Red's '96 Montero SR

[redbugz007]

Hello all,

About two weeks ago I decide to buy an automobile after a little over three years of not owning one. I live in Chicago, IL and there has been little reason for me to drive, I bike year round to work and we have a fairly nice public transit system here. This allowed me to save a ton of money and I learned to live a little healthier. I am a person of a lot of hobbies and buying this truck will surely be no exception. I'm also expecting my first child and now I'll need a vehicle for doctor visits and family travels. It surely wont stop me from having a little fun off-road. My family owns a ranch a little south of Chicago and this truck will surely come in handy to that trip as-well.

I purchased it from a relative last Sunday for $2,500. I ran a carfax report beforehand and saw he bought it used at a dealership in 2004 at just under 86k miles and it currently has 97.5k. There is very little work to do on it so far from what I have taken notice of, they didn't drive it very much either as he has a company Ford Ranger as his daily-driver.

So what's wrong with it?
Alignment is off. (Car goes off into the right unless steering is held to the left)
Some electrical-work from what looks like a bad remote start installation.
Rear upper hinge from cargo door is broken.
Antenna mast is broken.
One headlamp nozzle is missing/broken.
Missing Manual so I am not sure what a few buttons do or how they work. ( I have a digital copy of the FSM)
May need need tires soon, and I would like a new full set of speakers.













As soon as you open the cargo door you can see the hinge is broken,


Easily fixed lighter port fell victim to an auto-start system-
But what exactly does that switch near the arm-rest do? (I can see it changes the lights on the tachometer)
and the A/T switch has what appears to be 3 different positions, so does the R/D switch for the rear differential?


My Daily Vehicle: 2012 Trek Earl


All comments are appreciated.
Work will begin on it this weekend, I will keep this as active as I can.

Cheers.

 

[off-roader]

Just my $.02 added in bold text below...

Alignment is off. (Car goes off into the right unless steering is held to the left). Alignment shop unless you know how to do it yourself. You tube has some videos if you want to try and do it yourself although I understand that for 4x4's you need to align it a little differently because of the IFS suspension travel. Others may know this better...
Some electrical-work from what looks like a bad remote start installation. Ouch. This might be the worst thing to have to fix. If possible bring it back to the shop who installed it in the first place. They probably know where the most common problems are. If it was installed by the PO though...
Rear upper hinge from cargo door is broken. FIX FIRST or it could damage your good lower hinge.
Antenna mast is broken. I don't listen to radio really but from what I've been told (Grasscat & Cap510) it's easy enough to fix. Remove the tire & access it from behind the plastic fender liner.
One headlamp nozzle is missing/broken. Pick N Pull item. Should be pretty cheap.
Missing Manual so I am not sure what a few buttons do or how they work. ( I have a digital copy of the FSM) EBAY is your friend! That's where I got my owners Manual for my 96. In the mean time, feel free to ask me about any buttons you are curious about.
May need need tires soon, and I would like a new full set of speakers. For tires, you can get the same size as stock or upgrade to 33x12.5 w/out issues. Tire stores will tell you they won't fit in the wheel well though because their charts say that. They're wrong. They may not mount them on your wheels though which is understandible since the minimum rim width is 8" for a 12.5" wide tire. Alternatively you could drop down to say a 10.5" wide tread and it will fit on the stock rim fine.

HTH!

 

[redbugz007]

In the mean time, feel free to ask me about any buttons you are curious about.

Actually I was curious about of few I posted above for starters

But what exactly does that switch near the arm-rest do? (I can see it changes the lights on the tachometer)
and the A/T switch has what appears to be 3 different positions, so does the R/D switch for the rear differential?

Also can anyone explain how overdrive functions in these trucks and when is the best time to engage/disengage it?

 

[jlocster]

Welcome to ExPo...the overdrive function is switched on/off via the small button on the side of your shifter lever. It just keeps the truck from going into 4th gear. So if you feel the car struggling when going uphill at highway speed, push the O/D button and the trans will kick down into 3rd gear.

 

[off-roader]

But what exactly does that switch near the arm-rest do? (I can see it changes the lights on the tachometer).

Soft, Medium, Hard settings for your suspension (shocks). You can tell the difference between them.

and the A/T switch has what appears to be 3 different positions,

AT has Hold and Power.
Hold: lets the transmission start in 2nd gear to reduce torque = reduced chance of wheels slipping in low traction situations.
Power: changes the shifting points and so you can get more power before shifting.

so does the R/D switch for the rear differential?

Yes, RD engages your rear differential locker switch. By default it should only engage in 4L IIRC.