SONICMASD's 98 Montero LS Build & Adventure Thread: Black Betty

[SONICMASD]

05/13/17 - Took the Monty up to Sedona for a night of camping with my wife and we dragged my parents along for their first time camping, ever. We took them on the Broken Arrow trail and then a small hike. They had an awesome time and the next day we went and had Mother's Day Brunch in Sedona.

The Monty did great of course. It was my first time doing Broken Arrow with Betty since removing the Front Detroit Locker and I could definitely feel the difference. Instead of being able to effortlessly climb up anything, I had to flip the rear locker on a couple times b but no big deal. I think Broken Arrow is probably the hardest trail I'll ever go on and the rig handles it easily so I'm very happy with my the current set up.



A week or so earlier I installed a couple new interior mounts and got to test them out on this trip.

1. My buddies don't have CBs in their rigs so I haven't gotten one either since it wouldn't do me any good, so we've been using these Motorola walkie-talkies to communicate when wheeling and it's been working out fine.

I attached loop velcro to the back of my WT and then the hook side to the blank space on the left side of the steering wheel.



Unfortunately, when driving on the highway I found that the sun glare off the WT screen reflects into the side mirror and into my eyes as well. So it has since been relocated which I'll cover in the following post.

2. I mentioned a few posts ago about my cheap trail navigation solution which involves the Avenza maps app and a cheap Chinese tablet with internal GPS (Fuzion5 7" off Amazon). Well, I had been trying to think of a way to mount it and after messing around with trying to assemble or build a complicated mount, I just went with the simplest possible solution. I ordered this Magnetic ball mount and gave it a shot.

The 3M VHB adhesive forms a strong bond to the dash and then you stick a thin metal disc on the back of the tablet.

It works but it's made for phones and the 7" tablet is a bit too heavy for it. Not so heavy that it falls off, but it moves on bumpy trails and it can't support any viewing angle without sliding down until it rests against the vents.




5/18/17 - Unlike most people, I'm not into decoration and art, etc. on my vehicles. I have one "Made In Japan" sticker on Betty and that's it. But when 2 awesome dudes start making killer Montero parts, I'm in!

The rig got 100% more flair today:







I'll update you on this mount as well in the next post.

 

[PA_JERO]

I've had pretty good luck so far with this.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01L...6_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=ram+mount+tablet

I have it bolted to the right front corner of the driver seat. I can get a picture of it if your interested. Pricey, but other than a slight bit of shake to the mount it stays in its location and doesn't drop down or fall. I was flying down a bumpy trail a couple weeks ago, and the tablet stayed nicely.

 

[SONICMASD]

I've had pretty good luck so far with this.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01L...6_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=ram+mount+tablet

I have it bolted to the right front corner of the driver seat. I can get a picture of it if your interested. Pricey, but other than a slight bit of shake to the mount it stays in its location and doesn't drop down or fall. I was flying down a bumpy trail a couple weeks ago, and the tablet stayed nicely.

Thanks for the tip, glad to hear you are liking your RAM set up. I actually gave that chair rail mount a try but found it to be in the way too much of my arm and the shifters. I'll post my current set up soon, I'm enjoying it so far and think it might be here to stay.

 

[SONICMASD]

5/27/17 - 5/28/17: Went up to Heber and stayed at a friend's cabin and then spent the next day driving all around the Mogollon Rim. We didn't have a plan or route and just had fun exploring Forest Roads all over the place for hours. I kept Betty in AWD and spent most of the day as navigator, so that my wife could have fun driving and gaining experience with the vehicle on these easier trails.

Taking IncorporatedX's advice and gassing up with Premium for the uphill mountain journey from PHX to Heber. I did this on my last Utah trip and can't really tell if it made a performance difference. I'll try my next trip with regular gas and see if I notice.









Memorial Day weekend = lots of campers and traffic out on the trails and lots and lots of dust. Glad I've got a Snorkel now.

 

[SONICMASD]

5/29/17: Quick interior updates to my device mounting struggles.

1. I removed the original magnetic ball mount because it wasn't strong enough on its own to hold my 7" navigation tablet in place firmly. Instead, I bought a 2 pack of this magnetic mount off Amazon.

This kind of magnetic mount also has a mini magnet that attaches to the device. It's not as clean as the first type which just has a thin metal disc on the device but it creates a much stronger hold. I placed two of them on the dash and this did the trick perfectly. The tablet is secure, doesn't move, and is easy to install and remove.



On this last trip I noticed that one of our phones was always ending up on the floor because I don't have a great place for more than 1 phone in the vehicle. So I took the original magnetic mount and moved it to the passenger side of the dash and it works great for my wife's phone.





2. Walkie Talkie relocation - I put velcro on the panel below the radio slots and am happy with having the WT here. Not quite as convenient as its last location but it solves the glare issue.

 

[Toasty]

Looking gread dude!

 

[JohnnyBfromPeoria]

Taking IncorporatedX's advice and gassing up with Premium for the uphill mountain journey from PHX to Heber. I did this on my last Utah trip and can't really tell if it made a performance difference.

Presently, the difference between regular and premium is $.44/gal at the QT by my house. With regular selling at $2.25/gal, that represents nearly a 20% premium for premium, so to speak. Am I getting 20% more power? No. Am I getting 20% more fuel mileage? No. I also read another person's post regarding an engine swap that made mention of the Gen 2's DOHC, 6G74 ECU not having the knock sensor turned on, which would be a direct contradiction of Josh's assertion to always use premium fuel because of the long term fuel trim setting the ECU would adapt to with advanced timing it would dial in. I may do some experimenting myself, just as far as running regular for a few months. It's something that has always stuck in my mind as to whether there was much of a difference in this vehicle.
I like the tablet with GPS idea. Do you download a map app and have the GPS put you on it for you? I'm not at all familiar with how that works. I've had a Garmin hand-held for like 15 years and about all I know how to do is find my lat/long so I can see where I'm at on a paper map, check my speedometer and get the altitude. Oh, it tells me what time the sun goes down, too.

John B.

 

[snare]

On my recent trip out west we, interestingly, got about 3 mpg better whenever we ran Conoco 86 octane.

 

[SONICMASD]

It's been awhile, let's get this thread caught up to real life.

4/16/17: Replaced the EGR since the P0400 kept coming back after resetting. Easiest fix ever. Seriously, easier than replacing light bulbs.



6/3/17: My wife and I have been talking about going on another epic American Road Trip for our summer vacation but she has back problems and says she can't sleep in the back of the Montero anymore and she's too afraid of bears and mountain lions to sleep in a tent so a camper is the only option. So I mention this to a friend and he tells me that his cousin is selling a camper. I'm expecting it to be total crap but it turns out to be in real nice shape! We went and checked it out in the blistering AZ sun, it was like 110 out but we decided to buy it. I had to take the spare tire off the Montero to get the camper hooked up (because of the jack on the tongue) and had to get a 4pin to 7pin adapter at Walmart on the way home but it made the 30 mile drive home just fine.

 

[SONICMASD]

So then I spent like all of June and early July working on the new to us 1965 Aristocrat Lo-Liner Travelier Camper! I did a ton of stuff on this thing to get it ready for our upcoming trip. I put in a new water system (tank, lines, faucet), sealed all the exterior joints and seams to keep the rain out, and a ton of other stuff.

Oh and my wife's new-to-us-car got rear ended by a red light runner so that was also going on at this time:




As this was going on, I began assembling parts for Betty:


7/8/17: Betty had a full front end and cooling system overhaul. I'm kind of crazy. She wasn't due for a timing belt service for 13k more miles but the last timing belt kit that went in there was a Continental kit and even though Continental makes good stuff I've heard all the YOU MUST USE OEM OR for the timing belt job OR ELSE horror stories. And also there was that crank position sensor CEL code I got a few months back from a deep mud hole, and the upcoming 3-4k mile road trip pulling a camper was on my mind, and my water pump had a tiny tiny microscopic leak to it, and my radiator had an equally small leak, and perhaps the main reason why I pulled the trigger: Ernest owed me some labor from a trade so I figured I would never forgive myself if something major went wrong on our road trip when I could have had everything done for basically free + parts.

Here's what went in:

AISIN WPM035 (WPM-035@LM13) Water Pump
AISIN BTM500 (BTM-500@LM11) Timing Belt Tensioner Adjuster
FEL-PRO 35680 Thermostat / Thermostat Housing / Water Outlet Seal
GATES TCK287 Timing Belt & Component Kit
Goodyear/Continental 4040390 Serpentine Belt (I always use the V-belt AKA "Gatorback" drive belts by Continental (not talking about a timing belt here) - they are much quieter and it was a must on the noisy Ford Explorer 5.0 I used to have so I grew to love their performance).
Goodyear/Continental 4050445 Serpentine Belt
Accessory Drive Belt Continental Elite 17365
Mitsu Updated Crank Bolt
Peak Long Life Coolant
New Radiator Cap
Radiator refresh - pressure tested, cleaned, leak repaired, tanks painted black @ Serk Radiator in Mesa, AZ
MD303649 - Crankshaft Position Sensor

7/9/17: Last minute oil change before hitting the road. I went with a Wix filter and Valvoline High Mileage Full Synthetic 5W-30.

And then the next day, we set off for a 2-3 week long adventure to Olympic National Park, WA and back.

 

[SONICMASD]

PS - the old Continental timing belt that came out of the engine looked great and would have definitely lasted another 13k and the Tensioner was the OEM unit too. Oh well, I still had a lot more peace of mind as we set off with the coolant drips and crank sensor and drive belts replaced.

 

[SONICMASD]

Presently, the difference between regular and premium is $.44/gal at the QT by my house. With regular selling at $2.25/gal, that represents nearly a 20% premium for premium, so to speak. Am I getting 20% more power? No. Am I getting 20% more fuel mileage? No. I also read another person's post regarding an engine swap that made mention of the Gen 2's DOHC, 6G74 ECU not having the knock sensor turned on, which would be a direct contradiction of Josh's assertion to always use premium fuel because of the long term fuel trim setting the ECU would adapt to with advanced timing it would dial in. I may do some experimenting myself, just as far as running regular for a few months. It's something that has always stuck in my mind as to whether there was much of a difference in this vehicle.
I like the tablet with GPS idea. Do you download a map app and have the GPS put you on it for you? I'm not at all familiar with how that works. I've had a Garmin hand-held for like 15 years and about all I know how to do is find my lat/long so I can see where I'm at on a paper map, check my speedometer and get the altitude. Oh, it tells me what time the sun goes down, too.

John B.

Sorry for the long delay John!

Good points on the Premium vs Regular discussion. I've decided that you're right and the gains are just not worth it. But I did notice that when pulling a camper up a steep grade the premium gas definitely helps and though it doesn't help 20% I'll take an extra 5% even for an extra $10 when heading up the I-17. So now I'm only using Premium when going uphill and when towing.

As for the GPS tablet - Yes, I download the maps when I'm at home and have wifi (usually pdf versions in the Avenza App) but you can also save offline Google Maps. Then when I'm out in the wild without internet, I open the pdf map and the GPS chip in the tablet puts a blue dot on my current location on that map and follows me in real time.

The key is to make sure you buy a tablet with GPS and the compatibility to have the Avenza App. Then for example, go into the Avenza App, download the free Coconino Natl Forests Map when you have wifi, then drive out to Coconino Natl Forest, Open the map up in Avenza, make sure your GPS/location services are turned on in the tablet, and boom a blue dot shows up marking your location on the map and follows you until you drive far enough and are no longer on the map

I too carry the paper maps with me as a back up and also I find them easier to use if you already know where you are.

 

[MikeWeaver]

Always loved Montero, It looks awesome with large off-road wheels!

 

[jeep-N-montero]

Looks like that camper had zero water damage, very tough to find on even much newer used campers, awesome floor plan too!

 

[taliv]

cool thread. brings back memories. i had a 1983 montero, 2-door, stick, mud tires. years later i had a 1995 montero SR which was basically a land cruiser wannabe. both were awesome vehicles.