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:

 

[Stic-o]

Came out awesome Before you paint it up you should weld on some tabs for the skid plate and lights if you plan to put them back on

 

[mounty71]

Ya i'll probably just coat it in WD40 until everything's done and i'm ready to paint. And thanks for the compliments everyone.

 

[FROADER]

It's a great, simple and clean design. Looks great on the truck!

 

[cybergasm]

Sweet Looking, better than the Bulldozer i have

but a Suggestion for the front license plate mounting: Conduit Tube Clamps, they come in a few sizes readily available at Home Depot and are cheap too.

this was passed along to me by DB1
credit where credit is Due

 

[Tbars4]

...I gotta say...It looks freakin awesome...:biggthump

...After building this, I'm sure you won't ever look at buying something the same way in the future...

 

[mounty71]

Good idea for the license plate. And Ted, you're right, this has taught me a lot about what goes into fabrication. This has cost me about $160 so far, but going to a shop to have it built would likely be close to 5x the price. And i'm realizing that I can do mostly everything on my own. Aside from alignment, i can't remember the last time my truck was in a shop for maintenance or modification. And i had to redo my alignment on my own anyway. I've been doing all my own work for a while now and it saves tons of money, and it's also gratifying to do it myself.

 

[BrianDye]

I just read most of this thread man, and you have a mighty fine ride!

How do you like those auxiliary HIDs? I was looking at a set of them for behind my grill, but haven't heard much about them.

 

[mounty71]

I like them a lot, for the price they are great and they light everything up pretty well. I don't think there's room for them behind the grill though, the housings are pretty big. But if i were to do it again, i would get some Hella 700FFs and convert them to HID. O'reilly's is actually clearing all their stores of the Hellas right now (at least the stores around me) so you can get a pair super cheap, and the HID conversion is around $65. The Hellas might have a better beam pattern too, not sure though.

 

[BrianDye]

I'm not an offroader really, so I was just looking for something for some extra visibility at night, (Drive home is mainly backroads, NO streetlights lol), but I don't have any of the coolers, plus I just installed a billet grill, there's gotta be a good 6" or so I have behind the grill. Did you ever post up any beam shots? I read a post saying you were but I never saw them.

 

[mounty71]

Guess i forgot to get a picture. When i get the lights mounted i'll try to get a picture at night. Not sure if you know, but if you have to switch them on and off a lot for oncoming traffic, i wouldn't recommend HIDs. They shouldn't be switched on/off repeatedly is what i've been told because they have a big initial power draw and they take time to warm up.

 

[BrianDye]

Yea I know all about 'em, but I honestly pass maybe 2-3 cars per night, I don't want to aim them high, just more of an extra driving light. What temp are the bulbs, 4300 or 5000k I'd assume?

 

[celly]

They shouldn't be switched on/off repeatedly is what i've been told because they have a big initial power draw and they take time to warm up.

You sir are correct. You'll toast your ballasts. HIDs are overkill for everyday driving (outside of your regular low beams). Nothing I hate more than seeing these riced out JDM cars or redneck lifted trucks with HID coming out of every possible lighting source. Screams "look at me" (i.e, poseur mod) and is blinding to oncoming traffic when used in the city, IMHO.

Obviously in your application it's a completely different story. I've always liked the work you've done on your truck.

 

[mounty71]

I don't remember exactly, but i believe they're around 5000k or 5500k. They're very white. And i'll try to remember to get a picture of the beam pattern tonight after i eat dinner.

Thanks a lot Celly, it's cool to hear that from somone who i know pays attention to detail.

I got the ends of the main tube capped today and ground smooth.

Also got the lightbar made today and the tabs on for the lights.

I was going to put the slugs through the frame today, but somehow one of the lower A-arm nuts cross-threaded the bolt and i can't get it off, even with heat and a breaker bar. So i have to cut it off and get a new bolt in the next couple of days. Besides that and the skidplate tabs, it's pretty much done.

 

[section525]

That looks so hawt! What's the next project??

 

[mounty71]

Haha, not sure, probably nothing major for a while unfortunately. I need shocks for the front so I might try to find some used ones for cheap at an upcoming swapmeet. I also need my leaf springs rebuilt, and I want to do a spare tire carrier in the back because my 31" spare is the biggest I can fit underneath, and I want to go to 33s pretty soon.

 

[Stic-o]

Love the way you did the light bar Instead of doing just tabs you made a separate bar, and it looks great! Well done

 

[mounty71]

Thanks. I don't want my lights to be stolen so around town I won't have the lightbar on, just for desert trips.

 

[Keeper0311]

Thanks. I don't want my lights to be stolen so around town I won't have the lightbar on, just for desert trips.

Lights getting stolen a problem?

 

[mounty71]

Not anymore! But i've heard of plenty of people having lights stolen.

 

[Sbyrne97]

looks good yo!