Mounty71's 4x4 Long Travel Build

[Tbars4]

...do you want to go in on these??? i kinda like the wheels...
http://www.dezertrangers.com/vb/showthread.php?t=65242

 

[mounty71]

Um, look at the bottom of the thread and you'll see my post. Those are the ones i thought were Goodyears. I was actually going to go in on those with that guy jodaddy.

 

[Tbars4]

...i didn't notice it with no avatar...i'm posting to it now because the pics of the tires are awesome but i want to rattle em up over there...

 

[mounty71]

Fixed the avatar for ya I personally wouldn't want different tires on my trucks, but still i know it's a good deal for $260.

 

[FROADER]

Did he link to the thread where is says he only paid $150 for them, or did I misread that?

 

[Tbars4]

...that's what i was looking for and didn't see it...i just offered him 150, hahaha...

 

[FROADER]

Eh, maybe it was 150 for the wheels but he ended up getting both wheels and tires. Ok back to mounty's mounty.

 

[cybergasm]

From the original thread the first seller was gonna separate the wheels and tires 150.00 for each set but the guy selling them now ended up buying the whole shebang.

Sorry for the continued hijack

 

[mounty71]

Scored one brand new 32" BFG A/T for only $75! Just need another one.

 

[mounty71]

I added a little video to the bottom of my first post, it's at least a couple years old, but why not. Just follow the link.

 

[ATiredExplorer]

Your Mountaineer looks really good. I noticed that one of your hooks are bent or unless it's how it is, mounted to the frame. But if it is bent, are you too worried about using it? Mine is starting to bend from the frame and I wonder if I should even use it. Wouldn't want to hit or injure anybody.

 

[mounty71]

Which hook? Haha, actually 3 of 4 are bent, just one on the front and one on the back are more bent than the others. I don't worry about it really, although i try to use the less bent ones when i need a tow. It's the bottom horizontal piece of the frame rail that is bent actually, but the towhooks are attached good and strong so unless the frame rips i think it'll be fine. Thanks for the compliment. I've actually been thinking i might want to lower it one of these days and put on some 17s. Hmm...

 

[ATiredExplorer]

Ha, I was looking at your front right hook for the most part. Mine is leaning towards that way like yours but no where close to yours. Yeah you and me both actually with the horizontal frame rail. I'm just scared the bolt would rip out from the frame but now I'm possibly just paranoid. I could just install another hook on the left side haha. DOn't know why these didn't come with hooks from the factory. Even my Dad's 82 Celica came with one haha.
Really? Lower it? It's just so much more fun with what you can do with a higher vehicle. But in all respect it's your choice

 

[mounty71]

Ha, I was looking at your front right hook for the most part. Mine is leaning towards that way like yours but no where close to yours. Yeah you and me both actually with the horizontal frame rail. I'm just scared the bolt would rip out from the frame but now I'm possibly just paranoid. I could just install another hook on the left side haha. DOn't know why these didn't come with hooks from the factory. Even my Dad's 82 Celica came with one haha.
Really? Lower it? It's just so much more fun with what you can do with a higher vehicle. But in all respect it's your choice

Ya these things shoulda come with tow points, even though they're 2wd. I have reasons for wanting to lower it, nothing will probably happen anytime soon, i just want a change after 4 years of this setup.

 

[mounty71]

Hooked up an ABS defeat switch this weekend and mounted the switch in the center console. Later down the road there will be a couple switches beside it for offroad lights.

Besides that, not much has changed, she's gotten a few more beauty marks though. Next up will be a front skidplate/tube bumper with 2 kragen HID lights (probably 7"), and limit straps.

 

[Tbars4]

...Clean Install..:biggthump

..But you do need to get the dust rag out...

 

[mounty71]

Just hit 100,000 miles. Wooo!

 

[Boomer12]

Wow, only 100k...

Here's to 100k more!

 

[mounty71]

Sorry about the size of these pictures, i think i need to reset the camera res.

Anyway, the first of a few little updates, my center console cover finally developed a crack in the vinyl so i chose to change up the look a little and recovered it with some synthetic black leather...which was still very cheap and feels much nicer than before. I think the cover looks great, not the best recover job but good enough.

BTW, i have a bunch of left over material if anyone local needs some for real cheap.

Next, I went here to have limit straps installed.

They're 10" in the front and 14" in the rear. I could have gone with 12" in the rear but i found these at the swap meet.

Front:

Rear:

Because the rears were slightly too long, Brandon made that little boxed in tab which i think was a cool execution, and to lower the cost he just used the traction bar mounting tab on the axle. I recommend Brandon at BTF to anyone in the area, he's the nicest guy and as you can see does great work and does some nice looking welds too.

Then tonight i picked up a pair of Kragen 7" HID lights:

They're only 35watt, so my plan is to wire them to the stock foglight wiring so i can use the factory foglight switch as well. I've been told that should work fine, but if anyone has some input on why it wouldn't, feel free to share.

Eventually they'll be mounted up to a skidplate/lightbar/bumper which will look something like this:

That's all for now. I'm waiting for some new Motorcraft spark plug wires and Autolite double platinum plugs to come in from Rock Auto, as well as front swaybar endlinks to get rid of the God-awful clunking the worn ones are making. Rock Auto had by far the lowest price on the motorcraft wires @ under $116, whereas the stealership wanted $238. There's also a $2 rebate/plug for the autolite's, so that's another $16 saved.

 

[mounty71]

Finally got my HIDs wired up and mounted last night, these bad boys are freaking bright! I used the stock fog light switch, and they're wired in after the connectors so i can take them off easily for daily driving and not worry about them getting stolen. The clear covers look foggy on the bottom half because they guy i bought them from had them on a roof rack and painted the bottom black to prevent glare on the windshield. I just sanded off the black paint and then polished them a little. A friend of mine fabbed up some brackets that use the bumper mounts as attachment points. These mounts are somewhat temporary until i can have a bumper made like my MS paint drawing above. After mounting the lights i also did the 'fog lamp mod' which allows the fogs to stay on when the brights are on, something i've been waiting to do since i haven't had any fog lights for the past 3 or so years. So here are some pictures:

I'll take a couple tonight to show how bright they are.