New to the Montero scene but going all in on this Gen 3

[Masterchief77]

Hello All!
I recently picked up a 2002 Montero Limited (153k miles) for $1000 from a buddy moving back to England. All I knew about was that, according to him, it burned oil and the brake system made a funny sound. Some dings, scratches, and musty smell from being at the Coronado Island marina for the last 6 years. So, needless to say, I started digging into the issues and found this forum (awesome resource by the way). I was planning on this just being my son's first car but the more I learned about the Monty's capabilities and saw how stout the 4WD drive train was I decided this was going to be the moderate expedition build that I've wanted.
I've read up (here) on the HBB and accumulator so that's on my list of things to repair (accumulator first). The "burning oil" issue turned out to be a leaking valve cover so I've already replaced those along with the spark plugs and plenum gasket.
So that was along way to getting to my questions for the experienced guys (and/or gals) in this forum:
-Exhaust system: has anyone found success with any CA legal headers for the 3.5 or recommend a cat back system?
-Lift vs spacers: I see the OME available but to keep costs down should I go with new shocks/springs and just add spacers to get 1.5-2" lift I'm looking for?
-Engine: the engine runs smooth but I feel it needs a little bit more power on the highway. Suggestions?
Overall I'm pretty excited about this build and plan on using this off-road a lot for hunting here in Socal and in AZ.
Thanks for any suggestions.
Cheers!
Ryan

 

[offthepath]

Congrats sounds like a good deal.

My input is go with an actual lift. I'm not a fan of spacers and I think you will run into CV joint and associated front end issues down the road with spacers. An OEM lift only runs about 650. You can cut a lot of that price if you just get the springs and run cheaper shocks.

As for the engine, I hate to say it but unless you start dropping serious coin on custom engine builds, you will not get much more power out of the 3.5. Check any general tune up items (vacuum lines, MAP sensor, etc) just to make sure the engine is running the best it can. I have a 3.8l and live in Colorado so it commonly sees lots of elevation and mountain passes. It by no means is a speed demon and some of the passes you really have to wind it out, but it does just fine keeping up with traffic.

 

[Masterchief77]

Congrats sounds like a good deal.

My input is go with an actual lift. I'm not a fan of spacers and I think you will run into CV joint and associated front end issues down the road with spacers. An OEM lift only runs about 650. You can cut a lot of that price if you just get the springs and run cheaper shocks.

As for the engine, I hate to say it but unless you start dropping serious coin on custom engine builds, you will not get much more power out of the 3.5. Check any general tune up items (vacuum lines, MAP sensor, etc) just to make sure the engine is running the best it can. I have a 3.8l and live in Colorado so it commonly sees lots of elevation and mountain passes. It by no means is a speed demon and some of the passes you really have to wind it out, but it does just fine keeping up with traffic.

Thanks for the good info. I was leaning towards the OME lift anyway. It does look like you can fit some decent sized tires on it without a lift but it I want to upgrade the suspension because eventually I'd like to put a KTM 500 dual sport on a Joe hauler on the back.

 

[nwoods]

spacers are not a lift, just higher clearance. Going with the OME system (including shocks) increases the total travel/articulation of the system so that you have more flex and also more weight carrying capacity with the stiffer springs. The more you can keep the wheels on the ground, the less likely you are to be stuck. Better suspension equals better traction, equals MUCH better trail performance.

 

[FinePrintClint]

The group in the forum on the Adventure Driven Design website will have the answer to the most technical questions you have regarding your truck. The community on the Facebook MMUSA group is very lively as well. Searching through those 2 places you should be able to find everything and more and everyone there is extremely helpful.

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

 

[offthepath]

Thanks for the good info. I was leaning towards the OME lift anyway. It does look like you can fit some decent sized tires on it without a lift but it I want to upgrade the suspension because eventually I'd like to put a KTM 500 dual sport on a Joe hauler on the back.

Sweet. I have carried my husky 300 a few times on mine. My dual sport is a KTM 950. Not sure the montero would be up for it,

If you plan to carry the bike a lot get the HD OEM springs or air bags. I went the air bag route and they really help with heavy loads. If I were to do it again, I would actually do both HD springs and air bags.

 

[Masterchief77]

The group in the forum on the Adventure Driven Design website will have the answer to the most technical questions you have regarding your truck. The community on the Facebook MMUSA group is very lively as well. Searching through those 2 places you should be able to find everything and more and everyone there is extremely helpful.

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

Thanks!

 

[Masterchief77]

Sweet. I have carried my husky 300 a few times on mine. My dual sport is a KTM 950. Not sure the montero would be up for it,

If you plan to carry the bike a lot get the HD OEM springs or air bags. I went the air bag route and they really help with heavy loads. If I were to do it again, I would actually do both HD springs and air bags.

Yeah, if I bought the OME lift I had planned on getting the HD springs for that reason. The air bags are also a great idea. Thanks.

 

[Inyo_man]

I think I saw that rig when I was on Catalina last summer.

Any snap shots?

 

[Masterchief77]

You probably did. Phil took it all sorts of places during his tour here in San Diego.