Outdooraholic's Montero Sport Adventure/Build thread

[Outdooraholic]

I guess I'll go ahead and start this. I bought this 2000 Mitsubishi Montero Sport in 2013 for $1,750. I needed something cheap just to pull a car on a dolly as I was racing my 1991 Mitsubishi Eclipse in a Rallyx series out in Tucson, AZ. I spent a week freshening it up (timing belt, water pump, new gaskets, transmission flush, spark plugs, wires, sensors, etc). I needed it to be cheap but also reliable.

It served its role perfectly, taking me and my Eclipse back in forth to Arizona without incident. After that year I was no longer racing in Arizona and no longer needed the dolly, which I sold. The Montero Sport mostly sat. I used it occasionally when I was working on my Mitsubishi Evolution, which was my daily driver. I took it on some hunting trips. Then I got bored with it. I had purchased it for a specific role and it was no longer needed in that role. I decided to sell it and buy something more fun.



I listed in on Craigslist and ended up buying a 1985 Corvette to play around with. I got a few calls about it but nothing serious. Then I went out of town and never relisted it. I still intended to sell it one day, but instead it mostly sat in the driveway while I drove either the Evo or the Corvette.



Fast forward to just a few months ago. I came to the realization that most of my hobbies would benefit more from the Montero Sport then just having sports cars. I enjoy hiking, camping, traveling, hunting, and fishing. I heard about "Overlanding" and instantly fell in love with the idea. The Montero Sport was going to stay. Time to sell the Vette.

By the way, here was my last truck: a 2002 Chevy Avalanche Z-71 that I bought bone stock in 2008. Over the next 4 years before I sold it, I turned this truck into an overlander, without evening knowing what overlanding was! This was my campsite at the trailhead to Black Mesa, the tallest point in Oklahoma.

The Plan:
The goal is a reliable, well mannered truck that is as well suited on the road as it is off. I know these trucks aren't known for their fuel economy, but I don't want to do anything to drastically decrease my miles per gallon either. And if I can I would love to bump them up a bit.

• Clean, comfortable, and organized interior.
• 2" lift to fit 33" tires.
• Rock sliders and a rear bumper with swing out tire carrier.
• Intake (snorkel) and exhaust to give a slight boost to power and mpg.
• Mounted air compressor and rear air locker.

 

[Outdooraholic]

In June, after deciding to keep it, the first thing I did was upgrade the sound system. It had an old single din radio that half worked and had all four blown factory speakers. I installed a Pioneer double din touchscreen, Bluetooth, DVD player with a reverse camera and replaced the four in door speakers. Then drove it to San Antonio for a weekend fishing trip.



In July, I went to the junkyard and picked up a front brush guard and a Magnaflow muffler for super cheap and installed them both on the Montero Sport. Then I spray painted the center of the hood with truck bed liner. Those modifications made it look and sound a bit more aggressive from the front. Also in July we took a two week road trip to Yosimte National Park and San Fransisco, CA and decided to take the Montero Sport. Our first day into the trip, the alternator died in southern New Mexico. I got a replacement and swapped it out on the side of the road and the rest of the trip was trouble free (aside from getting towed in SF!!). We also found a fun place to play around off road in the Alabama Hills, just east of Mount Whitney in the Sierra Nevadas. We camped that whole trip and the Montero Sport offered plenty of space for my family of four with all of our camping gear for two weeks.

In August I replaced the front brake rotors and pads. The trip trough the California mountains had finished off whatever brakes the Montero Sport had and I was down to metal on metal. Then I went on a fishing trip to Ruidoso, New Mexico and hit my limit on Rainbow Trout! However on the way back a storm passed through and the wind hitting the kayaks on the roof bent one of the factory roof rack cross bars. Time for another trip to the junkyard.



In September The family and I took a day trip up to a trail in Tularosa, NM called Coyote Canyon. The trail intertwines with an arroyo, before heading down a rocky, hilly power line road ends at a waterfall called Bridal Falls. It's a beautiful hidden gem in the otherwise bleak desert. Then I went exploring in southwestern New Mexico, around the Coronado National Forest and saw a bunch of neat wildlife: Pronghorn, Mule Deer, Ferel Hogs, Javalina, Turkey, Coyotes, and lots of Rattlesnakes. I also placed an order for two big pieces of the puzzle, the ARB Old Man Emu 2" suspension lift and a Safari Snorkel plus K&N drop in filter.

 

[Outdooraholic]

Over the past few days I installed the OME lift, which went on surprisingly easy. The issue was that while I was in there I also replaced the driver's side CV axle as the old one had a torn boot and was clicking whenever 4WD was engaged. The CV axle proved to be a pain, and in the end I also replaced the inner and outer tie rods and upper and lower ball joints. That is not a fun job. I also noticed while I was installing the rear springs/shocks that the rear sway bar end link bushings were in terrible shape so I replaced the end links as well.

The difference is night and day. The poor Montero Sport was still running on its factory shocks from 16 years ago, which of course we're completely shot. Before, the car drove like a boat. When I sat in it, it sank. When I hit the brakes, it dove forward. Now it feels like a whole different truck. It feels very solid and firm.

 

[Bmp1]

Nice write up

 

[jeep-N-montero]

The OME setup certainly makes a world of difference, you may want to actually try running without the rear sway bar on there, the progressive nature of the springs keeps the rear stable without needing the sway bar and frees up the axle to flex more freely.

 

[Offroadmuch]

In June, after deciding to keep it, the first thing I did was upgrade the sound system. It had an old single din radio that half worked and had all four blown factory speakers. I installed a Pioneer double din touchscreen, Bluetooth, DVD player with a reverse camera and replaced the four in door speakers. Then drove it to San Antonio for a weekend fishing trip.

View attachment 370125



In July, I picked up a front brush guard from the junkyard for super cheap and painted the center of the hood with truck bed liner. Both of those modifications made it look a bit more aggressive from the front. Also on July we took a two week road trip to Yosimte National Park and San Fransisco, CA and decided to take the Montero Sport. Our first day into the trip, the alternator died in southern New Mexico. I got a replacement and swapped it out on the side of the road and the rest of the trip was trouble free (aside from getting towed in SF!!). We also found a fun places to play around off road in the Alabama Hills, just east of Mount Whitney in the Sierra Nevadas. We camped that whole trip and the Montero Sport offered plenty of space for my family of four with all of our camping gear for two weeks.

View attachment 370124

In August I replaced the front brake rotors and pads. The trip trough the California mountains had finished off whatever brakes the Montero Sport had and I was down metal on metal. Then I went on a fishing trip to Ruidoso, New Mexico and hit my limit on Rainbow Trout! However on the way back a storm passed through and the wind hitting the kayaks on the roof bent one of the factory roof rack cross bars. Time for another trip to the junkyard.

View attachment 370123

In September I took the family up to a trail in Tularosa, NM called Coyote Canyon. The trail intertwines with an arroyo, before heading down a rocky, hilly power line road ends at a waterfall called Bridal Falls. It's a beautiful hidden gem in the otherwise bleak desert. I also placed an order for two big pieces of the puzzle, the ARB Old Man Emu 2" suspension lift and a Safari Snorkel plus K&N drop in filter.

You may want a bow line on the nose of each kayak that you attach to your brush guard for a little support. I run my kayak mounted to the factory rails and it has been working pretty well.

 

[Outdooraholic]

Nice write up

Thank you!

The OME setup certainly makes a world of difference, you may want to actually try running without the rear sway bar on there, the progressive nature of the springs keeps the rear stable without needing the sway bar and frees up the axle to flex more freely.

I will give that a try.

You may want a bow line on the nose of each kayak that you attach to your brush guard for a little support. I run my kayak mounted to the factory rails and it has been working pretty well.

Whenever I carry the canoe (we have a 16' Old Town) I always use a bowline. However with the kayaks I never even thought about it because the racks hold them really well. However, after hitting the high winds and bending the crossbar, I definitely need to secure them a little better.

 

[Outdooraholic]

Today I drilled two 3 1/4" holes into my truck, as well as 10 other smaller ones. Thats right, I installed the Safari Snokel! I'm not going to lie, this install had me pretty nervous. However, I'm very pleased to report that everything lined up correctly!

Tomorrow I'm going to work on connecting the snorkel into the factory air cleaner box. This snorkel (Part # SS650R) is actually designed for the Mitsubishi Triton with the 2.8l Diesel engine so I'll have to come up with an intake to go from the snorkel to the air box.

 

[Outdooraholic]

Today I plumbed the under hood portion of the snorkel. I used part of an old 3" aluminum intake pipe from my Eclipse, the short flexible section that came with the new Safari Snorkel, and cut off and used part of the factory "snorkel" to connect to the airbox. I also had to JB weld a few holes on the airbox shut because I had to remove some of the factory external baffle/silencers from the airbox. The end result is far better then I was expecting, considering I hacked it together with used bits and pieces from the garage.




Also my 28" LED light bar (Senlips from Amazon) came in today so I went ahead and got that mounted to the brushguard and wired up with a relay to the factory highbeam switch. I took it out for a test drive tonight and was very impressed with how bright it was and the large area that it illuminated. I am very happy with it!

 

[PacS14]

Nice progress! Man I miss driving my Montero, can't wait to start working on it again. Keep posting

 

[Outdooraholic]

Nice progress! Man I miss driving my Montero, can't wait to start working on it again. Keep posting

Thanks so much! What's wrong with your Montero? I see you are in Texas too, are you on the Texas Overland group on FB?

 

[redraif]

Glad to see a sport on here. Good progress you are making. One of these days I will get a build thread going. LOL! Just need to get it running right before I move to the fun stuff!

 

[PacS14]

Thanks so much! What's wrong with your Montero? I see you are in Texas too, are you on the Texas Overland group on FB?

I'm in Houston, and nothing wrong with it anymore. I replaced the alternator and battery and now I let my brother-in-law borrow it while we wait for the parts to repair this car. I had to re-post my reply because on mobile for whatever reason when i click on edit post, as soon as I click ln the text to edit, it deletes the post... Weird.

 

[Outdooraholic]

Glad to see a sport on here. Good progress you are making. One of these days I will get a build thread going. LOL! Just need to get it running right before I move to the fun stuff!

Thanks so much! Absolutely; Maintenance before modifications.

I'm in Houston, and nothing wrong with it anymore. I replaced the alternator and battery and now I let my brother-in-law borrow it while we wait for the parts to repair this car. I had to re-post my reply because on mobile for whatever reason when i click on edit post, as soon as I click ln the text to edit, it deletes the post... Weird.

Ah gotcha!

So today I relocated my antenna to the driver's side fender. Originally the antenna was on the passenger side, right in the way of the snorkel. So I drilled a hole, mounted it, and ran the the wire to head unit. Nice and easy!

 

[Outdooraholic]

My next adventure is all lined up! I'm going to be doing the first two sections of the New Mexico Backcountry Discovery Route (NMBDR). The NMBDR is an 80% off road route across the state of New Mexico from Texas to Colorado covering over 1,200 miles. It is divided into seven sections and I will be completing the first two on this trip.

The first day we will take off to hit the start of the trail in Dell City, TX. From there we will leave the desert plains and travels up along the west rim of the Guadalupe Mountains, through the Lincoln National Forest, to the mountain towns of Cloudcroft and Ruidoso, New Mexico. We will be camping in Ruidoso the first night and fishing for Rainbow Trout at Grindstone lake. The trail portion of the first section is 283 miles, plus add about 70 more miles for us to reach the trailhead.

Day two will take us out of the frorested mountains and across the barren Carrizozo lava flows at the Vally of Fires Recreation Area and down through the Jornada Del Muerto (Journey of the Deadman) to Elephant Butte Lake State Park where we will be camping and doing some more fishing, before heading back home the following day. Section two of the trail is 195 miles.