How offroad capable

"Jordaneer, The Mountaineer Man" (jordaneer1) 09/15/2014 at 16:33 • Filed to: None

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So !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , a 2000 mercury mountaineer, and I was wondering how offroad capable oppo thinks it is.

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Its right now is on cooper all-terrain tires, it has selectable 4hi and 4lo

the suspension is what I'm concerned about, right now its on a stock suspension, regular shocks up front and leaf springs in the back, it hasn't been lifted either.

Is there something inexpensive I can do to make it more offroad worthy?

and how offroad capable is it do you think? its running a 4 liter V6 with 210 hp and 254 lb-ft of torque.

CRider > Jordaneer, The Mountaineer Man 09/15/2014 at 16:52

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Put some decent tires on it and it'll get you down most dirt roads. A small lift wouldn't be a bad idea, but that thing still won't be going anywhere Xtreme, YO! Size your lift to the tires you want to run.

NaturallyAspirated > Jordaneer, The Mountaineer Man 09/15/2014 at 17:25

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A friend of mine drove the wheels off a Ford Explorer of the same vintage, which I imagine is pretty much the same as what you've got. He lives in rural Alaska, and he and his wife take it just about everywhere.

His last car was also an Explorer , a late '90s model. He put 300,000 miles on it and drove it until a moose kamikaze'd it.

So rock crawling? No, it'll need some mods for that. Driving off road in rural areas for extended trips? No problem at all.

Do make sure the 4wd works before you actually need it. I have heard of the solenoids sticking in 2wd on the Fords if the 4wd system isn't used very often.

TheD0k_2many toys 2little time > Jordaneer, The Mountaineer Man 09/15/2014 at 18:27

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Anything that will fit on a ford explorer of the same era will work on the mercury. So if you want to put some time into it you can make it capable. (as seen in picture above)

Jordaneer, The Mountaineer Man > TheD0k_2many toys 2little time 09/15/2014 at 23:28

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haha, that is nuts, I don't think I want to put a whole lot of time into it making it off-road worthy, I wouldn't mind putting a small lift (4-5 inches) on it, but I still need it,to be Daily drivable and be able to get stuff in and out, including 30-50 lb trashcans full of grass because I mow to earn money. I should also be looking into tires first because the tires on it are going to need to be replaced anyway. But it's hard to do a lot when I have to pay for all of it on a teenagers income.

Hi there > Jordaneer, The Mountaineer Man 09/15/2014 at 23:43

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I don't recommend lifting a daily driver. It's already rollover prone, lifting it will only make it worse and you are still a relative noob of a driver, no offense. Everyone starts somewhere.

TheD0k_2many toys 2little time > Jordaneer, The Mountaineer Man 09/15/2014 at 23:44

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Goodyear Duratracs are great for off-road grip but still good road manners. Also measure to see if you can upsize tires on stock suspension cause even that will give you some more lift.