1999 Mercury Mountaineer – The Mighty Merc

How it looks right now (1/25/20):

Well this project was fun and I miss it, but it was sold to a nice gentleman from WI. I hope it treats it as well as it treated us!

Project Goals
I’m shooting for a down and dirty ‘quick-ish’ build by taking the leftovers from my truck (The Lone Ranger) and jamming them under The Merc.  My family and I have been without a wheeler since 7/4/15, and we’re itching to get back out into the woods again.

At the end of the day, this thing will need to haul myself, my wife, and two kids in comfort down the road, wheel all day, and run down the road back home.  I lack the space for a trailer, so like every rig I have had in the past, this needs to be very road worthy.  This will also serve as our vacation vehicle for the westward trips we like to take.

Build version 1.0

Drive line:
– Stock 302 with 180k miles and counting
– M5OD conversion using a ’97 F150 4.2 V6 Donor transmission
– NWF 241/205 doubler (twin sticked) with a relocated VSS

Rear:
– 14 Bolt SRW from an ’87 suburban left over from the truck (Link)
– Yukon Locker, 4.88’s Ruff Stuff dis brake stuff using 77k20 parts
– Modified GM 63 leaf pack

Front:
– HP D60 from a ’78 F-350 also left over from the truck (Link)
– Spartan Locker, 4.88’s, Reid Knuckles, High Steer
– Grand Wagoneer leaf pack to get me up and running cheaper (Since I already have the leaves).

Rubber:
– 37×13.5xr17 Cooper STT Pro on 17×8 Soft 8’s with 4.5 BS

So that’s it, overall, nothing too crazy going on, and as I said earlier, I hope to hammer this thing out as quick as I can.  Ideally, I’d like to have it derivable by Memorial day (Edit: Ha! that didn’t happen), but that might be a touch optimistic with two young kids running around.

Post Index

Drive-line Stuff:
– Shaving a NP205
– Building the NWF Doubler
– Shifting the mess (Part 1)
– Plugging the NP205
– Relocated NP205 Mount
– HP60 and 14 Bolt
– M5OD Maintenance
– 5 Gear Swap and Doubler Placement
– Trans/Doubler Cross Member Fun!
– Shifting the Mess (Part 2)
– Oil Filter relocation
– Low Oil Pressure Warning Light
– Fueling The Beast

Rear Setup:
– Rear Leaf Mounts
– Rear shocks and bump-stops

Front Setup:
– Making a traditional steering box fit
– Front Leaf Mounts
– Steering Shaft Hacking
– Power Steering Fun
– Front shocks and bump stops

Armor:
– Front Winch Bumper
– Rock Sliders

Misc:
– Intro-Boring Background
– Moving the VSS and Tone Ring Math
– Leaf Spring Refresh
– Removing the IFS
– Brakes / Parking Brake
– Rear Cargo Platform
– Crossing the 1,000 mile mark
– My How we’ve grown up
– Rear Quater Glass Replacement
– Front Locker Woes
– Tablet Mount
– DVD player Mount
– Overdue Refresh

Trips:
– 1st ORT at Flat Nasty NYE 2016
– 2nd ORT at Flat Nasty 5/20/17
– 3rd ORT at Flat Nasty 8/12/17
– 1st Colorado Trip 9/2017
– 4th ORT at SMORR 10/17/17
– 5th ORT (sorry, no report!)
– 6th ORT at Flat Nasty 2/10/18
– 7th ORT at Flat Nasty 7/28/18
– 2nd Colorado Trip 9/2018
– 8th ORT at Flat Nasty 12/2018
– 9th ORT at the Badlands 4/6/19
– 3rd Colorado Trip 9/2019
–10th ORT at Flat Nasty 1/25/20
– 11th ORT at Moonlight Racing 2/8/20
– On to it’s next home..