1995 Mitsubishi Montero LS Build Thread

[makgti]

Hey everyone, wanted to document a little build I'm putting together. I managed to snag a very clean 1995 Montero. I'm looking to build up into a mild offroader, and mainly restore the car fully. Maybe down the line will look to do some parts swaps from an SR donor, but in the meantime looking to wheel it stock.

I managed to get it for a good deal, car has been living in California all it's life, no noticeable rust and the interior is basically spotless. There's so brake shudder, some weird automatic shifting, and a few other small issues but generally it's fine. I'm hoping to document some of the work and parts used given in my experience in the past, info on these in the US is sometimes hard to come by.

 

[makgti]

First order of business was to get the brakes sorted out. They pulsed pretty bad under moderate brake pressure and was making my twisty road commute fairly unbearable. New set of front and rear rotors and pads sourced from rock auto and put on. The front axle design is kind of a pain, needing to remove the rotor and hub together in order to swap rotors. The tool to set the bearing preload is hard to find for Mitsubishi but I made do given the part I ordered on Amazon rather predictably didn't fit.

 

[makgti]

I was able to find this part from a local napa that fit the diameter of the bearing but had too many nubs. Quick file with a bench grinder and we were in business. Was going smooth until ran into issues with stripping bolts trying to get the rotors separate. A set of m10s from the hardware store and the car is buttoned together. No more horrible brake shudder and were ready for our first offroad outing.

 

[spacecowboy7777]

Looks great, keep us updated! I also had a 95 and I agree, the front rotor design was annoying.

 

[makgti]

Looks great, keep us updated! I also had a 95 and I agree, the front rotor design was annoying.

Yeah I guess you gain not having to pull the brakes when doing wheel bearings? But I'd hope I'd be doing that less than rotors. I'll be looking to get some manual hubs so I'm sure I'll be in there again soon.

 

[MrGalantguy]

First order of business was to get the brakes sorted out. They pulsed pretty bad under moderate brake pressure and was making my twisty road commute fairly unbearable. New set of front and rear rotors and pads sourced from rock auto and put on. The front axle design is kind of a pain, needing to remove the rotor and hub together in order to swap rotors. The tool to set the bearing preload is hard to find for Mitsubishi but I made do given the part I ordered on Amazon rather predictably didn't fit.

The Mitsubishi tool is very hard to find. There was a website that sold specialty tools from OEMS and I was going to order that hub washer tool. Pre COVID it was like $80.....2 years later it shot up to $300.

I was able to source one out from Japan brand new last year. I used the modified Chevy hub socket when I did my brake a few years ago but setting the preload was a absolute nightmare because the posts kept slipping out when applying the initial 130 ft lbs.

 

[makgti]

The Mitsubishi tool is very hard to find. There was a website that sold specialty tools from OEMS and I was going to order that hub washer tool. Pre COVID it was like $80.....2 years later it shot up to $300.

I was able to source one out from Japan brand new last year. I used the modified Chevy hub socket when I did my brake a few years ago but setting the preload was a absolute nightmare because the posts kept slipping out when applying the initial 130 ft lbs.

I actually had a similar problem but it was setting the torque back to 0, could not keep enough pressure on the tool while winding it back and had to resort to pinning my foot against my garage wall. In the future I might see if I can adapt the tool to clamp onto the assembly

 

[makgti]

Was able to flex the legs of the Montero a bit on its first outing. It's still on small highway tires but was able to at least test out the angles. Was generally impressed, I have a jeep with bigger tires for wilder adventures but I was pleasantly surprised what the Montero was able to bop through without much effort. I'll probably go with a mild tire size increase in the future (maybe a 31x10.5) but for now it's good to just feel the truck out. Old school 90s car visibility also helps a lot.