
-Fixed Broken Driver's Seat Springs
-Fixed a sticky door lock and drivers window
-Replaced Rear Window Shocks
-Engine Coolant Clean and Flush
-Power Steering Fluid Flush
-Brake Fluid Flush
-Replaced Leaky Heater Valve

So, now for the help needed. With having those things done recently, and no record from the previous owner on what was done maintenance wise, (I'm assuming not much), what should I types of things should be checked (or just done) on an Explorer with this much mileage as I hope to get her to last at least to 200k. She runs a little rough, and doesn't love being put in reverse when the engine is cold, but overall, not too bad. My current list of things I need to do (hopefully all myself) is the following:

Replace Hood Shocks (current ones are toast)
Replace Front Brakes Pads and Rotors
Replace Front Sway Bar Links (one has completely snapped in two)
Replace Shocks and Struts (both are still original)
Replace Spark Plugs and Wires
Replace Fuel Filter and run a fuel cleaner through the system
Check/Replace PCV Valve???
Check/Replace Ignition Wires???
Check/Replace Distributor Cap???

Are any of these jobs things I should do before others/more important for an Explorer of this age, or anything else that I'm missing that I should be include on my list. Thanks in advance to anyone that can help!

do the stuff to make it road safe first,, the cosmetics can wait till it's good to drive,,

Thanks for the reply Corky, yeah, it's road safe as I've been driving it for a few months and she runs good enough and all - I have to as it's my DD. I just want to get it up into as best shape possible (to a reasonable degree) and then keep it maintained. The brake pads and rotors are on their way, so they'll be replaced soon, but was just curious if any of those other items on the last "to do" list should be tackled first (or things that I missed all-together).

I forgot to mention too that it has a very slow rear pinion seal leak that needs fixed (probably takin that one to the mechanic) and an engine oil leak of some sort that I'm still a little clueless on where it's coming from and what the plan is for that. Thanks again!

Sounds like you have a good plan.

Just budget for it and do the repairs as you can.

Do the general maintenance. I noticed you didn't mention changing the transfer case fluid or the front differential. oversight?

You can use the "Custom Google search" at the top of the page for info on the cold reverse issue. It only searches this forum and is your new best friend!

On the pinion seal I would just keep an eye on the fluid level until it gets much worse. In the meantime you can educate yourself here on how to replace it.

My number one money saver tip: Buy a scan tool so you can pull your own fault codes from the computer. This will save you hundreds of dollars, and countless hours of your time. AND get a repair manual!

You can post the codes up here for help diagnosing what they mean. (your scan tool will also come with software with basic code explanations)

Thanks for all that great advice FR-425. It was oversight/lack of knowledge on the transfer case and front differential, so thanks for that. I've also been thinking of getting a scan too, probably worth it.

I realized that I originally posted this in the wrong thread, so I reported in the 95-01 stock explorers thread, so if a mod wants to remove this thread for keeping things clean, feel free. Sorry about that

I have a 1994 Ranger w/ 4.0L. Is there anywhere online that would give me a vacuum schematic? Having trouble with acceleration. Does fine with "half throttle" starts and just cruising down the road. Runs smooth at idle. Any helpful info would be great