Nnamssorxela's '03 Montero: Daily Driver and Adventure Mobile

[nnamssorxela]

Thanks everyone for the compliments!

I hope to have all the hard work done by this weekend, which involves cutting my lateral arms out to get access, and cutting out both sides of the eccentric bolts for the lateral arms and main control arms. I think it's worth jacking your cars up, (mark/index the bolts to avoid loosing your alignment) loosening, and moving these back and forth to prevent them from seizing, or at least go in for a yearly alignment. I feel sorry for anyone who has to take a similar approach and cut these out. Anti-seize is your friend!

 

[PetitFrereArmada]

Wow, this is coming along very well. Nice progress.

 

[cnutco]

Check out the bracket I made for mine. The one above looks much nicer, but mine works.

http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/118673-New-additions-to-my-GEN3!/page3


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[nnamssorxela]

Long story short, this has been on jack stands for a few weeks now just waiting on parts. The only place I could find the rear lateral/assist/track arm was febest on amazon. Unfortunately they sent me the wrong set and I'm still waiting on replacements. Replacing them is really easy though, so when they come next week I'll get to find out what this thing is like to drive!

 

[nnamssorxela]

Extremely slow progress on the Montero for the last 8 months or so :smiley_drive:, but spring is here and motivation is just around the corner! I bought a new bike which is taking most of my time (and money), and I've been building up my "shop" so building parts becomes easier and more enjoyable.

The Montero is unstoppable in the snow, and the Cooper ST Maxx tires don't know the difference. I did make it out a few times this winter, and I installed some cheap LED fog lights as well:







Finally getting my act together and working on finishing my sliders. I'm a "measure 300 times and cut twice" kind of guy, but that doesn't matter when you feed the pipe in the bender the wrong way!

oops:


Much better:


The plan is to make the tubular supports this weekend, and maybe even get them tacked up or welded fully.

I figure since we are all adventurers here, you'd appreciate a picture of my primary adventure mobile and money pit:

 

[Dibbs]

Whats your average MPG with the ST MAXXs?

 

[nnamssorxela]

I'm getting anywhere between 12 and 19 mpg. I use an app called fuelly and it does not compensate for the tire size/odometer difference, so numbers should be a smidge higher. Says I'm averaging ~16.4 mpg, which is pretty bad IMO.

 

[Igorskiy86]

Nice looking rig, and good build. That mileage is pretty good. I only get about 15 now, but I do have 265 75 16 st maxx tires and more drag from arb bumper and roof rack. Hoping that going to 4.90 gears and 33 inch tires will help my mpg.

 

[Offroadmuch]

Looks great. I have an 03 also so this is great to watch. Do your tires rub while turning on the street?
I will need tires soon so knowing that would help.

I would also love to see your skid plates and some general measurements.

Great build! I love to see all the Gen 3.5's...

 

[MrWesson]

Man those Montero's look the part with aggressive tires. Awesome traction control system that compares well with land rover, can fit 33's easily, lots of room, good MPG, Reliable and cheap to boot.. I own an LR3 but really like Montero's.

IMO one of the most overlooked off roaders out there.

 

[nnamssorxela]

Thank you all for the complements. It took me a long time to decide on the Montero, but realistically I needed a vehicle that could see a lot of street driving and still remain comfortable. I was looking at an older Cherokee (xj) or a Disco I or II but the Montero filled the gap that both of those vehicles left.

Offroadmuch - I have ZERO skid protection at the moment, not even the OEM front guard. The oil pan in the front sits above the cross member, and I have a low hanging hitch in the back that pretty much suspends the rest of the car when things get rougher, and that alone is what currently protects me off-road. Those are on the list this summer, but I'd like to get my bumpers done first, since we all know looks outweigh functionality

Made some progress on the sliders the last few days. I have one all tacked up and ready for welding, and one is tacked together and ready to fit onto the car. Very pleased so far.

 

[nnamssorxela]

Got these all welded up on Friday, but it has been too cold to paint, so they will likely have to wait a week or two before they finally get installed back on the car.

 

[nnamssorxela]

Finally finished the sliders:







CB radio install next, then bumpers and skid protection. Lots of other projects on my plate first though, so it will likely be a while until an update.

 

[earljuic3]

For what its worth, I kept my eye on eBay Australia for a couple of months and got a good deal on the actual tire re-locator in that picture on page 2. You can fabricate your own a lot cheaper but I prefer the bolt on..

 

[nnamssorxela]

It's been a long time since I've really worked on the Montero. Have it pulled apart in my driveway for some much needed maintenance.

pic for clicks:

First oil leak to address. Had some new oil cooler lines made. Fit isn't perfect, but the quality is great:

Next oil leak is the valve cover gaskets. Not a bad job but time consuming. The passenger cover was leaking badly. The cover was all bent and the gasket looked handmade. Hoping a new gasket seals it all up, otherwise I'll have to buy a new one and repeat the job. Driver's side was all original and the sparkplug tube o-rings were rock hard, and the tubes full of oil. Replaced the sparkplugs and wires while I was there:

Installed a new AC fan since mine was seized. Of course, I had to hide the "bling":

More coming soon, and it will be more exciting!