New Member, 95 SR

[scrubber3]

Wheel it the best you can with a spotter if needed for a few trips and proceed with you modifications from there. I drove mine for well over a year before I started to do anything more than a torsion bar adjustment and monotube shocks. As said, these things do very well with very little done. You've got a good start pending the fact that you have an SR. Good luck and we are here to help so ask away.

[vgreen]

Hi-Lift's "Jack Mate" is usable on front and rear bumpers as well as the wheels. Couple the high lift with their "off road kit" and you have a multi-use recovery tool. You can lift, winch, clamp, and beat things with your high lift. I have a knock off version but will be upgrading soon as the Hi-lift is a better product than the chinese knock-off from northern tool...

...Hope to see you on the trails soon. Join up on Central Overland and participate in a few trips. There is a decent presence in NW Arkansas, and the guide jlandon puts on quite a few trips. I'm sure he wouldn't mind company on scouting trips either. Tell him I sent you.

Thanks LaOutback, I am actually on Central Overland, username vgreen(actually why I was confused on my user name on this one). I haven't been very active, though. I was without internet access at my house for about 6 months! The humanity!

I completely agree with you and scrubber. I plan to keep this thing mostly stock. One of the reasons I bought a Montero, especially the SR, was its capability out of the box. I have wheeled it quite a few times and have got a feel for what I need to change for my uses, and mainly that is taller tires for a bit more clearance and breakover angle. After that, I think a lift will really be unnecessary, but I may decided I want the extra load capacity of the OME springs eventually.

Thanks for the tip about the Jack Mate, I had missed that accessory. If that is the case, I will be happy with my stock bumpers. Thank you guys for all the advice and welcomes.

[RichardT]

Welcome to the forum! The 1.25 OME lift with 33x10.5 tires seems to be a pretty common combo of mods on this forum, and from what I've been able to tell, depending on the type of wheeling you plan to do (you said big roots, rocks, and mud?) seem to be sufficient with our rigs, which are very capable. I have those mods myself, and I'm still trying to catch up with my driving abilities, as I feel this is the main thing holding me back in certain situations when wheeling, not the rig, happy wheeling!

[vgreen]

Well, crap. Yesterday my wife was pulling out of fast food restaurant, turned right on to a main road and immediately heard a loud *POP* *BANG* from the rear, followed by no more forward movement. She said if felt like she hit something, it kinda stopped the vehicle (for clarification, she did not actually hit anything). She told me she thought the transmission broke and got it towed back to the house. I got to look at it last night for a few minutes, maybe you guys can help me narrow down what broke.

I put it in drive, and the truck does not move at all, but the driveshaft is still spinning, at what appears to be a normal speed for idling through a parking lot, and it's accompanied by a creaking noise from the rear. Think rusty creaking wheel on a shopping cart. "Weet-weet, weet-weet, weet-weet." It also makes a weird noise when I put the it back in park, from somewhere closer to the transmission. So I am guessing it is something in the diff (spider-gear?) or an axle? This boggles my mind, I keep reading how tough these rear-ends are. I have been nice to it, but I don't know about the other 182,000 miles!

So, I think next I should put it in 4WD and see if it will move (therefore confirming it is not the transmission). The thought crossed my mind to try and lock the rear diff and see if it is related to just one side (axle?), but I don't want to do any further damage. I can probably gain the same knowledge with some dis-assembly.

I am a decent mechanic and have plenty of tools to do most jobs (I have two half-assembled Subarus in my garage/yard), but I don't have any experience working on anything with a live axle and haven't messed with the insides of a diff. Any advice is certainly welcome.

Thanks,

Vance

[off-roader]

Download the FSM (Factory Service Manual) from mitsubishilinks.com. If there isn't one there for a 95, just download the one for the 96. The rear end is the same on both.

I suspect you either broke an axle or the diff itself. If you can lock the rear dif and try to drive forward for a few inches... if it moves then it's a broken axle. If it doesn't, then it's likely something broken in the diff.

Either way, you'll have to get in there.

[LaOutbackTrail]

Alternately... to avoid any further damage....

Lift the vehicle from the rear diff to get both tires off the ground. Spin one wheel at a time. I you spin one wheel and the other wheel turns backwards, you should be fine. If you spin one wheel and the other stays stationary... well, then you can confirm there is infact an issue with the axle or diff.

To me, it sounds like a broken axle. As I've grenaded a couple of diffs and even moving the truck you could hear the broken pieces being crunched inside the housing.... not good. I'd imagine the pinion shaft might break similarly to an axle.

****EDIT****
Obviously you need to be on level ground and you will want to chock the front wheels and put vehicle in neutral with parking brake off.

[vgreen]

****EDIT****
Obviously you need to be on level ground and you will want to chock the front wheels and put vehicle in neutral with parking brake off.

Lol, thanks for watching out for me. I didnt think about the pinion shaft, that is good point. Thanks for reminding me about the FSM; I downloaded that last year, but completely forgot. I am going to dig into it tomorrow I think, I will tell you guys what I find! Thanks again.

[Monterorider]

I'd put my money on axle-shaft. If it was diff you'd hear all kinds of noises. Put transmission in park. Jack each side separately. If you can spin a wheel while other on the ground and prop shaft isn't sniping it's that axle shaft. Pay attention to prop shaft. Yes Monty axle is really tough but I've heard of this happening. You never know what kind of abuse happened before.
If you can lock a diff and get going. That's also a good indicator. I made it 200 miles home this way after I broke mine.

[scrubber3]

Another vote for locking the diff. Like said, if it's locked and moves, it's an axle shaft. If it doesn't move, likely the pinion shaft. It does seem odd that it broke with your wife driving it on the highway.

If after you check it by locking it, the truck remains stationary it is plausible that the pinion nut came loose. Don't know if it's ever been messed with do you? Of course you know to check it you have to remove the driveshaft from the flange and just look in there.

[vgreen]

All that guessed axle shaft, you were exactly right.

photo.jpg
(sorry, pic uploaded landscape instead of portrait for some reason)

I have the FSM opened up, this is not looking like much fun. List of tools I don't have: axle puller, slide hammer, bearing install tool (mistubishi special tool apparently), possibly others. A few I can rent from the a local parts store and maybe I can improvise the bearing tool. I don't know. Has anyone else done this?