Please answer a montero ?

[propane addiction]

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[off-roader]

The Monty rides quite comfortably with the stock suspension setup. When fully loaded, things are fine and being able to put the shocks into it's hard setting is extremely useful.

That said, the shocks you plan to replace are actually coveted by most owners. You can improve the ride if you upgrade to 32x11.5 tires to get the wider footprint.

As for your intended shock length change, the stock length is based on the travel geometry afforded by the stock suspension. If you change the shock travel length without changing the coil length, the coils may fall out at the full extension!!

Alternatively you also need to ensure the longer shocks will compress enough.

So why are you looking at using longer shocks without using longer coils? I'm running the stock adjustables with 35x12.5 mud tires. For more travel I have removed the rear anti-sway bar.

Now replacement OEM adjustables are VERY expensive so unless I can find a good deal on a set, I'll probably buy a set of standard kyb's to replace them.

 

[propane addiction]

!

 

[off-roader]

Glad you have your plan laid out. As for shock problems, I know several owners running this setup doing the more extreme rock crawling trails who've had no problems. Others are running 37's with the same setup. I can also tell you when running in the open desert, I've been driving it pretty fast (+60mph) also without issues. Bear in mind these are typically with the original shocks, and not a newer replacement.

Mine probably spends 2-3 weeks/yr off road. The rest of the time it's also my daily driver getting 10k miles / yr.

Now if you plan to go out and pound it hard, it might have issues but most whom I've known over the past 12 yrs of driving mitsu's have had great luck with the shocks.

All that said, shocks have simply worn out. Most replace them with a decent shock like a KYB, edelbrock, etc.

Not too many have gone with Doetsch Tech. What kind of off road use do you have in mind?

 

[propane addiction]

!

 

[off-roader]

Seems like all the stock montero stuff is tough as nails! If you did that to a shock from a gm it would fail in a few weeks!

It is quite tough. My buddy recently took his 2005 GMC pickup (don't remember the model but IIRC his model had the largest gas engine available for them at the time) with me on easy trails and within a mile his steering pump's pulley shaft broke!

As for the monty's running gear, that's a 9.5" rear diff and an 8.5" front with pretty hefty axles to along with it. The auto tranny is pretty bullet proof and I have not heard of very many fail off road. You can get 3.15: xcase gears and 4.90 or 5.29 r&p gears for it too to bring down the gearing. This all works very well with the stock powertrain. Don't know that it would hold up for a built SBC's power.

It sounds like the coils must ride nice if your making some 60mph desert passes! I will push mine well over 100mph in the sand! I am also into the crawling so I am going to custom build a doubled set of 241c t cases to slow it up some!

It's actually a 'good' problem because most other 'upgraded' 4x4's aren't capable of running those speeds and we usually end up suffering at the slow pace set buy those other rigs when we wheel with groups.

I wouldn't want to run the monty at the speed you're talking about in the sand or most off road conditions unless you really, really know the terrain & course (i.e. no people/animals in the wrong spots). It's simply too top heavy a vehicle to recover properly in an emergency maneuver situation.

I'm surprised no one has commented on the sbc powered montero!

I have. This forum is great for those who want to moderately upgrade their rigs with aftermarket parts and there are a lot of knowledgeable folks here who can advise with those types of upgrades but it isn't heavy on the hard core modding. It's why I suggested you check out 4x4wire's mitsu forums. There you'll find folks discussing various power plants, drive trains, dual xcases, etc.

HTH.

 

[propane addiction]

!