NEWBIE ALERT! Hello everyone, new owner of a Mitsub >>>

[eurosonic]

Hello everyone,
Wanted to introduce myself..:smiley_drive:
My name is Dmitriy, I live in Sacramento, CA (swing between Bay Area and Sac).

I recently became a happy owner of a 1998 Mitsubishi Montero ..still very new to the Mitsub world. After much thought, i decided to skip the Toyota crowd and try something different.
I absolutely looove my Montero, I think its hard to beat what Mitsubishi offers out of the box with this car. It completely fits my 4WD wants and desires.


I bought this Montero from and insurance co, its been in a minor accident with its front left side. Bought the car for $1450 bucks!

Here are some insurance co pics when I bought the car.

After, I got the car home, I installed a set of Hankook Dynopro MT 295/75/16 on a 16x8 rim. The rims were new, tires were used with about 80% tread. Got the set for $800, which I think was a fair price. Wheels fit ok, Im thinking of doing a body lift so I can get some extra clearance in the front.

What I needed was left fender, front grill, front bumper, and a headlight with a turn signal. Parts were a pain in the *** to find. All the junk yards didnt have what I needed, some parts were available for the older monteros that didnt have the metal widebody. I got lucky and found a fender with some minor damage, got for a good $50. As far as bumper, I settled for the older bumper from a 95 montero SR. It will do for now. (Currently planning to build a custom metal bumper). Also temporary using a headlight from a 95 SR.


After some minor pullin, the front end was straightened.

As soon as I got the car running, I took it for a drive, near a field next to my office. It rained few days before so I had some fun:victory:

Very impressed with its 4WD abilities, the rear locker is perfect!


A week or so ago, took the car to Indian Valley for some off-roading, shootin. Had a blast. Im absolutely hooked in the getting this car dialed in for some good reliable drivin' outback.

 

[off-roader]

Very nicely done. You can probably get parts more easily from car-part.com for the gen 2.5's.

Body lift is available from Roger Brown of 4crawler.com.

Hope we get to see you on some of the local trips!

 

[scrubber3]

Welcome to the Portal! Nice rig and I am sure you will enjoy it.

 

[eurosonic]

Oh great! Probably will go with the 2". It seems like what most are doing.

would love to join you guys on some trips, keep me tuned.

 

[eurosonic]

sorry for the newbie qs. What are some options from suspension upgrades? Also, can you guys point me in the right direction with getting a snorkle?

 

[scrubber3]

Silverwolf can help you with a snorkel. If I am not mistaken the Gen 2.5 is difficult to find a snorkel for. He got one but had to modify it somewhat. Old Man Emu makes some good suspension parts for the Montero. I put KYB Gas a just on mine. They are Monotube and work fantastic. I cranked the torsion bars and added 2 inch spring spacers in the rear. Off-Roader is also a great resource for information on these. Before you do anything to upgrade it, you may want to be sure that the proper maintenance has been done to it. The timing belt is very important to be changed on time. Also, if it was mine I would change out all the fluids and filters on it. A snorkel really isn't needed too much IMHO. The engineers did wonderful at designing these rigs to resist water ingestion. Unless you are going to get real deep or think you may need it to help keep dust ingestion down. I assume that yours has a rear locking differential. These things are one of the best platforms for an overland rig. They don't need too much since they are so capable from the factory. My advice is to drive it like it is and upgrade things as you see a need too. Keeping it simple will help ward off problems from modifications. Though I will admit, a snorkel does look great on these. I will be doing one as soon as funds allow due to the common occurrence of water crossings that I seem to find.

 

[Silverwulf]

Hi there! I happen to know exactly where you can get a fender that is the same color as your truck... And mine, lol! Pm me and I'll send you the guys #

 

[Silverwulf]

I used a gen 3 snorkel. If you do a search, you'll find my post. I did a write up on the install. Pain in the butt! The snorkel for the gen II.5 has been discontinued from safari and tjm. I used a safari style. Got it off eBay from some guy in malasia. Got to calif. In 3 days!
I used kyb monomax shocks. Suv specific (read: larger shock bodied and heavy duty piston rods and stiffer)
I cranked the T-bars ~1.5" and put 2" spacers in the rear coils. I'm close to pulling the trigger on a 2" body lift.
As mentioned before, the FIRST thing you should do is service. Some people neglected things like fluid changes. Also timing belt and hydrolic gemstones are crucial as these are interference engines. Proper maintenance wil go a loooong way in keeping you happy with your rig

 

[eurosonic]

Definitely agree on the maintenance guys. Fortunately when I got the car, it looked like the previous owner had a complete maintenance overhaul. Almost all possible things that needed service was taken care off. The engine ran like smooth like a clock. Even the filter was crispy white, all I did was change oil. The truck had one of the cleanest engine bays that I think ive ever seen, considering it had 144K on the clock. Well that only lasted soo long, few good runs through the mud broke in all the freshness.

Im so glad that there is a nice Mitsub community here in norcal and in US in general. For a while, I thought i was one of the only nuts who chose the base platform such as the montero. :Wow1:

 

[Silverwulf]

Nuts, ....or genius? Buwahahaha :victory:

 

[m3at333hp]

Looks good and clean. I have a 1998 also with the same Hankook tires. What size are those? Mine are 32x11.5x15

 

[off-roader]

In order that I'd check fluids...
1) Transmission (rarely replaced by owners) Make sure you use the correct fluid or you will destroy your transmission. Mobil 1 is NOT COMPATIBLE with mitsu auto tranny's. This is based on others having to rebuild their transmissions after using Mobil 1 due to excessive brass/copper wear after using Mobil 1 & having absolutely no tranny problems prior to using Mobil 1. I recommend either Mitsu OEM fluid or Hyudai AT fluids which are known to be compatible.
2) Front & Rear Differential and transfer case. Regular 'dino' gear lube is fine as are synthetic ones.
3) Brake Fluid (great time to inspect all your brake lines especially the rubber ones as well).
4) Coolant (great time to inspect your fins externally for blockage as well as the core internally for calcification blockage).

You can read my build thread for the various mod's & upgrades I've done to mine (see link in my signature)

The only snorkel I know that's worked on the wide body / blister fender montero's has been the gen III snorkel (modified to fit). I don't know of any other available ones but that doesn't mean places like the middle east, europe, asia won't have them available.

One thing that could help also if you go with bigger tires is to upgrade to 4.6x:1 r&p's found in gen II SR's. This will bring the rpm range and shift points back in line with the stock configuration which is optimized for power and fuel efficiency.

HTH.

 

[eurosonic]

Looks good and clean. I have a 1998 also with the same Hankook tires. What size are those? Mine are 32x11.5x15

Oh great! we almost the same setup. My tires are 33x11.5x16

 

[Clem]

A week or so ago, took the car to Indian Valley for some off-roading, shootin. Had a blast. Im absolutely hooked in the getting this car dialed in for some good reliable drivin' outback.

[

Hey eurosonic,

I have been thinking of exploring the Indian Valley Reservoir Area. Did you need the extra ground clearance of the 33" tires or will I be fine with stock height tires (I've got the rear locker)?

 

[IncorpoRatedX]

crank the front torsion bars and call it a day for fitting those tires! rig looks good.