hi i recently got some Gabriel front shocks from an explorer at the junkyard, i put them on and saw that they are flexed all the way in. is it fine if i run my shocks like this?

 

??

Shocks shouldn't ever be fully extended or fully compressed when in use, your vehicle has a suspension travel range, wheel will only go up until suspension hits a Stop, and it will only go down until it hits another Stop, that is its range, the shocks range is slightly longer, so it can't bend or prevent full travel of suspension.
Which is why you use shocks designed for your vehicle, model and year.

Check if the explorer year and your ranger year used the same shock part number

 

Why buy shocks at a junkyard? Just buy new ones from a autostore,and no they should not look like that.Like ron said check the part numbers.

 

it was either a 2001 or a 1997 explorer, the shocks i got are an older version to these shocks

 

i got another 2 front shocks from a 91 explorer and they work great now, thanks