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]

Dash is in for good.

 

[BKennedy]

I like how the tied the A pillar to the frame.

 

[josh40601]

Matt, you kept the AC right?

 

[mounty71]

Yes I still have AC, but the outer vents had to go for the A pillar. And in order to keep the windshield defrost, I couldn't have a tube crossing behind the dash.

Got more pictures today. Aside from a new windshield getting installed, trimming the rear fender sheet metal up to the tub, and installing he rear shocks and shock boots in the interior,I think this thing is done.

 

[BKennedy]

Nice and clean. I really like how the pillars are tied into the cage and how clean it looks.

 

[Stic-o]

Where's the rear end pics?



Sorry, been waiting to use that emoji string forever

 

[mounty71]

That rear end isn't going in for a while yet. Those 35 spline 3rd members are expensive! Unless my current axle breaks on me, I don't want to set up the new one for leaf springs, just to cut it all off when this gets links.

 

[Stic-o]

That rear end isn't going in for a while yet. Those 35 spline 3rd members are expensive! Unless my current axle breaks on me, I don't want to set up the new one for leaf springs, just to cut it all off when this gets links.

So you were just teasing us with the Coilovers and the 9inch

Little bit at a time, I get it.

 

[josh40601]

dude that cage looks so much like mine, it's awesome! I like how yours is tied into the body better and you were able to keep all your interior panels. Mines all gutted out.

I also like how you when around the wheel well rather than through it like i did.


Are you going to make it down for the EF Veteran's Day Weekend meet at truckhaven?

I also had to lose the side vents on both trucks, and I don't have the cross bar behind the dash either for the same reason.

 

[R.J.]

Looking real good. Real clean

 

[mounty71]

Little update, this thing drinks coolant like crazy, so it's just been sitting since I got it back home. After much deliberation between just fixing the head gaskets, swapping in a different motor, pulling this one for a full rebuild or maybe even doing a mild motor upgrade, this weekend I'm taking it to a mechanic friend to just take care of the head gaskets for me, and tackle a few other little things to hopefully get it reliably road worthy again. As great as it sounds to add more power, smog legality is still important to me, so I'm going to keep it simple for now. Aside from the disappearing coolant, it still runs incredibly well and has never even hinted at overheating.

 

[section525]

I agree. When I opened mine up for power upgrades I could never get it to be as reliable. But I also have no idea what I'm doing either.

 

[mounty71]

Went to the Leduc offroad swapmeet this weekend and came home with a little more than I anticipated. I went there planning to only buy rear fiberglass bedsides from someone, but the guy didn't show. But the trip wasn't a waste. I lucked out on finding a brand new 35 spline 9" 3rd member with Yukon case, 4.56 gears, Grizzly locker, and aluminum pinion support, for pennies. The seller didn't know what he had. This 3rd will complement the Currie housing that I got from Paul B and Winter really well.

 

[fordpickupman]

I don’t know how I’ve missed this build, but it’s awesome! The TTB swap doesn’t look too bad to accomplish. Great thread. I learned a lot from it. Those are my favorite to read.

 

[mounty71]

Been a while. Had the head gaskets replaced and it’s been running pretty well lately, although it’s feeling more under-powered than ever. Finally got to take this thing out on a couple of trips too, and it’s so nice having the feeling of security of a cage now. Also having the full travel of the leaf springs with the 18” rear shocks is a night and day difference from what I had before. Next will be revalving them, and adding 4-point harnesses for the front seats. The 16 year old front seats are getting pretty torn up so I’ll probably get them reupholstered in tweed instead of vinyl, and add cutouts for the shoulder harnesses, and add a tube along the floor to mount the lap harnesses off of.

One issue I need to look into, once in a while the transmission won’t down shif from 2nd to 1st at full throttle. I can do it manually on the column though. My friend mentioned something about a kick down cable?

 

[mounty71]

Ran through the Miller Jeep Trail on Saturday with R.J. and a few other friends. Nice and scenic trail with a couple of challenging spots, but perfect for a day trip. A friend’s Grand Cherokee broke a front axle so I played tug boat through some obstacles that he couldn’t make with only rear wheel drive. I should have invited some people from here too, so sorry for not doing that! Next time I’ll post about it ahead of time.

 

[mounty71]

 

[Stic-o]

@R.J. And yet nobody called me to drive 30 mins up the road to wheel.

Looks like a good time

 

[mounty71]

On the way back we saw a Jurassic Park Jeep YJ which made me feel even worse!

 

[R.J.]

It was fun. Glad everyone was able to drive home without a tow truck. Mountaineer was doing awesome. Bronco did well but it needs some TLC