Expedition Mitsubishi Challenger

mrbishi

Adventurer
G'day everyone - Jon here in Perth, Western Australia.

Thought I'd post up some info on my Mitsubishi Challenger (known as a Montero Sport in the US I believe).

It's a 3lt Petrol engine (gasoline) with a 75lt fuel tank. I carry jerry cans on the roof for extended trips and currently fully loaded get around 500km range from the standard tank.

She has just clicked over 140,000km and is running the following:

- 3" suspension lift, 2" body lift
- 33 x 12.5" Goodyear MTRs on -27 degree black steel 15" rims
- Nudgebar with 2 x Lightforce 240 Blitz spotlights
- Rhino alloy track mount roof rack and basket with 2 x Roolite 180s (same as Lightforce) mounted on the front, shovel holder on 1 side, custom canvas awning on the other and a reverse spotlight on the rear.
- Dual Battery system (N55 60amp hour cranker, N70 Exide Extreme 80amp hour axillary), SurePower battery isolator.
- Unifilter foam filter
- Custom rear storage setup
- 30lt Engel with 20lt TwoZone attachment and custom modifications
- GME TX4400 UHF radio, Garmin Legend CX GPS

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challenger-4.jpg


challenger-8.jpg
 

mrbishi

Adventurer
I've done a few bits and pieces to the interior.

Here's the view up front:

interior1.jpg


GME TX4400 UHF and Aux battery monitor

interior2.jpg


TwoZone wireless fridge monitor, interior temp and time

interior3.jpg


Switch Panel controlling the rear spot, front spots, and dual battery emergency join - I need to redrill it as it was doing quickly and not straight

interior4.jpg
 

mrbishi

Adventurer
Front Fuse Block:

interior5.jpg


In the rear I have built my own custom storage system but am in the process of pulling it out and redesigning it. Each side has lids to store gear and the main slide stores and Engel fridge and boxes of gear.

twozone1.jpg


The old 30lt Engle and TwoZone attachment - repsrayed it and its working good as new. I've done some custom modifications to make it work a lot better and will take some pics and post these up.

fridge1.jpg


twozone3.jpg
 

mrbishi

Adventurer
Heres the TwoZone wireless fridge temp monitor:

twozone.jpg


The rear switch panel controls 2 fans custom mounted to my Engel and TwoZone (more on this later), 2 x 12v outlets, rear interior LED light, air compressor via a BlueTongue aircompressor, and pressurised water setup (50lt water on board).

back1.jpg
 
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mrbishi

Adventurer
Here are some pictures of the custom awning I had made out of 13 oz canvas.

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Heres a pic from a recent trip with a friends Nissan Patrol (JeffWA on this forum)

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tdesanto

Expedition Leader
Welcome to Expedition Portal

Wow. Nice truck! That setup is outstanding.

I dig the bivvy/cot/awning setup. Easy and versitile.

I really like the articulation you get with the rear axle.

I'd love to see that rig in person...especially with the great setup you have in the back of the vehicle as well.

nice job.
 

4Rescue

Expedition Leader
Good old Swags, I love those set-up with the awning and all. Great rig too, I've always loved the look of those trucks.

Cheers

Dave
 

OverlandZJ

Expedition Leader
Welcome Jon! :wavey:

What an awesome rig you have there, i'd love to read more on the pressurized water setup.
 

mrbishi

Adventurer
Thanks for the kind words guys - this forum is awesome!!!!

The water system is fairly simple and I'll have to get some better pictures of it. But below is a basic explanation.

I've taken my rear seats out and am planning on building some sort of deck/extra storage area in the future. Hard up against my rear storage I can strap 3 x 25lt water jerry cans (the pic below is an older setup of mine with the seats but its a little bit different now without the seats but you get the idea). For quick trips I usually only take 2 - only pack 3 on the big adventures.

rear_water.jpg


The three separate Jerry's give you a bit of piece of mind if one springs a leak. I am considering replacing it with a single custom rectangular tank (either out of HDPE plastic or aluminium/stainless). to fill that gap and then maybe for long tips carrying an extra jerry on the roof as backup.

Something like this maybe to the correct dimensions:

millarrototank.JPG


In the picture of the Jerrys you can see a hose going into the first one. This goes all the way to the bottom of the jerry and runs to a pump that is mounted in a compartment behind my switch panel. I have a Jabsco Par-Max 1 4.3lt/min pump (http://www.boatersland.com/japa1auprpu.html) hooked up into the back switch panel and its both pressure switched and manually switched. The outlet runs into the back panel to a common hose connector and I have a coiled up hose that clips into this and has an adjustable spray pattern head.

back1.jpg


I've found the pump to be perfect - any more pressure and it'd be a waste - there is heaps there as it is! Is great using the adjustable head as you depress the lever to let the water flow but then when you let go it stops and the pressure switch detects it and turns off the pump and vice versa.

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I'll get some better pics up asap.
 

mrbishi

Adventurer
I'm running a SurePower 1314 battery isolater but recently have been having issues. It randomly will not engage when the car is started and charge the aux battery. Gotta take it back to ARB and get a replacement (I've had it just on a year now). :mad:

batt1.jpg


Excuse the mess of spaghetti wires - this is all very soon to be tidied up neatly. I'm running an Exide Extreme N70 sized 80 amp hour aux battery and a N50 sized rebranded Exide Extreme N50 60 amp hour cranking battery. I do plan on adding another battery inside when I rebuild the rear storage/deck area.

batt2.jpg
 

mrbishi

Adventurer
I pulled the SurePower 1314 isolator apart last night (as I would in the field if it screwed up) and gave it a good scrub/shake and a liberal spray of WD40/CRC. Put it back together and this has seemed to have done the trick - it's working properly now everytime the car starts.

Something to try if anyone has one that dies out in the field.
 

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