The front parts are all the same and will work out well. They mostly bolt on over top of the factory parts - in some cases, you may have to do some other work, but you'll know that when you pull the parts off of the Ranger. One difference between the two is that the Ranger has a Dana 28 axle and the Explorer has a Dana 35 -- the brackets are the same, however. Also, the Ranger will have a sway bar that mounts insde the radius arms (go back to the frame) while the Explorer will have a front of the axle mounted sway bar. Dump the Ranger bar -- the Explorer setup is much better, and you can make disconnects for off-road use by replaceing the bolts with pull-pins where it mounts to the axle.
Out back, you won't need any of the Ranger parts except the shocks. What you will have to do is to cut off your leaf spring pads from the axle, and then weld on some new ones on the top side. Make sure to measure your pinion angle before doing the cutting and welding so that you can duplicate it when you weld on the new mounts. This is very easy fabrication work, but you will need to have or have access to a 4" grinder, a couple of cut-off wheels, perhaps a cutting torch set (makes it easier to get the old brackets off) and a welder of some kind, preferrably a MIG.
I just got done welding new mounts on the Dana 60 I'm sticking under my 86 Ranger - here's a pic of how it works:
You get the extra 5.5" lift with stock springs simply by setting the springs on the other side of the axle tube. Make sure you lengthen brake lines! I use newer model Superduty lines up front (they are all the same -- just pick a year like 2003) and re-bend the line out back (and/or add an extension line).
