Warning all just my opinion:
Bad rings and issues that are internal for any engine for the most part can be attributed to bad maintenance unless of course there are just plain bad design/engineering issues. The latter for the most part is not the case with the 302, these engines have pretty powerful ignition and small diameter plug wires along with some funky routing of those wires. Let a wire go bad, do a do it yourself tune up and leave them laying around out of the retainers to get burned up and you have an injector spraying fuel into a dead cylinder, washing down the cylinder and wiping out the rings.
As for sensors most of those problems can be attributed in my opinion to mechanics at the time not know what the fWONk is up and instead of investing in a quality scan tool they just hacked and replaced everything in sight. The knock sensor and the 02 are the biggest failure. The TPS is another but these are easy to identify with the correct/quality scan tool.
Biggest thing I have ever seen with a Ford and the fuel injection system these trucks used were clogged throttle bodies, the pcv runs into the bottom of it and clogs the air bleed and will not allow it to idle and they will die after they have been warmed up because the cold start bypasses after it warm enough. This is simple fix with some brake cleaner and some .020 gauge wire through the bleeds.
Wanted to add about vacuum leaks posted above.....Ford and those pesky plastic lines that get hot and break or split can be a pain in the ass.....easy fix and again a good scan tool will give great incite to what's happening.
), starter solenoids, and dead cylinders. The dead cylinders are usually from old plug wires and fan clutches do wear out and the solenoids are cheap( carry a screwdriver)...other than that I've seen them run over 300,000kms no problem.
