My latest mitsu build-up...

[Justice R]

Good to see you over here Ray. Lots of good information here. I think I'll follow suit with a build thread for my 89..

[off-roader]

Good to see you over here Ray. Lots of good information here. I think I'll follow suit with a build thread for my 89..

Nice to see you here as well Justice. I was just going to comment that it's nice to see your build thread as well before I realized you replied to my build thread.

[4Rescue]

Awesome looking truck mate, I'm loving the new Mitsu section. Were these Pajero/Monty versions (I don't know what gen body that is, 2nd? 3rd?) EVER offered with manuals, and were there air lockers still offered stock??? Again, nice truck, glad to see these great trucks coming out in the spotlight.

Cheers

Dave

[off-roader]

Awesome looking truck mate, I'm loving the new Mitsu section. Were these Pajero/Monty versions (I don't know what gen body that is, 2nd? 3rd?) EVER offered with manuals, and were there air lockers still offered stock??? Again, nice truck, glad to see these great trucks coming out in the spotlight.

Cheers

Dave

Thanks for the compliments Dave. The square bodied mitsu montero/dodge raiders are consider gen I's. They were available from 1985/6 to 1991. Here's a pic my 89 v6 2 door (Gen I).


The Gen II Montero's (never sold as a Dodge model) were available from 1992-1996.

The 1992-1993 models were only available with the 3.0L engine & I don't believe they were ever offered with a std trim package that included a stock locker but I could be wrong. Justice and Phil could probably set the record straight on that.

From 1994-1996 the SR models all came with a 3.5L DOHC engine, & larger rear diff with the factory air locker. The 94-96 RS or LS models came with the 3.0L engine a smaller rear diff (not sure about the front). These were not offered with a locker in the US.

The Gen 2.5 Montero's look almost identical to the gen II but has a more flared/pronounced front and rear fenders. If you find with with a cold weather option, it should include a rear locker.

The Gen I v6, Gen II 3.5L models both support the ARB RD110 front locker. The Gen I v6 also has available an ARB rear locker (forget the p/n).
So with either rig, you can easily (for a price) get front and rear lockers.

The Gen II's are offered with manual tranny's but I don't recall if they're available in the US. Mostly because I'm not interested in a manual tranny off road. 1st and foremost the auto tranny's in these are extremely reliable and most get 200K+ w/out even starting to think about a rebuild.

Plus they're simply ton's easier to use off road (especially rock crawling) since we don't have extremely low gears available w/out major mods (4.9 difs & 3:1 xcase is about it) for the Gen II. If we did have those gears then a manual tranny would make more sense and be much easier to drive.

[off-roader]

Installed a navigation computer today. It's the same Acer One I use in my Gen I. It comes w/ an 8GB SSD drive and an 8GB SD card (Class 6). I upgraded the card to a 16GB version and I run both NatGeo Topo CA (hi res topo maps) and MS Streets & Trips.



So far, so good!!

[wesel123]

http://pics.montypics.com/off-roader/2009-03-21/1237688148_sn10050cr.jpg[/img]

So far, so good!!

What did you make the mount out of??? Look great!!!

[off-roader]

What did you make the mount out of??? Look great!!!

It's simply 1/16" aluminum plate. I cut & bent it to fit. You also have to trim a bit of the dash that's underneath the gauges. It can't be seen though even if remove the mount. I can remove my gauge cover and take a pic if you need me to.



Took it out on it's virgin off road trip. Bumpy off camber hills. No issues whatsoever with the mount off road. On road it sometimes has a tendency to bounce due to road vibrations/oscillations.

[off-roader]

As part of my plan to set this rig up so I can also use it in lieu of a tent, I'm also making up a pair of window screens for the rear windows.

Here are a couple of pics of the one I've made so far...



It's simply a 'sock' that fits snugly over the window section of the rear doors. The only 'open' area where bugs might get in is at the bottom and I'm holding that in place using magnets. and the screen material is pretty bunched up there so bugs won't be able to get in even if they tried.

[datrupr]

I like the screen. Any plans for something similar on the rear sliding windows? That would help create some nice airflow in the back for camping.

[off-roader]

I like the screen. Any plans for something similar on the rear sliding windows? That would help create some nice airflow in the back for camping.

I could do something similar. The current unit's lower edges have a strip of nylon webbing material (same stuff they use for duffle bag straps) with magnets sewn in.

For the rear windows I could do the same setup except around the entire perimeter. Plus I wouldn't have to have power on to open/close those windows.