I have had good results with Monroe Sensa-Trac shocks...I found Sears
Auto Center (surprisingly) had the lowest price (at least in my area).
Totaled less than $150 for parts which I installed myself (very easy).
If you want to go the other route, Sears wanted around $210-220
installed. I shopped around and found the average price was about $350
installed for Sensa-Tracs, and one place quoted me over $400! BTW, my
97 Explorer drives much much much better, far less sway and movement.
The stock shocks could be compressed by hand with little effort and
were quite jerky while decompressing.
Good Luck,
Joe