I came across some information which may help clarify things further. I realise this thread is 5 years old but I figured it could help people in future!
The website below has technical specifications for Ford Explorers imported into Australia from 1996 to 2001...
https://www.automobile-catalog.com/m...agon/2001.html
Reading through it you'll see that 3.73 gears were standard for all year models, manual and auto, however 4.10 gears were optional on the Limited spec models (which appear to only have come in automatic).