Today's vehicles have 18"+ wheels and less ground clearance than my 88 Bronco 2 at stock height with 15" wheels LOL. My 84 Ford Ranger with 14" wheels had more ground clearance. My aunt & uncle just got the new Lincoln Aviator, damn thing has 20" wheels and looks like about 6 maybe 8 inches of ground clearance at max suspension height (air ride crap). I love the small pickups like the old Rangers, S-10's, Dakota's, even the old F-Series. You could reach over the bed and get stuff out, put stuff in, and not need a damn ladder...well that is unless someone put a lift on them, and generally even the Rangers, S-10's, and Dakota's with a lift were still manageable.
I agree with rusty ol ranger, I like the old Expeditions, body on frame with at least a solid rear axle, I believe they had IFS though? I got my 98 Jeep Grand Cherokee before I found an older Expedition in good enough condition and good price, people either sell them after they've destroyed them, or they want a lot of money for them....those Expeditions are great as they generally had the 3rd row seat, actual 4WD and I think many if not all were full time and part time 4WD systems, or at least most of the ones I ran across had the 2WD, 4WD Auto, high, and low range which I think for where I live the 4WD Auto setting is a huge plus where road conditions are always changing in the winter. The only thing I really am not sure about with them is the 5.4L V8's...seems several have issues with them spitting out spark plugs, stripping threads out of the plug holes, etc...so I was even more leary about getting one due to horror stories on that. Also, transmissions in them kind of make me cringe now since having several A4LD issues, it makes it hard to trust the Ford automatics especially in a used vehicle with no service history and where I live many people seem to not care about having their cars serviced properly. Still would love to get a mid 2000's Expedition though at some point as they do have a fairly good towing capacity which is one reason I'd rather stick to a mid-size or full size SUV, I assume the older Expeditions are considered full size?
I still love my Bronco 2 way too much to get rid of it, and I'd love to get another 80's Ranger at some point too I love the older square body trucks and the ones you can actually get stuff in and out of the bed without needing a ladder.