Only a relatively small handful of people actual go so far as to installing a blower or a cammed stroker in their explorers. Most aren't looking to drop $5,000+ dollars and a decade of headaches and busted knuckles into their 20 year old 150,000+mile daily driver they picked up for $1500-$4000. Most are just looking for a couple bolt ons that will give them results for their hard earned money while giving them the least hassle. Numerically speaking, the 2nd gens with a 3.73 gear and 30inch tire is the same as a foxbody with 3.27's and a 26inch tire. Perfect for max all round mpg but not for performance. Any hotrodder worth his salt will tell you gears should be the first thing to do if you want to make a stock or mild bolt-on car go quicker. Unlike sport/muscle/pony cars, we have the ability to put much larger (or even smaller) tires. So you could effectively put steeper gears and have two set I(or three of differently size and type of tires depending on if you want to go off roading, or daily driving street mpg or stickier wider tires to hook and go fast from a stop or whatever. Before people burn up $1000 on aftermarket ignition systems, "CAI's", intake spacers, roller rockers etc, they should drop in gears, a shift kit and a muffler that that makes the noise they like and a dyno tune from a ford specialist. Just those 4 things would transform any truck and are the best bang for the buck and the least headache. Installing a power adder or building a more capable motor in a 2nd gen is a bridge few have the time, money, patience or skill to cross.
