For about $85 I lifted my Explorer 2". Used Warrior shackles in the rear and F-150 coil spacers in the front. Shackles were about $80 and coil spacers were $5. Of course you WILL have to re-align the front if you lift it, cost me $45 to get an alignment. The stock camber/caster eccentric bushings worked fine in my case but some Explorers may need to change bushings, which is pretty cheap and most good alignment shops will have them as they're common to Ford truck suspensions. Stock length shocks and swaybar links worked fine, same for all brake hoses. 2" will fit some meaty tires. I am running 31.6" tires (265/75/R16LT) and only had to trim the front rocker molding extensions slightly.
Any lift beyond 2" and you will start needing to upgrade other things like longer shocks, longer sway links, drop steering arm, and so on.
Lifting the truck is a good time to renew worn out parts too; when I installed my lift I changed out for new front springs, front brake lines, front bearings, swapped a junkyard leaf spring to eliminate sag on the left side, swaybar bushings and four new shocks. As a result everything works great and it doesn't handle like a "lifted truck". If you rely on old worn out parts, the more lift you add will only magnify the problems.