Mounty71's 4x4 Long Travel Build

My pride and joy, the Mounty:

Video:

It's a 2000 Mercury Mountaineer. I acquired this fine vehicle in 2003 with just 32,410 miles on the ticker, and it was in pristine condition, having been driven by an elderly couple, and always serviced regularly at the same dealership it was delivered to from the factory.

This thing has gone through a series of different suspension setups, but currently it has:
Solo Motorsports 4" extended D35 TTB with D44 outers, and custom radius arms
2.5x12" King coilovers with 2.5x12" secondary King reservoir shocks
4WD conversion with BW4406 manual transfer case
2.5x18" rear King shocks outboard of the frame
custom ordered Deaver leaf springs with 12" 2AM Fab shackles
Full-width 8.8 rear with stock disc brakes, Blue Torch Fab diff cover/truss
4.56 gears front and rear, lunchbox front locker, limited slip rear
roll cage through dash and firewall to engine cage

(previous front suspension setup)
Long Travel front end 5" wider per side with 2.5x8" Sway Away coilovers, Dixon Bros. shock hoops
2.0x2" King bumpstops
Full heim steering
3" Procomp lift spindles
homemade lower rear A-arm crossbrace, lower A-arm mount weld-washers, upper A-arm gussets
8" limit straps
removed swaybar

(performance)
MAC performance muffler with turn down tip
MAC performance intake

(exterior)
front bumper with removable light bar, with 4 Hella 4000 55w HID conversions
custom rear receiver and swing out spare tire carrier w/ gas can
clear corners
McNeil fiberglass fenders
removed running boards
5.0 emblems
color-matched grill surround with mesh grill
clear LED light in rear bumper

(random)
ABS defeat switch
Icom race radio
recovered center console in black
fog lamp-hi beam mod
added tie-downs in cargo area
rear hatch interior handle
4x4 Ranger front towhooks
driveshaft "loop"


COMING NEXT
3-link rear suspenion
add 2.5 or 3.0x18" King bypass shocks to the rear
switch front smooth body shocks for 2.5 or 3.0x12" King bypasses
rear fiberglass
35s

Newly lifted on 31 BFG M/Ts:

After its first offroading:

Almost stock:

 

[mounty71]

 

[cybergasm]

got em installed yet??

 

[mounty71]

Haha, i wish. Gotta get longer u-bolts, and some spare time. Might try to get them on over spring break, which is at the end of March/beginning of April, or else wait till summer break towards the end of May.

 

[99ex22]

I take it your waiting til the end of may?

 

[mounty71]

I take it your waiting til the end of may?

Ya most likely. Just don't have the time right now with school.

 

[mounty71]

Just ordered a couple things from Ruff Stuff Specialties. Got some longer u-bolts and some weld washers for the lower A-arm mounts. And i have about a month left of school, so i'll be ready to get to work as soon as i'm out.

http://www.ruffstuffspecialties.com/catalog/u-bolt-58-x-3-14-x-10-p-192.html

http://www.ruffstuffspecialties.com/catalog/weld-washers-4-sizes-p-394.html

 

[mounty71]

Decided i wasn't a fan of the red rings on my HIDs, so i painted them green.

I think they look much better. I wanted to paint them the same green as the truck, but i already had this and ran out of the spruce green.

 

[mounty71]

They're 12" Bilstein 7100s for the rear. I said i originally wanted 2.5s, but there's no way i can afford those, and 2.0 resis will be plenty for me for now. And i got these BRAND NEW from a guy who didn't need them for a really good deal.

 

[section525]

Are the top and bottom eye bolts different sizes? Top looks huuuge!

 

[mounty71]

Nope, they're the same, it's just the odd angle of the picture. Also, they're not the normal bushing mounts, they have little uniballs in them.

 

[FROADER]

Nice, Matt. I also like the painted rings of the HIDs better than the red.

 

[mounty71]

Thanks Colin. BTW, just wanted to add that this past weekend i was out in Lucerne for a race, and i think i drove the truck harder than i ever have, and it surprised the hell out of me and everyone else with trucks more built than mine. 55mph at one point down a pretty big whooped section and a couple of times trying to fly. Can't wait to see how it does with the new rear springs and shocks, and front shocks when i eventually get some. But my power steering pump has finally started to whine like ford pumps are notorious for. It happens as soon as i'm offroad, and once it sits for a few minutes it's quiet again. It's like my truck is crying to me to stop abusing it.

 

[Tbars4]

..Bling...

...Do you have a cooler for your steering fluid???

 

[mounty71]

Yes, there's a small cooler from the factory.

 

[carlover]

i can get you pretty close on the valving with the new springs. Good to see youre getting some good parts for that thing.

 

[mounty71]

They were bought for a ranger so the valving is 170/60...probably too light for me. I guess i need to order some extra shims, huh? And what psi do you think they should be? Operating range is between 180-250 psi.

 

[mounty71]

Got my new wheels on. They look like the stock ranger wheels i had before, but they're the size i want.

 

[cybergasm]

Bravo Much better now

 

[carlover]

im running the f150 version of those on my explorer. picked up 8 them for $12 ea on a half off jy day. so replacements are cheap and easy to find.

 

[mounty71]

Nice, those aren't the alcoa ones are they? I'm really happy with these, i was so tired of the black wheels. Now i just want to get these polished up a little bit.