The front suspension on my Explorer is completely clapped out and somehow the main noises or anything on it is from the passenger unit bearing being worn and the previously mentioned sway bar end link issues... I changed the whole front diff because of a rotational noise (had a spare in a parts rig) that I now believe to be the unit bearing (at least part of it, I ran a lot of miles with very little oil in the front diff).
There aren't any worn out bushings on the front diff are there? I think there's only one on the passenger side and two on the drivers side if memory serves... The CV on the front output of the AWD T case isn't worn is it? I honestly have very few miles on the AWD system from the Explorers but even my 240k mile '98 Explorer drives pretty nice somehow, the '00 Explorer with 260ish has lived a rougher life...