Calling all Gen III / 3 enthusiasts

[3Deserts]

Okay. I've been looking far and wide for a Gen 2 or 2.5 SR (and also a Trooper), and the search has been uniformly discouraging, without exception. There have been some vehicles in good mechanical condition, but all of them have been to some degree, a mess inside. Not a space I want to spend time in, especially with my pre-preschool age son.

It finally struck me that the problem isn't so much the vehicles themselves, as the simple fact that in the SoCal market, in the $4kish range, that's just what there is. Clean generally isn't going to exist anymore for a 15ish year old once-premium SUV for around $4k.

Realizing that if I need to spend upwards of $4k to get something I'm comfortable with, maybe I should reconsider selling the not-running 2001 Jeep WJ I have; it will cost about $4.5k to get it running.

Totally confused.

Enter the Gen III.

I stumbled across a 2001 Limited just around the block from work. I've inspected it very closely, but haven't driven it yet.

It's the first vehicle I've looked at in this search that I'm actually enthusiastic about; something I wouldn't be embarrassed to take company in, and something I'd gladly have my son in (and I have to admit the independent rear AC would be tremendous for him!).

I've read everything I can on this site and elsewhere in the few hours I've had since.

The 2001-2003 Limiteds are about the price range I can stretch to afford. Above 2003 is too expensive.

Which year, which model for our purposes would you guys suggest?

I know the 2003 has a little more power, but they are averaging a solid $3k to $4k more in asking price than the 2001s.

ARB support is there for lockers in the future which is good; I won't have to swap whole axles like I was looking at in the WJ. My most immediate concern for Expo travel is a lack of skid plates and sliders.

Anyway, too much typing, head spinning, I need to get this all resolved very soon...

What say the experts?

 

[tdesanto]

Obviously, I'm a big fan of the gen III trucks. Sliders and skid plates aren't sold in the US that I'm aware of...at least they weren't when I needed them. I had them made, but that will cost you a bit more than buying off the shelf.

There is a company out of Australia that makes and sells them. The guy that owns this company is a stand up guy. My dealings with him have been great and he's well regarded at the best forum I've found strictly for Monteros/ Pajeros.

Here's their page for sliders.

Here's their page for skid plates.

The '01-'02 Montero is the Pajero model "NM". I definitely recommend the Limited version as you get the 5-speed transmission and a lot of other goodies. If you want to go to a 33" tire, you can do that with the OME heavy duty lift or the Lovells/ Bilstein lift. If you want to regear, the Limited for those years comes with 4.3:1 gears and the 4.9:1 gears for the XLS model are a direct swap. This is a very good combination with 33" tires as you actually get a final drive ratio just a little bit better than stock gears and stock tire size (31").

The only major downside is that you're limited on suspension lift and there's no body lift option really.

 

[3Deserts]

Thank you very much!

I pored over your build thread last night. Quite nice!

I had no idea the US dollar went the other direction to the AUS dollar. When I was there a couple of years ago, it was the other way around, as it had been for decades. So pretty much anything purchased directly from there that involves large pieces of steel is just out of the question.

I dunno...I may have to scrap the Gen III idea. I'd still need new tires and suspension lift on top of the purchase price, and that's still without undercarriage armor and sliders. That would push me well above $10,000, which really makes no sense when something like a 1998 4Runner with factory locker, BFG ATs and the same amount of miles just showed up on my local CL for under $7,000.

Or, again, I just buck up and fix the Jeep WJ.

Would that someone just had a nice, clean '95-'96 SR. [sigh]

 

[off-roader]

I dunno...I may have to scrap the Gen III idea. I'd still need new tires and suspension lift on top of the purchase price, and that's still without undercarriage armor and sliders. That would push me well above $10,000, which really makes no sense when something like a 1998 4Runner with factory locker, BFG ATs and the same amount of miles just showed up on my local CL for under $7,000.

Or, again, I just buck up and fix the Jeep WJ.

Would that someone just had a nice, clean '95-'96 SR. [sigh]

Gen III's are obviously newer than Gen II's but I also suspect the costs may be higher since they are also plusher than the gen II's and in greater demand from more consumers.

That said, if you search diligently for a 94-96/7 SR, there are some great deals out there. I bought my 96SR a couple of years ago for only $1350 through a private sale. It's not cosmetically perfect but I wasn't searching for that on a rig I planned to wheel.

A couple of grand worth of upgrades (mostly for fab work) and a 2" BL, and I have a very capable wheeler on 35's.

 

[Inyo_man]

I would highly recommend the Gen. III from what you are saying...
A capable off-road rig that can haul the family in comfort.
The stock rig can get you pretty far.
I just did the mods. over time.
I ended up looking into skid (bash) plates in the Australian market, but the shipping was murder. Because of that, I fabricated my own sump and tranny pan plates. It was actually easier than I thought it would be. Still thinking about sliders...