Hi everyone, I'm new to the forum, so I thought I'd introduce myself and my new-to-me vehicle. I currently live in Mexico, although because of my work I've lived in Japan and the US. My adventure travel vehicles of choice used to be bikes, first a 1993 KLR650 and later on an '03 F650GS Dakar and an 05-ish 400cc KTM Enduro (EXC I think? I can never remember). I still own those but since my GF won't get on a bike I've started the switch to more... "accomodating" vehicles.
Previously I had an '01 Nissan Pathfinder (R50), which unfortunately ate a huge rock on a side road and got totaled. Now I've replaced it with an '03 NP/Gen III Montero/Pajero limited. It is a 3.8 V6 gas version, bought it with a claimed 80,000 kms / 50,000 miles. It's currently stock save for an unusual plastic oem looking front push bar (previous owner) and 245/75 R16 Michelin LTX AT2's instead of the original size 255/70 R16s (just swapped them this weekend).
Here's a pic from the ad, hope it works. I haven't taken any pics of my own:
<pic deleted> (old photo)
My use is mostly short (3days-1 week) excursions, which will tipycally be about 500-1000km on road and then the last 100-200km on dirt roads/trails of often unpredictable degrees of difficulty. Of course those last dirt km's typically take as long or longer than the entire road portion ofthe trip, hence the need for this vehicle. I don't really do any hard core 4x4 (at least not planned!) but I almost always need high ground clearance and hi range 4wd and some low range for larger obstacles and steep inclines.
Some observations I´ve gathered from my first few days with the Monty:
- It's HUGE inside, particulary compared to the rather compact Pathy.
- Mine does not have an LSD, which is disappointing. It doesn't have traction control either, so I'll have to do something about the rear axle, maybe a locker down the road.
- Visibility is great. One of the selling points for me. I love the driving position and the huge glass all around. Except the side view mirrors which imo are poor in traffic.. maybe they were designed to spot stampeding elephants and not commuter traffic.
- It's slow and thirsty compared to the R50... which was expected. The engine also seems rougher than the VQ35. Still I hope a tuneup (big service is due, belts, filters... the works) will improve the 15mpg mixed city/hwy I'm getting. It seems too low to me for an unmodified, non lifted Monty.
- The ride on graded dirt roads (no real offroad yet) is awesome... much better than the R50, especially when loaded (R50's rear suspensions suck when loaded).
Right now my plans are just to bring it up to date on all maintenance and start using it more so I know what I'd like to improve.
I do have a couple of q's in case anyone has read this far :sombrero:
- Is anyone else using 245/75 R16's? Seemed to me a good size to get slightly more clearance and better traction off road vs the stock size on a non lifted Monty. I went with P's instead of LT's (Michelin LTX AT2) because I thought going to 45+ psi was going to make the long road journeys rather uncomfortable. They should have raised the vehicle aprox 0.3" over stock size and I have found no clearance issues.
- Here we have to get emissions checks and they will mount the rr wheels on a roller with the fronts stationary. The R50 (with part time 4x4) was checked fully stationary (no rear wheels on roller); but not the Monty, can this harm the viscous center transfer if left in 2wd for the check? It triggers the ABS light, but that goes off a minute after driving off. At least the Monty passed, the R50 was always failing, and replacing 4 (!) cats is not my idea of a good time.
- If I'm already going to be getting 15mpg I might as well just go ahead and lift it... how big of an MPG hit can be expected with a moderate (2"?) lift?
Thanks for reading, I hope to go on a trip soon and be able to share some experiences more valuable than just first impressions! :elkgrin:
Previously I had an '01 Nissan Pathfinder (R50), which unfortunately ate a huge rock on a side road and got totaled. Now I've replaced it with an '03 NP/Gen III Montero/Pajero limited. It is a 3.8 V6 gas version, bought it with a claimed 80,000 kms / 50,000 miles. It's currently stock save for an unusual plastic oem looking front push bar (previous owner) and 245/75 R16 Michelin LTX AT2's instead of the original size 255/70 R16s (just swapped them this weekend).
Here's a pic from the ad, hope it works. I haven't taken any pics of my own:
<pic deleted> (old photo)
My use is mostly short (3days-1 week) excursions, which will tipycally be about 500-1000km on road and then the last 100-200km on dirt roads/trails of often unpredictable degrees of difficulty. Of course those last dirt km's typically take as long or longer than the entire road portion ofthe trip, hence the need for this vehicle. I don't really do any hard core 4x4 (at least not planned!) but I almost always need high ground clearance and hi range 4wd and some low range for larger obstacles and steep inclines.
Some observations I´ve gathered from my first few days with the Monty:
- It's HUGE inside, particulary compared to the rather compact Pathy.
- Mine does not have an LSD, which is disappointing. It doesn't have traction control either, so I'll have to do something about the rear axle, maybe a locker down the road.
- Visibility is great. One of the selling points for me. I love the driving position and the huge glass all around. Except the side view mirrors which imo are poor in traffic.. maybe they were designed to spot stampeding elephants and not commuter traffic.
- It's slow and thirsty compared to the R50... which was expected. The engine also seems rougher than the VQ35. Still I hope a tuneup (big service is due, belts, filters... the works) will improve the 15mpg mixed city/hwy I'm getting. It seems too low to me for an unmodified, non lifted Monty.
- The ride on graded dirt roads (no real offroad yet) is awesome... much better than the R50, especially when loaded (R50's rear suspensions suck when loaded).
Right now my plans are just to bring it up to date on all maintenance and start using it more so I know what I'd like to improve.
I do have a couple of q's in case anyone has read this far :sombrero:
- Is anyone else using 245/75 R16's? Seemed to me a good size to get slightly more clearance and better traction off road vs the stock size on a non lifted Monty. I went with P's instead of LT's (Michelin LTX AT2) because I thought going to 45+ psi was going to make the long road journeys rather uncomfortable. They should have raised the vehicle aprox 0.3" over stock size and I have found no clearance issues.
- Here we have to get emissions checks and they will mount the rr wheels on a roller with the fronts stationary. The R50 (with part time 4x4) was checked fully stationary (no rear wheels on roller); but not the Monty, can this harm the viscous center transfer if left in 2wd for the check? It triggers the ABS light, but that goes off a minute after driving off. At least the Monty passed, the R50 was always failing, and replacing 4 (!) cats is not my idea of a good time.
- If I'm already going to be getting 15mpg I might as well just go ahead and lift it... how big of an MPG hit can be expected with a moderate (2"?) lift?
Thanks for reading, I hope to go on a trip soon and be able to share some experiences more valuable than just first impressions! :elkgrin:
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