Silverwulf's 99 Montero GenII.5 build

[Silverwulf]

Thought it was about time I'd start my own build thread, So here it goes! Sorry for all the "Driveway shots". I work A LOT and don't get to go and do as much as I would like to with the truck, but thats why I got it. While I'm stuck working, I cruise ExPo and have "mental getaways" looking at all the great adventures other have. Soon, I'll get around to getting away, LOL!

Back story... I have always been a car guy. More specifically a german car guy. After owning many Audies, BMW's and VW's I wanted a motorcycle, Which led me to buying my first 4x4 truck to haul said moto. One day in 06, the truck was totaled and I bought another BMW. I realized how much I loved the truck and missed having a 4x4. That ,and I also really missed taking my dog, Mike with me. I ended up at the local Nissan dealer looking at a new Titan PRO4x to the tune of $41k. So there I was looking at this sweet truck thinking "Do I really want to spend this much coin on something that I will cart Kids and Dogs around off road? I'd be so PO'd if it got scratched!". Now, I used to work for Mitsu in the late 90's. I remembered the montero was really capable and liked the II.5 styling. I left the dealer to search for a used mitsu. After a month or so I ended up buying a 99 Gen II.5 with the winter pkg for less than 1/10 of the Titan!:bike_rider:

My old 03 Frontier SC crew.

THE NEXT DAY!:Wow1:

The replacement BMW

And the Bike that started it all:elkgrin:

My Monty 2 days after I got it. Already put the Hella 700ff's. Didn't wait long to start fiddeling with it!

First thing I did was the Hella 700ff driving lights (which I happen to already have)

Next up was to catch up on maintinance so I replaced/ flushed all fluids/ filters.

New battery
Replaced DOA radio/cd player.

Next up were shocks. I really wanted to do OME, but $ was tight so I put in some KYB monomax shocks.

When doing the shocks, I noticed the stock muffler was shot. I installed a magnaflow ss muffler. I have them on my BMW and like the tone.

Removed runningboards..

Scored some 32x11.5 BFG M/T's on craigslist.

Yep, they work

Painted them black...
Documented here:http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/59641-Paint-it-black?highlight=

 

[Silverwulf]

Next on my list was to crank the torsion bars.

New best friends!

Next up was Timing belt tensioner (both OE), h20 pump, t-stat, and belts.

Front Pads and rotors (left caliper...more on that later)
Rear pads

Added some plastic stuff, Vent shades and a bug thing.

Added a snorkel. Custom modded a GenIII (Got the idea from Grasscat, Thanks!)
Documented here:http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/58284-Install-tips

Added a rear wing
From Rexypow, eBay 3days from Malasya!

Found a rear ladder!

Same weekend removed rear swaybay.

And added rear coil spacers fro Toyota sequoia

Some Family and dog pics...Afterall this is why I got the Monty, right?

Mike loves having his own window, no more climing over the kids!

Another score was this Yakima Load warrior roof basked. With the 18" extension it has the same footprint as the stock roof rack. Also came with locking brackets and a cargo net.

Plans are to add some lights and a Hi-Lift mount to it.

Next up is the 2" Body lift from 4Crawler. :victory:I got started yesterday, but ran out of time with the kids and all.
More pics today or tommorow:sombrero:

 

[Silverwulf]

I bought a 2" Lift kit from 4Crawler last week. Being that my truck was originally from the east coast, there is some really rusty fasteners unter the rig. I planned ahead and soaked all the bolts that would need to be removed with PB Blast or liguid wrench every night for 4 days prior to working on the truck

Here are some "Before" pics...

I removed the front bumper with plans to fab some brackets to move it up to match the lift.

 

[Silverwulf]

The mounting points are pretty obvious on the underside. The uppers are pretty straight forward as well. Juts have to remove a few trim pieces and scoot the carpet out of the way.

The one that was tricky to locate was the PS front. I removed the airbox and found it under a piece of foil..

The DS front just required removing the coolant overflow bottle..

 

[eurosonic]

Very nice build man, you're on the right track

 

[Silverwulf]

Thanks man!

The rear bumper mounting bolts are REALLY rusty. I couldnt budg them yesterday. So I soaked them in PB again and hit them with a punch to try to knock the threads loose. We'll see when I get off work today, If not I'll have to take it to the shop and use the torch. I may just finish the blocks to night. I got the standard blocks thinking that they were OE size. After seeing yours, I am thinking of exchanging them!

 

[eurosonic]

Being 2.5 in width I think they will keep the cab a bit more stable.
Hey, how is it like driving without the rear sway bars....any much different? also how tall are your rear spring spacers?

 

[Silverwulf]

There are 12 mounts on the LWB montero, 6 per side. For ease of reference I'll notate them as 1-6 fr to rear

They all look wet dut to soaking them with PB
PS1 UPPER

PS2 UPPER

PS3 UPPER

DS4 UPPER (Same loc as PS, just oppisite side)

PS5 UPPER

PS6 UPPER

 

[Silverwulf]

Being 2.5 in width I think they will keep the cab a bit more stable.
Hey, how is it like driving without the rear sway bars....any much different? also how tall are your rear spring spacers?

Spring spacers are 50mm. After the T-bar crank the truck was level. Only problem was once I put kidz, dogz and gear in the back the rear was then lower than the front. Now being after loaded it is level.

As for the rear sway bar delete. It feels fine. You are at more of a handeling limitation with big M/T tires than not having a sway bar. Just drive it like a truck and pay attention to turns/ curves when going ~40mph or more.

 

[RichardT]

Looking good man Can't wait to see the roof rack when it's all decked out with the jack and lights . Also, is there anyway possible you could record the sound of the Magnaflow? maybe take a vid and post it to Youtube or something? I was thinking about doing that, but was curious as to how it might sound, thanks

 

[Silverwulf]

I'll make one when I get the truck back together.
I did find a clip with snorkel sound :elkgrin:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jvJaSvYXrU&list=UU12cczkgVadf5ib3X6GGOFw&index=2&feature=plcp

Here is one with the Magnaflows on my e38 (4.4l dohc)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MV9r...xt=C3d1832aUDOEgsToPDskKWKLeeUHU9Bf2BzSN-gwFm

 

[Silverwulf]

So, now that Ive been crawling around under my truck, I have found what seems to be a pretty big oil leak. Tx case is wet, trans is wet and exh down pipe is wet. I guess this explains the burning oil smell after it sits a while. I hope its not the rear main seal. After I finish this lift install I'm going to spray it all down with parts wash and clean it up. Then re-check to see where new oil is comming from.

 

[scrubber3]

A few places it could be leaking from that are common on these are the cam seals and the oil cooler lines. I'm not too sure if the rear main is prone to leaking. Good luck finding the leak though.

 

[RichardT]

A few places it could be leaking from that are common on these are the cam seals and the oil cooler lines. I'm not too sure if the rear main is prone to leaking. Good luck finding the leak though.

My oil cooler line was leaking when I first bought my truck in late 2010, by the spring it was bad enough I needed to do swap it out, I was lucky enough to have a hoist at school to use, which made the swap a lot easier.


Sent from my iPhone

 

[scrubber3]

I just got done replacing both of mine. No leaks whatsoever now. (knock on wood) Passenger side cam seal was leaking when I got it. Fixed that last year. I'll be dog on the first of this year, the oil line was leaking.