1995 Montero SR Build
- Thread starter LaOutbackTrail
- Start date
When the lower ball joint finally popped loose I simultaneously thought I was being shot while the truck was falling down on me... scared the bejeebus out of me.
Yeah.. Especially while I was already removing the ball joints and doing surgery in that area anyway. I'd hate to have found that on our trip...
That's great you were able to separate the ball joints from the spindle with a pickle fork. Mine were a major pain. I ended up having to remove the spindles with ball joints attached, soak em overnight with penetrant, hit em with a torch and then a 20 ton shop press...and they still didn't pop out easily. When I put the new ones in I gave the mating surfaces a healthy dose of anti-seize so the next guy (me?) won't have such a hard time. Sorry to ramble but your photo brought back painful memories.
Whoa! It looks like you replaced your pitman arm too. How'd that go for you? That one was on there worse than the ball joints for me...stop the flashbacks!
Whoa! It looks like you replaced your pitman arm too. How'd that go for you? That one was on there worse than the ball joints for me...stop the flashbacks!
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I just used Pitman arm puller on both the LBJ and the pitman. Oh and the torch. And the BFH.
I'm always scrambling before a big trip.... I leave next Saturday and I still need to reassemble the front axle and steering... I'm about 80% done with my cargo system...
I installed a face plate on the bottom right side. There is a hinged lid to access stuff under the right side. Again, our dog is going on the right side.
I installed a face plate on the bottom right side. There is a hinged lid to access stuff under the right side. Again, our dog is going on the right side.
New axle installed. But, like a dummy, I didn't put a thrust washer on the inbound side of the axle (inside the spindle) causing me to do the job twice! I didn't remember the washer until after I was installing the manual hubs! Ugh!
With chassis parts, make sure you use a torque wrench and thread lock where needed!
Artsy shot of the new-to-me manual locking hubs.
And since it's been 100+ in the evenings, gotta stay hydrated. Everything tastes better from a mason jar!
With chassis parts, make sure you use a torque wrench and thread lock where needed!
Artsy shot of the new-to-me manual locking hubs.
And since it's been 100+ in the evenings, gotta stay hydrated. Everything tastes better from a mason jar!
Hey look at that, I just realized the shadow casted perfectly on the side of the vehicle spells PAJERO SR! That's like a miracle or something.
I built something interesting over the last couple of nights...
Got the alignment done yesterday too.
I had the two certified mechanics on duty do an inspection of all my work, even got them to check the torque on a few bolts to make sure everything was up to par.
I found that my tail light is out on the back passenger side too. Gotta get that replaced this evening. Wanted to "upgrade" to LED signal bulbs, but I don't think I'll find those locally.
Got the alignment done yesterday too.
I had the two certified mechanics on duty do an inspection of all my work, even got them to check the torque on a few bolts to make sure everything was up to par.
I found that my tail light is out on the back passenger side too. Gotta get that replaced this evening. Wanted to "upgrade" to LED signal bulbs, but I don't think I'll find those locally.
hike2fish
New member
reading this thread
thanks for the great read!!!
Just saved a 95 SR 138k from the scrap yard, crank bolt issue and needs valve seals and a good going over top-to-bot! So far I have pulled all the wheels to clean and replace any brake parts, scrapped and wire wheeled the frame which form sitting for 2 years on the side of a barn in OH has caused heavy surface rust and scale, frame is now rust covered and painted with 2 coats of paint, undercoating being finished up, and in a few months I plan on the valve seals, water pump/timing belt and plugs/wires etc.
thanks for the great read!!!
Just saved a 95 SR 138k from the scrap yard, crank bolt issue and needs valve seals and a good going over top-to-bot! So far I have pulled all the wheels to clean and replace any brake parts, scrapped and wire wheeled the frame which form sitting for 2 years on the side of a barn in OH has caused heavy surface rust and scale, frame is now rust covered and painted with 2 coats of paint, undercoating being finished up, and in a few months I plan on the valve seals, water pump/timing belt and plugs/wires etc.
Good for you! I found that it was much easier to do the work with the engine on the stand than in the truck. There are a couple of trick engine to transmission bolts, but the rest comes out easily.
Oh and by the way, what is a 3400 mile overland trip without a stop at Oreilly's Auto Parts?
I promise you, the intimate knowledge you gain from really learning your truck pays off. Here I'm simply replacing the starter, but trouble shooting skills are essential when you're on your own. In my case the vehicle was struggling to start. Honestly I thought the battery was going out, so I stopped at Oreilly's and had the battery tested. it tested fine and the alternator was charging. Had to be the starter but I still wasn't certain as I checked the voltage multiple times and it was always 12-14v. I think it was divine intervention as that store had the bloody starter in stock... and I was compelled to buy it. It proved smart as you can see above, we were at a po-dunk gas station some 40 miles from the nearest parts store when the starter finally failed to crank. An hour an twenty minutes later we were back on the road.
Here are a few photos taken with my phone during our trip. I've got a couple thousand to go through from my Nikon so be patient. I think these will be in chronological order.
Drove up to Logan Peak outside of Logan, UT
And drug the frame on the way down... in Providence Canyon. The majority of the trail was 30-50% grade. I kept telling myself there is no way I'd easily get back up the hill.... I was committed.
Even when it opened up to being a gravel road, it was still 15-20% grade... I kept the truck in low range to keep the speed down and wear off the brakes.
The kids enjoyed the trail though. They like the rocks and the bouncing around.
The dog.... not so much....
The next day we drove to the Golden Spike National Historic Site and then went down to the Spiral Jetty on the Great Salt Lake where we met three guys on KLRs who we hung with for a while that day. Strength in numbers.
They were particularly thankful that I was willing to get my hands dirty to get one of the bikes out the quagmire of mud found on the edge of the GSL.
Afterwards we rambled along the Transcontinental railroad grade to the town of Park Valley, where we anticipated getting gas, none existed. In fact we went 264 miles between fuel stops. Well into the uncomfortable part of my range. I did have 5 extra gallons, but never needed it. We did a 70 mile stretch of gravel road and two track and only saw one guy on an ATV who had already fixed 5 flats and was precisely at his halfway point on his fuel range.
I promise you, the intimate knowledge you gain from really learning your truck pays off. Here I'm simply replacing the starter, but trouble shooting skills are essential when you're on your own. In my case the vehicle was struggling to start. Honestly I thought the battery was going out, so I stopped at Oreilly's and had the battery tested. it tested fine and the alternator was charging. Had to be the starter but I still wasn't certain as I checked the voltage multiple times and it was always 12-14v. I think it was divine intervention as that store had the bloody starter in stock... and I was compelled to buy it. It proved smart as you can see above, we were at a po-dunk gas station some 40 miles from the nearest parts store when the starter finally failed to crank. An hour an twenty minutes later we were back on the road.
Here are a few photos taken with my phone during our trip. I've got a couple thousand to go through from my Nikon so be patient. I think these will be in chronological order.
Drove up to Logan Peak outside of Logan, UT
And drug the frame on the way down... in Providence Canyon. The majority of the trail was 30-50% grade. I kept telling myself there is no way I'd easily get back up the hill.... I was committed.
Even when it opened up to being a gravel road, it was still 15-20% grade... I kept the truck in low range to keep the speed down and wear off the brakes.
The kids enjoyed the trail though. They like the rocks and the bouncing around.
The dog.... not so much....
The next day we drove to the Golden Spike National Historic Site and then went down to the Spiral Jetty on the Great Salt Lake where we met three guys on KLRs who we hung with for a while that day. Strength in numbers.
They were particularly thankful that I was willing to get my hands dirty to get one of the bikes out the quagmire of mud found on the edge of the GSL.
Afterwards we rambled along the Transcontinental railroad grade to the town of Park Valley, where we anticipated getting gas, none existed. In fact we went 264 miles between fuel stops. Well into the uncomfortable part of my range. I did have 5 extra gallons, but never needed it. We did a 70 mile stretch of gravel road and two track and only saw one guy on an ATV who had already fixed 5 flats and was precisely at his halfway point on his fuel range.
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Maybe on my blog, but its more for us. I'm just showing the adventurey highlights with the Montero here.
Since I'm limited to the number of pics per post... here are a couple more.
As I said before, in the back of my mind I was a little worried about the issues that might arise if we had a mechanical issue or ran out of fuel along the route. I was relieved when we crossed over a short ridge and my phone started freaking out with messages, missed calls, and facebook updates. It's a bit unnerving when you're on your own like that. Then we made it to the Salt Flats.
Its flat and its salty.
Then we were off to Jackson, WY and Yellowstone. We took the long way to get to Jackson. Direct route is 3.45 hours, it took us 9.
As I said before, in the back of my mind I was a little worried about the issues that might arise if we had a mechanical issue or ran out of fuel along the route. I was relieved when we crossed over a short ridge and my phone started freaking out with messages, missed calls, and facebook updates. It's a bit unnerving when you're on your own like that. Then we made it to the Salt Flats.
Its flat and its salty.
Then we were off to Jackson, WY and Yellowstone. We took the long way to get to Jackson. Direct route is 3.45 hours, it took us 9.
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