dylanblada
Observer
That sounds pretty cool actually, I just wish I could get a truck like yours here (especially for significantly less than a Toyota).
The LC80 is better in many aspects than the Montero/Pajero platform.
Full floating rear axle, solid front axle, it's WAY roomier inside, can be had with front and rear lockers from factory, better aftermarket support, motor transplant to diesel is easier. One thing that does suck on the LC80 is the exhaust routing from the factory. It's like they thought of it after the rest of the truck was built. I made a pair of sliders for one and it was a BIOTCH.
The primary reasons for me buying the pajero was it has 2wd, 4hi, 4hi LOCK and 4lo LOCK and was $5-6000 less than the toyota counterpart. :smiley_drive:
You make an interesting point about cost. And with the extra few grand one could fix any known problems and weak areas and even get a start on outfitting for expedition use. I hadn't looked into the Monty with the Winter Package before. That has the rear locker right? How can you tell by looking if the truck has it or not (like if I'm browsing on Autotrader)?
And I think it came up a bit ago about the SFA vs. IFS and for me I think I'd prefer to have a tough IFS mainly because of its on-road feel, because lets be honest, 95% of most trips are done on road. And when I go off road, I'm not really into rock crawling or anything extreme. Its not like this argument hasn't been waged a million time before.
One benefit many argue about is that SFA are inherently tougher and when they do break they are easier and cheaper to repair. While that may be true, I would rather have a tough and proven IFS and most of the vehicle options that have IFS are not known to have many issues.
In fact, the durability of the suspension was part of original idea for this thread: is one of the trucks' suspension especially strong or weak compared to the others?
I'm right with you on all those points Roger, the LC name seems to come up all the time and it seems like the reputation might unfair, if not inflated. Before I buy I'll see if I can find a good Monty to test. Since this might still be a few years out, how do the newer Montys compare (and do they have ARBs available?)
Just out of curiosity, how did your Discos treat you Tacoma4life (I could have guessed you were a Toyota fan haha)?
And one other idea: what do we think about the CRD Grand Cherokees? It seems they can get 20+ MPG and they are starting to break the $20k mark now, so in a few yeas they should be a viable option...
Adam
tdesanto - Your Monty is AWESOME, its almost like I would build it, including the box with the air compressor. I saw a post on your build thread discussing the pros and cons of the Montero vs. Montero Sport. It sounds like the Sport is closer to the other vehicles mentioned here. I wonder how it would compare to the others? One cool thing about the sport is I have a good friend that has a well maintained, low mileage, CLEAN, white, 2001 Sport, so I have a bit of behind the wheel impressions of it. Strong engine, probably enough space. I wonder how tough it is though. Did the Sport come out to carry the torch of the earlier versions? Interesting that Wikipedia mentions that the Gen III has longer suspension travel.