Ford 2.3L ecotoot would be a more direct swap. Drop out from a Mustang with manual and full harness. Coyote is super wide and old 302s barely fit in these rangers. Or go crazy and shove 6.8L v10 with zf6 in it. No matter what choice, finding an explorer v8's rear axle (narrow 8.8) is only way to keep it sleeper width and put power down.
I did debate putting the 2.3 in it, try finding a totaled mustang as a donor. Im just thinking ahead for bigger hp numbers. I did not know tho about the explorer axles being more narrow which would help tuck wider tires.
