Recent content by macdrew77

Just in case anyone was wondering, now the Vehicles of Interest for 1996-1999 is under Section F now: https://www.bar.ca.gov/industry/obd-test-reference#BAR97 96-97 Should be able to be smogged without any of the monitors complete. 98-99 out of luck, only 1 monitor allowed to be incomplete.

Can I get much of a gas tank lift with the stock SR body lift? That plus 30mm lift coils might get my tank out of trouble until I get around to fabbing custom skids.

My gas tank is taking an absolute beating as I attempt to tackle more and more difficult obstacles. What have you guys done that has worked? Are the gas tank skid plates from ADD enough to protect from hard hits? Curious about a gas tank lift, but I don't plan to body lift my truck. I'd rather...

Ok, turns out all gen 3 3.5l passenger side cams are different than the earlier cams. The valve covers are different, and their timing marks are in a different place. Instead of having a different cam pulley, they put the dowel in the cam in a different spot, roughly 90* offset. I was able to...

Are you confusing compression test with leakdown? Leakdown test, yes the valves will all be closed. Compression test the engine is spinning over, the intake valves need to open at the correct time to let in the maximum amount of air before closing as the piston compresses it.

Alright just to follow up I found what the problem is. I remember I found a knick in my camshaft and ended up grabbing a replacement from a junkyard 2002 Montero 3.5. Turns out the camshaft is very different from the 1997, its about 90* off and I didn't compare them close enough before I put the...

I'm using 1997 valve covers. Drivers side requires the pulley to be swapped because of the cam sensor location changing from back of the head to front of the head. That's the bank that has good compression though. I'm gonna compare the1997 cams and pulleys more closely, but they looked identical...

My trusty 1997 SR 3.5L failed California smog last year which opened up a massive can of worms. It was leaking oil from god knows how many places and decided to pull the heads and do a top end rebuild: refaced the valves, lapped them in lightly, vacuum tested good, all new seals and gaskets...

Turns out you need to have the armrest in the down position and press the tilting button in, in order to get the armrest to come off. I wish I had tried this before ruining an armrest with a pry bar haha

The modifications required weren’t a huge deal for me looking back, but I was going in blind and the instructions are terrible so I was a bit unsure at the time. I’m cheap so I thought it was worth a shot.

I have pulled back the cover and taken out the torx head bolt, but the armrest is still stuck on there pretty good. Is there something I'm missing or do I need a bigger hammer?

Is anyone curious what kind of kinetic recovery it would take to bust those 4 bolts off? I am, so I learned myself some math. The minimum ultimate tensile strength of x4 M12x1.25 grade 8.8 bolts is 294,800N. F=m x a. So, to apply 294kN, a 2500kg Montero would need to accelerate at a rate of...

I put one in a gen 2 and it wasn't a straight drop in install, required some slight modifications. As far as it's offroad performance, I haven't had to use it yet.

Hitch manufacturer? That is the factory frame crossmember with the pintle hitch pattern. They come with a little tow hook thing from the factory. I'm trying to figure out if it was meant as a recovery point, since it is sold as "Rear Traction Hook MR448317". I've used it to pull logs and trees...

I’ve made a shackle mount that bolts to the rear hitch plate. How much force do you think those 4 bolts can hold? Shackle is rated for 13,000 lbs and the steel is 1/2” base and 1”.