DadaDragonheart
New member
Hey all!
Wanting to get your takes on where to go from here. '03 Montero Limited, 71k miles, bone stock. Potentially poor maintenance and a few hard days, based on underbody scuffs, new radiator and some paint overspray on the front grill.
The 'how we got here' & 'why I chose this vehicle' is a story for another thread. Had the rig for about a month with dreams of off-roading grandeur, but this rig has given me a hard-dose of reality. In hindsight, I was a fool to think that low miles meant my rig was spared the hardships of the Costa Rican roads, or that because it was cleanish meant that it was properly maintained. There are a few up-sides to Costa Rica, 1) Monteros are plentiful AF, good news for spare & used parts 2) labor is cheap 3) off-road capable vehicles & shops are very common. However, there are also a few down-sides to Costa Rica, most notably bad roads & shipping costs/capabilities. Ain't no Amazon Prime down here which is fine with me from a moral standpoint ?
The goal: A bad-ass rig that is capable of reliably hauling my small family (3 of us) and all our belongings on adventures across a relatively unforgiving terrain. Recovery gear at the ready, snorkel & underbody protection preferred
Where to go from here - Maintenance
Where to go from here - Build
Ok that's probably enough blabbering. If you've gotten this far and have a few spare minute to share your thoughts, please do! It's much appreciated
Wanting to get your takes on where to go from here. '03 Montero Limited, 71k miles, bone stock. Potentially poor maintenance and a few hard days, based on underbody scuffs, new radiator and some paint overspray on the front grill.
The 'how we got here' & 'why I chose this vehicle' is a story for another thread. Had the rig for about a month with dreams of off-roading grandeur, but this rig has given me a hard-dose of reality. In hindsight, I was a fool to think that low miles meant my rig was spared the hardships of the Costa Rican roads, or that because it was cleanish meant that it was properly maintained. There are a few up-sides to Costa Rica, 1) Monteros are plentiful AF, good news for spare & used parts 2) labor is cheap 3) off-road capable vehicles & shops are very common. However, there are also a few down-sides to Costa Rica, most notably bad roads & shipping costs/capabilities. Ain't no Amazon Prime down here which is fine with me from a moral standpoint ?
The goal: A bad-ass rig that is capable of reliably hauling my small family (3 of us) and all our belongings on adventures across a relatively unforgiving terrain. Recovery gear at the ready, snorkel & underbody protection preferred
Where to go from here - Maintenance
- Gas tank leak - basically what is described in this post: https://expeditionportal.com/forum/...an-obstacle-or-when-it-is-hot-outside.223055/
- based on the thread I linked, I plan on replacing the Fuel Tank Leveling Valve - 1785A010, the Fuel Filler Tube Check Valve - 1755A012, and the emissions canister. Any objections?
- Vehicle has stalled when under 1/4 tank - Took it to the shop, they could find nothing wrong, problem has not re-occurred. I'm just going to hope that's fixed with the above step?
- Vehicle shifted into Neutral when in Drive (N & D lights lit up at the same time) - took it to the shop, they could find nothing wrong, problem has not re-occurred. Had them change the tranny fluid and filter. I read this could be caused by the neutral safety switch, so I should clean it up and potentially order a new one as they seemed cheap for the piece of mind, but I haven't investigated ease of install yet
- Suspension - One shop said my front bushings were on their way out, they recommended getting new ones with my next set of tires. Maybe something i take care of with a suspension upgrade?
- Additional Maintenance - Would love to get your thoughts on things that I should look out for or just go ahead and do right away
Where to go from here - Build
- Suspension - Old Man Emu seems to be the common option that's good enough to get by, but i'm curious to the other options and what people would recommend. A specialty shop said they would build the suspension from the ground up, but wouldn't give me a price range without me going to see them and they're a few hours away. From what I've read, anything over 2.5 or 3" is going to strain the other parts, from suspension to diffs.
- Tires - from what I've read, it seems 33s are a great middle ground, able to give you performance & clearance without so much burden on your engine or chops to your bumpers & wheel wells. Agree or disagree?
- Rims - is it possible to get 33s or larger with our stock rims or are new rims a necessity? Would love some recommendations & inputs here
- Spare tire holder - I've read that the stock tire holder won't hold a 33" tire, so people either mod it, replace it, or mod their rear bumper. Is this true?
- Snorkel - There are a lot of snorkels down here in CR and 98% of them are facing forwards. Shouldn't they be facing backwards so they don't suck up water & dirt as you drive forward?
- Bumpers - I would love to improve the angles on the rig and add the ability to use a winch and store crap on the back, ideally even taking care of the spare tire size issue, but an ARM front bumper is expensive and there is no ARM rear bumper. Is a custom bumper a truly viable solution for front &/or back?
- Recover gear storage - I haven't seen many Montero / Pajero solutions for storing traction boards & such. Aside from a roof rack, are the other options all custom?
- Running boards & Skid plates - These are pretty high on my priority list. Seen a few kits out there but also read it's relatively simple to fabricate. Thoughts?
Ok that's probably enough blabbering. If you've gotten this far and have a few spare minute to share your thoughts, please do! It's much appreciated
