The '97 Explorer has a four piece jack set. There is the jack, the tire iron/jack handle, and the spare tire tool/jack adapter. The scissor jack is located on the driver side in the compartment in the rear of the vehicle. The jack adapter and jack handle are located behind and under the rear seat.
The jack adapter is a two piece rod, that when assembled is about four to five feet long. One end is meant for the jack handle/tire iron, the other is meant to fit in the socket of the jack. This rod turns, both to lower the spare tire from beneath the vehicle and to actuate the jack. It isn't difficult to put the rod together wrong, or to mix up the ends, but looking at the tips should clear up what end goes where, and you only need one section of the rod to actuate the jack.
If these pieces do not fit together, somewhere along the line, someone substituted jack parts that are not meant for your Explorer.
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