Mounty71's 4x4 Long Travel Build | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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Mounty71's 4x4 Long Travel Build

My pride and joy, the Mounty:

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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


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Newly lifted on 31 BFG M/Ts:
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After its first offroading:
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Almost stock:
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That first picture is my favorite! Glad to see you finally got a registry started!
 






Nice! I hope to see it next time I'm out there!
 






Beautiful truck. :thumbsup:
 






Looks like i need to replace upper and lower left balljoints and repack the bearings. 4WP tried to rip me off again and wanted $1400 to replace all 4 BJs, inner and outer tie rods, new bearings, rotors, and i dont remember what else. :eek: And they charged me $109 just to look at the truck. That will be my last time going to them. I ended up going to a trustworthy shop near home who gave me a second opinion. They had the truck for a day and a half, and didn't charge me a cent for the inspection or anything.

So who wants to help with the work? :) I gotta search for a good place to order from first.
 






congrads on being elite
 






Looks like i need to replace upper and lower left balljoints and repack the bearings. 4WP tried to rip me off again and wanted $1400 to replace all 4 BJs, inner and outer tie rods, new bearings, rotors, and i dont remember what else. :eek: And they charged me $109 just to look at the truck. That will be my last time going to them. I ended up going to a trustworthy shop near home who gave me a second opinion. They had the truck for a day and a half, and didn't charge me a cent for the inspection or anything.

So who wants to help with the work? :) I gotta search for a good place to order from first.

This farther reaffirms why I do all my own work :D But anywho if ya need help lemme know
 






There's a chance i'll be getting some 32x11.50/15 Goodyear AT/S used, because 2 of my current BFG ATs are worn really unevenly and almost need replacing. Tbars, am i correct in remembering you need 2 BFG AT 32s?? This could work out perfectly.
 






...i run them on my ranger and am about due for a new set...what ya thinking...:scratch:
 






I was thinking i read you only needed 2 for the front since your front end was a little like \ /, so you could get my 2 good ones, then i'll get those 4 GY i saw. Or do you need all 4 tires?
 






Looks like i need to replace upper and lower left balljoints and repack the bearings. 4WP tried to rip me off again and wanted $1400 to replace all 4 BJs, inner and outer tie rods, new bearings, rotors, and i dont remember what else. :eek: And they charged me $109 just to look at the truck. That will be my last time going to them. I ended up going to a trustworthy shop near home who gave me a second opinion. They had the truck for a day and a half, and didn't charge me a cent for the inspection or anything.

So who wants to help with the work? :) I gotta search for a good place to order from first.

Ive done that at least 3 times this year for various reasons lol. If you need some help let me know, i know my way around the ifs front end pretty well these days. And 1400$ is a damn joke try rockauto.com for your parts. And if you wanna spend a little extra you could always get the uppers from Brandon like i did.
 






...that's an opticle as my tire wear is even all around, honest...;)

...in fact they are needing all to be replaced by spring but how much were you thinking of getting for your 2...if they were cheap enough i could have 2 really good spares...:D
 






Thanks for the offer carlover. Tbars, let me find out if i'm gonna buy those GYs first, then we'll talk price.
 






...c0ol, let me know....i'm also looking for 2-3 mt/r's if you run across them...i just missed a full set by froader's house...:(

..i'm not familiar with the gy at's though but i'll swear by the bfg at's...;)
 






...c0ol, let me know....i'm also looking for 2-3 mt/r's if you run across them...i just missed a full set by froader's house...:(

..i'm not familiar with the gy at's though but i'll swear by the bfg at's...;)

Ted, check the used tire place by the pick a part in ontario if your ever out there. Im sure they had a few 35 in mtr's last time i was there and they had tons of tread. if you come down let me know and ill give you the carrier. The gy at's are decent for a DD but the bfg's perform way better offroad. Im now running 33" bfg's and cant say enough good things about them.
'
 






Ted, i haven't had much luck finding 35s for 15" rims either, let alone MT/Rs. Seems like when i need something it doesn't exist :rolleyes: But i'll still keep a look out, i have a WTB thread on a couple forums.

And as far as my BFGs go, the front two have a lot of tread left, so you may only have to buy another 2, and maybe get one of my not-so-good ones for a spare and i'll keep the other not-so-good one. But like i said, lemme find out about the GYs first. I have no experience with anything GY, but for the mounty as a DD which wont see much offroading anymore, they'll serve me well.
 






Well the deal is a no-go. :( Turns out the add was a little deceiving at first, the tires are some mismatched street brands, not GY ATs. So now i guess we're both on the lookout for some 32" BFGs :shifty_ey
 






Well the deal is a no-go. :( Turns out the add was a little deceiving at first, the tires are some mismatched street brands, not GY ATs. So now i guess we're both on the lookout for some 32" BFGs :shifty_ey

Why not 33's?? The 4.10's and the v-8 would be good with 33's.
 






Hey man, that first pic is sick. That is prob the nicest pic i have ever seen of ur truck, it looks professionally taken
 



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Hey man, that first pic is sick. That is prob the nicest pic i have ever seen of ur truck, it looks professionally taken

Haha, it was professionally taken :) Care of exploderpilot. I really like it too, thanks.

Carlover, i almost went to 33s, but for a few reasons, i limited myself to 32s. The 32s fit perfectly w/o anymore trimming needed, i prefer to have just that little extra gas mileage from smaller tires (although the truck's a lot louder on the freeway at 2500 RPMs now with 4.10s), and not using it to offroad anymore i just don't need 33s for the street. One day i might step it up if i turn it more into a mild prerunner, but for now i'm happy with 32s and the 4.10s.
 






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