...after he revved her up to 5k'* in neutral and slammed it into drive 10 or 15 times.

We have an 2002 XLT with the 4.0L. 50,000km'* and not a single problem yet, tranny shifts fine. It has been a good car so far.

I had a 91 explorer with the 5 speed, no problems, but a little boring for me. Both of my sisters have explorers, one a 93 with 200k+ miles, and the other a 94 with 103 or so, no serious problems. And fuel mileage isn't that bad. I was towing a little trailer with my ninja on it down to utah, and i got 23, my sister wasn't towing anything and the best she got was 25, and hers was auto. anyways, my parents are sold on them..... best of luck with it, John!

That'* why I said "auto tranny" and not just tranny, I knew it didn't matter, just trying to contribute.

This would be the 4.0 OHV and not the SOHC, right?

my brother has a 1996 Eddie Bauer Edition. I just about bought it 3 yrs ago when it had 180k on it. The auto tranny went out at 200k, and now at 245k it still runs as good as the day he bought it (actually better now).
It'* a reliable motor, but be prepared for 15 mpg max. He gets 12 mpg in his loaded X.
My younger brother and his wife just bought a 1994 Ranger Splash reg cab, 4x4 w/5-spd and it gets 17 mpg. The X is abit heavier and I'd expect that'll cost ya 2 mpgs.
Good luck, other than gas you'll have a nice ride, but don't try cornering too hard either -they're also top-heavy (what SUV pre-2000 isn't -excluding the syclone/typhoon).