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:

 

[R.J.]

lookin good. Didn't realize you were swapping the front over. I may do the D44 outers too in the future.

 

[mounty71]

Getting a little closer...

Had these top plates cut out and spent Saturday dimpling them, finishing and painting the passenger side slider, and making the 4 frame connector tubes for the driver side slider. Working around the parking brake cable was a little tricky on the driver side but it's turning out pretty good.

 

[Madmaxwell]

Nice sliders! That's a good clean design.

 

[mounty71]

 

[FROADER]

Nicely done, Matt. Those look great!

 

[mounty71]

Thanks Colin!

Took another weekend trip to Pismo a couple of weekends ago and finally got some pics from friends.

 

[josh40601]

how hot does it get there at Pismo? I never been

 

[mounty71]

I've been there when it's hot as hell and also when it's freezing cold and crazy windy. But this trip, except for maybe a couple hours of wind and fog, it was some of the best weather we've ever had there.

 

[mounty71]

This has been on my list of things to do for a while, so finally knocked it out today. Removable access panel for replacing a fuel pump. I used nutserts to bolt it down, and I cut up an extra transmission pan gasket to hopefully seal it up enough. Then painted it to match the body color, not that it will be visible under the carpet.

 

[mounty71]

And yes, that is a gigantic crack in the body along the top of that rib. Not sure what to do about that, and haven't checked if the other side has one too.

Edit 8/25/16: Guess I can no longer post in here since I'm not an Elite member anymore? That's too bad.

 

[josh40601]

just run a cut off wheel to bevel it, drill a hole at each end of it, and then weld it back up.

 

[mounty71]

Woohoo, just won a year of Elite membership and mine just expired! Anyway, Josh, ya I know I could weld the crack up, but being so big I'd be willing to bet it would just crack again along the edge of the weld really quickly. I've noticed small cracks all over the body over the years but nothing ever that big or worrisome. I know to keep the truck from falling apart eventually it will need a cage with the body tied into it, so maybe that will just happen sooner than I'd planned.

On a similar note, the sliders are really close to the body and touching in a few areas, so now driving over uneven roads or big bumps I can hear the body slamming into them and it's really annoying!

 

[036speed]

I dig those dune pictures posted earlier. I haven't been in the sand in over a decade.

 

[josh40601]

Woohoo, just won a year of Elite membership and mine just expired! Anyway, Josh, ya I know I could weld the crack up, but being so big I'd be willing to bet it would just crack again along the edge of the weld really quickly. I've noticed small cracks all over the body over the years but nothing ever that big or worrisome. I know to keep the truck from falling apart eventually it will need a cage with the body tied into it, so maybe that will just happen sooner than I'd planned.

On a similar note, the sliders are really close to the body and touching in a few areas, so now driving over uneven roads or big bumps I can hear the body slamming into them and it's really annoying!

Congrats!

that banging would drive me insane. can you beat the body out of the way, or weld a link between the two to keep them from hitting each other? i know the body is on mounts and the rails are solid, but if you're planning on caging it anyway, and the body is already pulling itself apart, at least this would keep them from banging until you have the whole cage done.

 

[mounty71]

I put about 650 miles on it this weekend and I'm getting used to the noise, and the truck makes so many other noises offroad that it wasn't as bothersome as I expected. So if I do anything to fix it it would probably just be a ~1/2" body lift to just gain some clearance.

Went to see a couple of friends race the Fallon 250 in Nevada and then our group had some fun of our own yesterday before heading home.

2 weeks until our annual Rubicon trip, and then hopefully soon after that I can finally tear into my truck!

 

[mounty71]

Finally got this thing into position in the shop for surgery. Decided to start with the transmission swap, and got as far as removing the stock one this weekend.

Next steps are to install the shift kit into my new one, replace the rear main seal for a 3rd time, then install the trans, transfer case, and build cross members and locate the radius arm brackets. Can't wait to see what 4-low feels like!

I don't have high hopes but right now I would love for this thing to be done by New Years.

 

[josh40601]

are you going with a different trans, or just a rebuilt 4r70w?

 

[mounty71]

Just another 4r70w I got from 036speed. He was driving his truck up until he pulled the trans for me, and he says it shifts just fine so I'm crossing my fingers that that's the case.

 

[mounty71]

Tranafercase in a 2wd Mountaineer?

What's this for?

All finished

 

[R.J.]

so now you have 2wd low?