Thoughts on a '98?

[jeeps4fun]

Been browsing and reading a ton and honestly my head is spinning. But, there is a '98 CLOSE to me that im gonna take a look at. Here is a link to the CL add Would like to hear ya'lls thoughts on the vehicle. and what to look for. On the phone he said it has the L/D button in by the 12V plug, I hoping/assuming this is the Locking Differential button?

http://fayar.craigslist.org/cto/4101902978.html

Will try and take some more/better pics and post em up.

Thanks,
Justin

 

[jeep-N-montero]

That is indeed the winter package, I would offer him $2600 and go from there with those high miles.

 

[jeeps4fun]

Clean but needs a cleaning. Lol

Says it has a rear cam seal leak and that its pretty common. Thoughts? He has had the repair quoted out and is supposed to get me that $# as well

 

[PirateMcGee]

Mitsu 3.5l with stock cam seal = leak

Super common and supposedly easy to replace (mine were replaced with updated parts prior to purchase).

 

[nwoods]

Looks pretty good. Mine has similar mileage, and has been a strong performer. That definitely has the rear locker. Might not work when first tried, it probably has to be cycled in and out of 4wd a few times, and cycle the locker as well. The wood looks faded on the interior, but it comes off with a spatula and patience, leaving a perfectly acceptable textured plastic finish from the lower trim levels.

 

[jeeps4fun]

Am I being completely ridiculous in hoping that this could pull a 16' dual axle utility trailer with a 54" & 36" zero turn mower and all the fixins' on it? Weed eaters, blowers etc. would only be for a season and only highway once a week on my "long route". The rest of the time is shorter in town type stuff. But I'm used to towing with a V8 truck... And this just isn't a truck or a V8.

Worried about the pulling power, shorter wheelbase, suspension sag, braking, transmission etc

 

[nwoods]

The power is there, but the brakes are a tad weak for it, if you are doing this on a regular business type usage.

 

[jeeps4fun]

Ya. Will be 4-5 days a week for 25-30 weeks

 

[off-roader]

Am I being completely ridiculous in hoping that this could pull a 16' dual axle utility trailer with a 54" & 36" zero turn mower and all the fixins' on it? Weed eaters, blowers etc. would only be for a season and only highway once a week on my "long route". The rest of the time is shorter in town type stuff. But I'm used to towing with a V8 truck... And this just isn't a truck or a V8.

Worried about the pulling power, shorter wheelbase, suspension sag, braking, transmission etc

That's a good question for Lloyd Schwartz on 4x4wire. He's used them for his business for a long time and pulled lots of things behind it.

As for the leak being common, not sure about that. Mine with nearly 300K (288K plus change since I've been running 35's since 180K) don't have leaking rear seals. Perhaps with older seals it may happen but that's like saying it's normal for engines to stop running by 1M miles if you don't do maintenance on them. The seals like any other part on there have an expected lifespan.

 

[jeep-N-montero]

I know my 16ft flatbed weighs close to 1200lb empty, then add another 1300-1500 pounds in mowers and whatnot and you are creeping up on 3k pounds. The Montero will pull it but not very quickly, and make sure the trailer does have brakes or you may find yourself getting in a bad situation. See this thread http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/56315-Montero-Towing

 

[jeeps4fun]

I know my 16ft flatbed weighs close to 1200lb empty, then add another 1300-1500 pounds in mowers and whatnot and you are creeping up on 3k pounds. The Montero will pull it but not very quickly, and make sure the trailer does have brakes or you may find yourself getting in a bad situation. See this thread http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/56315-Montero-Towing

Ya, I'm the second to last commenter in that thread right now. I know it Won't do it quickly. And my biggest concern was still stopping power. The trailer had brakes, but I'm guessing i would need to wire a brake controller into the Montero. It only has a 4 plug currently which won't run the brakes on the trailer, and the trailer is a 7 plug style as well

 

[JamesW]

I don't think it would feel a 3000lb load behind it to be honest,I'd have that behind mine and it would pull away at 50MPH all day so long as there isn't a big long uphill,where it drops back a little bit,I had just short of 3 times that behind mine yesterday,It wasn't exactly fast,but it was steady,plodded away at 30+ mph most of the time,just had to plan my route so I didn't have to pull away from somewhere up hill. Mine is diesel,but the petrols would be a bit more happy to rev high than mine.

Brakes weren't great though :Wow1: ,but it did stop eventually

 

[jeeps4fun]

I haven't come across any, but also haven't searched yet... are there any known Brake upgrades for the 2.5 Montys?

 

[JamesW]

I haven't come across any, but also haven't searched yet... are there any known Brake upgrades for the 2.5 Montys?

I'm not sure about the states,but the pajeros from japan got bigger disks and callipers sometime in 1996,you could probably pick them up fairly easy. The way to tell is they have the 16 inch wheels on them that look like this: Not a huge upgrade,but better none the less.

 

[jeeps4fun]

Well, had the trailer hooked up and cash in my pocket. supposed to meet him in 30 minutes and he texted to say his brother wants it! so a week worth of scouring all the build threads and looking for tires/racks/wheels and whatnot was time I "wasted" I mean, I love digging thru old posts and looking at cool build threads but I probably should've had the rig first, but was tryin to make sure it was what I wanted an all that jazz. Back to the drawing board...