Hard to say. From my lurking on this board it seems explorers in general have creeky front ends but most noises seem to be the result of typical wear of bushings & ball joints, etc. Through in big tires, lifts/lowers, and off roading and you can get some unexpected repairs. But it looks like feeling smug with my low milage unmodded ex may be premature. I was talking with my mechanic and he was focusing in on the "non servicable" (no gease zirks) joints like tie rod ends. While they are a pain for the guys who use their ex hard they are also a problem for low milage ones too. The tolerances are tight and the joints and materials are designed for typical wear. If you dick with wear pattern either way and then throw in some age and no lube you have a chance for noises. My noises only happened above 50F so I'm guessing the compounds on the rods expanded just enough to cause noise and I did not drive it enough to cause wear to compensate.
So every time you pass your ex in the garage just bounce it up and down some.
