Down here in the Land Down Under we didn't get the gen 1's so don't know about them but I've had a 98 XLT 4.0L sohc & now a 2000 XLT 4.0L sohc (both auto's) & have found them to be great "tourer's" that are more than capable of having a little bit of play as well specially with a 40mm lift, A/T tyres or better & aftermarket shocks.
There aren't that many of us that actually do take them out to play ( but there are getting to be more), as part price's are out of this world & thats when you can get them, & we are generally laughed at but I've managed to shock quite a lot of people (& rescue some as well).
We are laughed at mainly because our tracks & ground in general are a bit different here, as international rally drivers attest. We have very umm pebbly, hard & slippery surfaces as a rule with severve corrugations that eat up shocks & rattle bits & pieces of 4b's. On 1 of our "must do" tracks called the Gibb River road thats over 800klms long you see trailers rattled apart all along it also a few roll-overs from the sliding & fishtailing on the corrugations.
With a name over here for only so-so build quality (interior anyway). A lot of our main touring/4x4 tracks can be 1000klm's+ long over rough deserts & huge sand dunes with nothing but a roadhouse every 300klms or so.
This is where the parts bit comes in, when your 1800klms from the nearest big town & say you do a fuel pump (like I did) & there is only 1 in the country & it costs over $800 plus postage.
Anyway I love/loved my 2 X's but wont take them on anymore long 4x4 trips, just stick to the short fun ones. As for 3rd gen X's I know of only 1 over here that goes bush every now & then & he's on this forum with a red beast that has some Roadbully mods.
They stopped importing them down here in 2004 because of poor sales & Ford Australia built their own AWD version (the Territory) which for a couple of years was our top seller.
