Time for an Old Man Emu lift and some 265/75-16 AT tires 
Time for an Old Man Emu lift and some 265/75-16 AT tires
Great trip report John! That's pretty good that you were able to meet with the PO and get the accesories too!
The montero is insanely capable offroader and massively undervalued vs the land cruisers. The engines are a bit of a dog for sure however
In reply to Jaynen :
I have taken to calling the Montero "The Sumo Wrestler". Unlike the Mitsu Evo which is Japanese Athletic like a Nija of small, agile and quick; the Montero is Japanese Athletic in a brawny, slow and imposing sort of way.
Did you ever find a way to see the sale price for auctions you lost but didnt win the bid for?
I hope to be in the market for a Montero in the spring, for anyone following this that may have one to get rid of.
Do those monteros have front and rear diff lockers?
smokindav said:Do those monteros have front and rear diff lockers?
Some of the gen 2 and 2.5 have rear air lockers, not sure about the gen 3.
Gen 3 only comes with a factory center diff locker, however the "traction control" in them is very good for off roading. You will have better luck googling for info on these by using Pajero which is their global model name vs Montero which was just in the US.
I believe the Pajero is one of the winningest models in Paris Dakar history having won 12 times and won 7 years straight from 2001 to 2007
ARB also makes front and rear lockers for them but unless you are doing some serious rock crawling/off roading I don't think you need to worry about it
Cool truck. Gotta love Monteros, every generation has plenty of good to be said about it. I've personally never been drawn to the 3gs because of their looks, but i know they are great nonetheless. Not sure how underpowered it really is compared to a Land Cruiser until you get to the V8 models. It saddens me to no end that Mitsu never made a v8. I'm pretty sure it would be in something i owned right now if it existed whether it had started in that vehicle or not. Besides, the Mitsu v6s of every variety have always had a ton of power potential and the mitsu RWD auto trans are pretty strong. There is power to be had for anyone who cares enough to try. Don't see too many boosted i6 Land Cruisers either.. talk is cheaper than turbos and the reality is that few people care that much.
In other unrelated Montero commentary, has anyone else noticed how many more Montero Sports are still on the road vs contemporary Explorer, Blazer, Rodeo, et al? I think the 4runner, Cherokee and Grand Cherokee have survived in large numbers but at this point i think the Montero Sport probably has the most copies still on the road proportional to the relatively small number made. And the styling still looks great to my eyes.
/rant.
I've always thought these were sweet, specifically the limited model 3rd gens. I harbor fantasies of swapping a 5.3 into one.
I've had three of the beasts. Originally bought an '89 four door and fell in love with it. Mini Jr. had it one night, swerved to avoid a deer and whacked a tree. He was unscathed, but the Monte suffered a bent frame and differential damage. I stripped all I could and found a '90 model the same color. After four years and close to 200K miles, the harmonic balancer bolt broke sending the balancer into the radiator. I had it towed home and while I was debating whether to fix it or not, Mrs.Mini ran an ad on craigslist for it and all the spares. The first guy that saw it bought it. He fixed the balancer, changed the radiator and is still driving it , nearly eight years later. I then bought a '01 XLS. I loved the unique looks, it was comfortable, and unstoppable in snow. We averaged 17-18mpg most of the time and 20-22mpg on the highway. It finally got traded in 2010.
I think they were grossly under rated vehicles and built like the proverbial brick outhouse. I would have another in a heartbeat.
Someone on here might like this.........
https://detroit.craigslist.org/okl/cto/d/1986-mitsubishi-montero-no/6439952552.html
Since this has come back up to the top, some update. The Sumo Wrestler continues to be a great vehicle. It serves as our "family trip" car. This past Christmas season it made a couple trips to airports to pick up family members with lots of luggage. I have not seated anyone in the 3rd row but 3 people across the back with one being a kid in a car seat seems to work well.
In the past month it has towed 2 different fwd cars via tow dolly. Those being a Ford Focus and a Chevy Impala. Here are the only two recent pictures of it.
Over the summer I did some off-roading in N. Mich. I'd like to do some more but the only way to do that near my home is to trespass which I have not done.
Just rolled 208k miles so I have had it for about 6k miles now in 6 months. First problem at all has developed and that is that the window washer has stopped pumping. It will be a hassle to fix since the resivor is in behind the front bumper, passenger side. Due to the bends from the previous front hit, removal for this repairs could be difficult to reassemble. Via ebay, I ordered a universal reservoir and pump assembly. There is tons of room under hood so I think I will go this route. Yet to be installed.
Some minor update...
The Montero/Pajero is the most winning vehicles in the Paris to Dakar Rally:
Mitsubishi never really marketed this in ways like a Dakar Rally Special Edition.
A while back I came across these Dakar badges on Ebay for about $10 for the pair, shipped from China
Today I launched the '01 Mitsubishi Montero Limited Dakar Edition.
I had played around with some mounting locations. I think the perfect placement would have been under the Limited badge but at that point the fender has already begun it's big bulge. The area under the limited badge is not flat enough to mount the Dakar badge
In the pics above, I have out the water and spray to clean the front wheel. I had a bad caliper on the driver's front which threw a ton of dust on the wheel.
Last week the brakes were done. Parts were cheap. Via Rock Auto I got front rotors for about $15 and a set of quality Raysbestos Hybrid pads for roughly another $20. All told those items from RA with shipping were $65. A reman caliper from Advance Auto was just $35 after core ($75 core!) About $100 for front pads, rotors and 1 caliper. Parts prices are reasonable.
With the hose out for some cleaning, my little girl thought we should get out the sprinkler too for some fun.
Saved link to roof rack ideas...
https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/grm/the-nonack-grm-budget-safari-rack/128714/page1/
Some Avalon update.
Back in early June this year (2018) the Avalon was rear ended. This resulted in a scratched, scrapped plastic bumper cover.
For this damage, the other insurance company paid me off with a quick $780 in a check made out directly too me. I never fixed it and pocketed the cash. In another turn of events after that, one of my drivers was quitting (more so retiring) and he was interested in buying this Avalon from me. He was really the only person who had driven it in the year I had owned it and he really liked it.
Some recap:
All total: I had $2,067 into the whole car. In that time frame the odo had gone from 168k to 198k or 30k miles in one year of ownership. Never needed anything other than maint. No catastrophic repairs. However, it was showing a code for knock sensor and knock sensors on these V6's are buried deep in the V resulting in lots of time or labor hours to have done. It also needed rear sway bar links which had gotten very loud.
$2,067 into the whole car. Paid off $780 from insurance claim and I agreed to sell the car off to the guy who wanted it, liked it, and needed it, for only $1k. This means my near total cost of ownership for this car over 30k miles, in one year was $287.
Good deal
Link to some Montero trans shifter repair:
EDIT: Sold the Montero in Oct 2021:
https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/cars-sale/2001-montero-limited-project/186902/page1/
Do you still have the Mazda 5? I'm considering replacing the Subaru and the wife likes the 5 and I like Mazdas and I don't want a land barge SUV. It would be awesome if we both pick the same car.
You'll need to log in to post.
